Prince Charles is wearing a navy blue suit and is standing looking and pointing at a television screen. He is surrounded by a group of people who are smiling and also looking at the screen.
Prince Charles is wearing a navy blue suit and is standing looking and pointing at a television screen. He is surrounded by a group of people who are smiling and also looking at the screen.

UWL academic advises HRH The Prince of Wales on the future of sustainable flight

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The Prince of Wales has joined leading figures in the aviation industry to discuss the future of sustainable aviation and to find out how research from the University of West London (UWL) is helping to deliver net-zero emissions in aviation by 2050.

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Visiting the Whittle Laboratory in Cambridge, Prince Charles discussed cutting-edge developments in zero-emission flight technology, developed by the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), a multi-disciplinary team of experts working to achieve net-zero flight by 2050.

Anil Padhra, Associate Professor in Sustainable Aviation at UWL, is central to the AIA’s research at the Whittle Laboratory, where they are building an open-source simulator that will allow users to map flight pathways and see how this contributes to the UK’s greenhouse emissions. Acting as a kind of carbon calculator, the simulator will encourage users to make informed decisions whilst providing them with alternative sustainable travel options (like making shorter journeys on electric or hydrogen-fuelled planes).

After taking part in the discussion, Dr Padhra said:

The AIA’s model is the first of its kind in the world to capture a whole-system overview – providing users with information about the sources of renewable electricity, the carbon footprint of materials used to build aircraft, and the effects of producing and transporting fuel. 

However, there is no point in having electric aircraft if the electricity used to power them comes from fossil fuels. The electric future of air transport still poses enormous challenges that go beyond the scope of aviation and will require a total re-think of how we can meet our future energy requirements.”

According to the AIA's model, the UK will have to produce 20% more electricity in order to meet this future demand, meaning significant national investment in renewable energy sources. As the roundtable concluded, a sustainable future for the aviation industry can only be achieved through increased collaboration, clear policy and government guidelines, and an emphasis on global impact. 

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