Clean Sky has the objective to reduce the European air traffic´s emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides by 50 and 80 percent, respectively, and noise by 50 percent by the year 2020. Volvo Aero is involved in the project, developing lightweight technologies to reach this goal.
"The project is of great importance for the environment, the future of commercial aviation and for Volvo Aero's position within the aero engine industry. We play an important role in Clean Sky with our lightweight technology, and we are confident that we can contribute in making aero engines more environmentally sound," says Robert Lundberg, Director of EU R&D at Volvo Aero.
A number of sub-areas are proposed within the framework of the program. In the engine sub-area, five engine demonstrators, both open rotor and geared turbofan, are planned. Volvo Aero's contribution to these demonstrators will be lightweight engine components.
Clean Sky is a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI), a new collaboration form within the EU in which industries, universities, organizations and authorities participate, with the objective to develop and demonstrate new technologies. The Clean Sky JTI gathers the majority of the European aerospace industries, from small and medium-sized enterprises up to the major players on the market. In addition, the research community is also a key player in the project.
EU and the industry share the cost for Clean Sky, which aims a radical reduction of emissions and noise from air traffic until 2020.
The program will be completed in 2014, with a potential of having these demonstrated technologies introduced to revenue service in the latter part of the decade. After that the effects will hopefully be seen in terms of reduced fuel consumption, up to 40 percent.
