Energy Impacts of Electric Aircraft: An Overview

Conference · Mon Jun 20 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-4119· OSTI ID:1897737

Prabhakar, Nirmit; Heyerdahl, Luke; Jha, Ayush; Karbowski, Dominik

Commercial aviation represents approximately 2% of the global emissions of greenhouse gases, yet presently relies exclusively on fossil fuels as a source of energy. This paper evaluates to what extent an all-electric aircraft can provide an alternative. First, three classes of aircraft are modeled at various timelines in the future: 50/100/150 passenger capacity in 2030/2040/2050. Technology is assumed to improve over time, especially with regards to battery specific energy, resulting in aircraft with increased range. A database of all domestic flights in the US in 2019 is then used to filter and aggregate flights suited for replacement by electric aircraft. In the short term (2030), no viable aircraft can meet the requirements of each class. By 2040, a third of the flights can be done by an all-electric aircraft, but only short ones, as the range does not exceed 500 mi, resulting in 3% of total passenger-miles. By 2050, owing to the most optimistic technology assumptions, a quarter of all passenger-miles can be flown by electric airplanes. The resulting displaced jet fuel is also calculated.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - Office of Vehicle Technologies (VTO)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1897737
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Aviation sustainability
Electric aviation