NEDO commences R&D on next-generation aircraft ― Implemented through the Green Innovation Fund

On November 5, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced that it would commence development of next-generation aircraft in-line with its "Green Growth Strategy Through Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050". The project will be implemented as part of the Green Innovation Fund project, totaling 2 trillion yen, promoting research and development projects on four themes related to the establishment of core technologies for hydrogen-powered aircraft and for considerably reducing the weight of major aircraft components. With carbon neutral initiatives becoming active in the aviation field, this project seeks to strengthen the competitiveness of the Japanese aircraft industry. Through optimal usage of the strengths of domestic elemental technologies, such as hydrogen and materials, it aims to contribute to the decarbonization of the aviation field by increasing participation in international joint development of airframes and engines, which is currently approximately 20-30%.

In October 2020, Japan declared its "Green Growth Strategy Through Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050", aiming to bring total greenhouse gas emissions to zero. While this goal will greatly advance conventional government policy, it is still necessary to greatly accelerate current efforts, such as the structural transformation of the energy and industrial sectors, and innovation through bold investment.

From this background, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) established a fund totaling 2 trillion yen as part of NEDO's FY2020 budget. After sharing ambitious and concrete goals between the public and private sectors, the Green Innovation Fund project was launched to provide continuous support for companies working toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, in their management, and cover everything, from R&D and demonstration trials to social implementation, over a 10-year period. The support this fund provides targets priority areas for which action plans are formulated in line with the Green Growth Strategy. The aircraft industry is one such area.

The aircraft industry has a wide range of supporting industries, and the effects of applied technology are expected to spill over to other fields. Despite these expectations, the aviation industry has been impacted globally by a fall in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the IATA (International Air Transport Association) expects air transportation demand to recover to the same level as in 2019, by 2024, and thereafter achieve sustainable growth of around 3% per year, against the backdrop of economic growth in emerging countries and elsewhere. The industry is expected to continue to grow in the future.

Moreover, the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) has set global targets, such as "improving fuel efficiency by 2% every year" and "not increasing total CO2 emissions from 2020 onwards." This means that demand for decarbonization is rapidly increasing. Efforts are being made to develop more lightweight and more efficient aircraft and engines, and technologies for electric aircraft, mainly among European and American OEMs. Furthermore, competition for the development of hydrogen-powered aircraft has intensified following Airbus's announcement that it will introduce carbon-neutral aircraft utilizing hydrogen fuel and fuel cells by 2035.

Amid these global circumstances, NEDO initiated the "next-generation aircraft development" plan and adopted four themes based on the R&D and social implementation plans of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the development of next-generation aircraft. The project is scheduled to be implemented over 10 years from FY 2021 to FY 2030, and NEDO will offer support worth 21.08 billion yen. The four themes adopted and the companies implementing them are as follows.

R&D Item 1 "core technology development for hydrogen-powered aircraft"

①Development of engine combustor and system technology for hydrogen-powered aircraft

MHI is developing an aircraft engine combustor suitable for hydrogen combustion, that will also reduce NOx emissions by 54%, compared with the emission control value CAEP/8, which is the target set by ICAO for conventional engines.

②Development of liquefied hydrogen fuel storage tank

Develop a hydrogen fuel storage tank for hydrogen-powered aircraft, with the tank weight less than half that of stored hydrogen fuel.

③Structural study of hydrogen-powered aircraft

Develop a base aircraft (TRA: technical reference aircraft) that considers the feasibility of hydrogen aircraft. A wind tunnel test confirms the concept of hydrogen-powered aircraft with a cruising performance of 2000-3000 km.

The above research themes ①, ②, and ③ will be implemented by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in a 10-year plan, with a project on the scale of approximately 18.04 billion yen. Of that amount, approximately 17.5 billion yen will be provided by NEDO.

R&D Item 2 "Development of complex shapes and considerable weight reduction of aircraft main components"

With the aim of using these components in aircraft launched after 2035, the project aims to achieve approximately 30% weight reduction (approximately 10% compared to existing composite materials) in existing metal components, with respect to important structural components, such as main wings. This research will be conducted by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (research on weight reduction, higher production rate, and more complicated shapes of major aircraft components: project period of 10 years) and Shin Meiwa Industry (research on the production of large integrated molded aileron (hinged surface on wing), which enables more than 30% weight reduction of the metal structural aileron: period of 5 years). The project size of the two companies is approximately 5.97 billion yen, of which approximately 3.58 billion yen will be provided by NEDO.