Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center

Civil aviation is a rapidly growing mode of transportation, one that has long time constants, and one that is extremely tough to decarbonize. In addition, aviation is unique in that emissions occur at high altitude, and this provides for a mechanism by which aviation emissions cause around twice the warming that the same emissions on the surface would cause. This talk will outline the long-term environmental challenges facing aviation and how we can move towards a zero environmental impact aviation sector. Parts of the solution discussed will focus on: (1) the fuel-energy system, where various alternative fuel options are being considered (including hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels), (2) operational measures that can mitigate contrail warming from aviation, and (3) a potential way to apply emissions control technology from ground transportation to aviation that could reduce >90% of the air pollution impacts of aviation.

Steven Barrett is the H. N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is Head of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department and Director of the MIT Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment. Before joining MIT in 2010 Steven was a lecturer at Cambridge University's Engineering Department, where he completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His research focuses on helping the aviation industry achieve zero environmental impacts, with focus areas including low emissions propulsion, contrail avoidance, and evaluating the sustainability of biofuels.