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Airbus Spearheads PACIFIC Project to Minimize Non-CO2 Emissions in Aviation – Image Credit Airbus
- Airbus, in collaboration with 10 partners from four European countries, has launched the PACIFIC project, an initiative to study the impact of non-CO2 emissions in the aviation industry, focusing on contrails.
- The project, which began in January 2025 and will run until June 2028, is funded by the European Union and aims to improve modeling and prediction capabilities to better assess contrail formation and aviation’s broader climate impact.
In a concerted push towards climate-neutral aviation, Airbus has taken a leading role in the PACIFIC (Particle emissions, Air Quality and Climate Impact related to Fuel Composition and Engine Cycle) project. PACIFIC is an international consortium of 11 partners from four countries investigating the impact of fuel composition and engine cycle on particle emissions.
The project, which kicked off in January 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in June 2028, is being funded by the European Union. Its primary goal is to enhance modeling and prediction capabilities, enabling a more accurate assessment of contrail formation and the overall climate impact of the aviation industry. The findings from this research are expected to influence future fuel specifications and policy recommendations, thereby reducing aviation’s environmental footprint.
PACIFIC aims to bridge the knowledge gap regarding non-CO2 emissions in aviation. It plans to test an unprecedented range of fuels under controlled conditions, ensuring consistent combustion parameters and hardware similarity from lab-scale experiments to full aircraft engine tests.
The research will explore how soot forms during fuel combustion and use improved prediction tools to anticipate its presence in engine emissions. The project will also examine the quantity of fine particles released at different engine power levels, refining methods to estimate their impact from ground tests to actual flight conditions.
Another crucial aspect of the research is to assess how these particles contribute to ice crystal formation, a significant factor in contrail development, using advanced measurement techniques. Lastly, the broader climate effects of these emissions will be studied by examining how different fuel compositions and engine settings influence contrail formation and properties and their subsequent impact on global warming.
The insights from PACIFIC will help conduct a robust cost-benefit assessment of various fuel options, providing essential inputs for future fuel-related regulations. The project’s findings will ultimately aid in defining new fuel specifications aimed at reducing aviation’s climate and air quality impact, bolstering Europe’s leadership in sustainable aeronautics.
Airbus Chief Technology Officer, Sabine Klauke, stated, “Addressing aviation’s non-CO2 emissions is critical in our journey toward truly sustainable flight. The PACIFIC project will quantify and measure the non-CO2 emissions emitted from various SAF compositions. We look forward to the results of this multi-year project.”
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