Prospective life cycle assessment of electric passenger aircraft (LCAir)

Research Project, 2025 – 2026

 Aviation accounts for ca 4% of the global climate change impact, a share expected to increase in the future. Greenhouse gas reduction targets for the aviation sector require transitioning away from the current aviation gasoline fuel. Several technology options have been proposed, including sustainable/alternative aviation fuel (biobased aviation gasoline or electro-fuels), hydrogen fuel cells and batteries. Sweden has taken a leading role in battery-electric aircraft. A previous study about the environmental impacts of a small, two-seater all-electric aircraft has been performed by the applicant, which attracted much interest worldwide. This project is a continuation of that study, focusing on larger aircraft. The first aim of this project is to assess the environmental impacts of a short-haul hybrid-electric aircraft (approximately 30 seats) close to its commercialization. This will reveal the environmental prospects of a hybrid-electric aircraft used commercially for regional flights. The second aim is to assess the environmental impacts of a future long-haul hybrid-electric aircraft with substantial battery-electric propulsion. This will reveal the environmental prospects of batteries contributing significantly also to longer flights. To fulfill these two aims, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a suitable method. Considering that none of the two aircraft studied are commercial yet, a future-oriented type of LCA called prospective LCA will be applied. The scientific impact of the project is that it adds to the so-far very limited pool of knowledge regarding environmental impacts of battery-electric aviation. Regarding societal impact, main target groups are (i) technical experts, companies and investors within electric aviation and (ii) the general public and decision-makers with no expert knowledge about aviation. The first group will be reached through scientific publications and presentations at topical workshops and conferences, as well as through a reference group consisting of three leading experts on different aspects of electric aviation. The second group will mainly be reached through press releases and popular-science articles. By informing both expert actors and the general public about the environmental impacts of battery-electric aviation, this research will contribute to a more sustainable transport system.