GENESIS: Gauging the environmental sustainability of electric aircraft systems

In the EU project GENESIS, scientists from the Energy Storage Research Centre at BFH are therefore working with partners from all over Europe to research fully electric and hybrid aircraft engines.

Factsheet

  • Lead school School of Engineering and Computer Science
  • Institute Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM
  • Research unit IEM / Batteries and storage systems
  • Funding organisation Europäische Union
  • Duration (planned) 01.02.2021 - 31.07.2023
  • Project management Prof. Dr. Priscilla Caliandro
  • Head of project Prof. Dr. Priscilla Caliandro
  • Project staff Bruno Eric Marc Lemoine
  • Partner Danmarks Tekniske Universitet
    Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
    Technische Universiteit Delft
    Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen
    SmartUp Engineering s.r.l.
    Accurec Recycling GmbH
    Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH
  • Keywords Sustainability, aviation, electric propulsion systems, hybridization

Situation

Air travel plays an important role in the decarbonisation of mobility. The goal is to move away from the use of fossil fuels and towards alternative energy sources such as biofuels, hydrogen or electricity. To support the ambitions of the European aviation industry in the transition to environmentally compatible and competitive electric and hybrid aircraft systems, several European research partners are developing a technology and sustainability roadmap within the GENESIS project. The EU Commission is funding the GENESIS project under the Clean Sky 2 programme.

Course of action

During the 30-month period, the project team will conduct research on all-electric and hybrid aircraft drives. Different propulsion technologies will be identified, designed, and evaluated. The focus is on short-haul aircrafts with a small passenger capacity of about 50 people. Within the project, scientists from the Energy Storage Research Centre lead the research on battery and fuel cell technologies. They analyse different battery systems to find out which ones meet the requirements for electric aviation. The researchers also make forecasts for the ecological footprint of the battery manufacturing process.

This project contributes to the following SDGs

  • 7: Affordable and clean energy