Clean Aviation
Partnership website: https://www.clean-aviation.eu/
Formalised under the structure of an institutionalised public-private partnership which ensures that research activities of the aviation industry are aligned with the European Union’s policy priorities, the Clean Aviation JU's programme focuses on three main areas:
- hybrid electric regional aircraft
- ultra-efficient short and short-medium range aircraft
- disruptive technologies to enable hydrogen-powered aircraft
These three main areas of research and development are further discussed in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).
The Clean Aviation JU has various operational objectives compared to 2020 state-of-the-art aircraft:
- net CO2 reductions of up to 90%, utilising SAF and/or renewable hydrogen as energy source
- the deployment of new aircraft with this performance no later than 2035, enabling 75% of the world’s civil aviation fleet to be replaced by 2050
Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking builds on its predecessor, the Clean Sky 2 JU programme. The latter will continue to run until 2024. Clean Sky 2 JU will have delivered more than 140 demonstrators (of which 34 flagship demonstrators) contributing to the flagship demonstrators, and more than 1000 technologies by the end of the programme.
As an institutionalised partnership, the Clean Aviation JU does not publish the call for proposals in the regular Horizon Europe work programmes. Rather, Clean Aviation publishes their own work programmes.
Key documents
- Clean Aviation vision document (January 2020)
- Draft partnership proposal (June 2020)
- Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (December 2021)
- Annual activity report (2022)
- Overview of additional documents
- Clean Sky 2 (Clean Aviation predecessor) key demonstrator projects infographic
- Work programme 2022-2023 (Amended, February 2023)
- Work programme 2022-2023 - Annex: list and description of topics (February 2023)
Contact
- Commission services: RTD-CLEAN-AVIATION@ec.europa.eu
- Commission contact person: Francky Callewaert
- Clean Aviation partnership: info@clean-aviation.eu
What are partnerships?
Partnerships group the EC and private and/or public partners, to coordinate and streamline the research & innovation initiatives and funding in some selected key domains.
How to use partnerships?
-
orientation
Partnerships publish strategic documents, e.g. outlining the main research and innovation challenges or key focus points. -
networking
Partnerships often organise events, such as info days, brokerage events, etc. Meet potential partners and learn about the nuances that are not visible in the official documents. -
ecosystem analysis
Partnerships typically have an advisory board, and publish impact studies of previous actions. These are good sources of information to uncover the main R&D&I players in the domain. -
steering the agenda
Partnerships collaborate with the EC on outlining the strategy and the future funding opportunities in their domain, based on input from industry, academia, and other stakeholders.
Testimonial
Autoship - a new and durable way of freight transport
Autoship is, as the name suggests, an acronym for autonomous ship. Just like with self-driving cars, the possibilities of an unmanned boat seem endless. It can create more efficient freight transport, around the clock deliveries and these are just a few of the examples. The project has two societal challenges.
At first, De Vlaamse Waterweg was a bit hesitant as their experience with FP7 or Horizon 2020 projects was limited and they had not been very successful up until then. The fact that they were already doing basic research on the topic of autonomous boats, and the administrative help of NCP FLanders helped De Vlaamse waterweg to cross the line and get involved.
