Emmanuel Macron will announce an envelope of 300 million euros per year for aeronautics

2023-06-16 08:36:21

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted
yesterday at 2:52 p.m., Update 18 minutes ago

The Head of State invited the main leaders of the sector to a dinner Thursday at the Élysée. ERIC GAILLARD / REUTERS

As part of the development of the “zero emission” aircraft, the state also wants to replace the Airbus A320 with a green model within ten years.

Objective “green airplane“. Emmanuel Macron will detail this Friday a series of measures to develop the device “zero emissionsduring a trip to a Safran site in Villaroche, about fifty kilometers from Paris, said the presidency. The French group is a world leader in aeronautical engines. The Élysée reminded before this trip that the airlines are committed to carbon neutrality by 2050.

According to information from Parisian, the president has planned to announce an envelope of 300 million euros per year from 2024 to support the aeronautics sector. With several objectives: to develop new engines, to increase hydrogen needs and to have cleaner planes. To do this, France should open its first sustainable fuel production site.

The State, which wishes to launch the ecological aircraft program by the end of the five-year term, also wants to replace the Airbus A 320 with a green model within ten years. Another expense: 200 million euros to support start-ups working on small electric planes. Contacted by Le Figaro, the office of Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune did not confirm this information Thursday evening.

Read alsoPlane: France must act quickly to catch up with the United States on green kerosene

Lighten the planes

Emmanuel Macron met the main leaders of the sector (Airbus, Safran, Thalès, Dassault, Air France KLM, Aéroports de Paris, etc.) around a dinner Thursday at the Élysée. The Head of State will also go to the Paris Air Show on Monday, a major biennial aeronautics festival canceled in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and which will be placed this year under the sign of decarbonization. This sequence is part of a series of presidential announcements on the strengthening of the industrial and technological sovereignty of France, from the reinstallation of the production of drugs to the development of artificial intelligence. “France and Europe must position themselves in the competition between large blocs(China, United States, etc.) which is emerging on the carbon-free aircraft market, “able to integrate 100% biofuels“, underlines a presidential adviser.

Produced from used oils, wood residues or algae, sustainable fuels (SAF) can be used in addition to kerosene in current aircraft, but their production is still in its infancy. Synthetic fuels or e-fuels combine hydrogen – produced from carbon-free sources such as renewable energies or nuclear power – and CO2 captured in the air or in industrial fumes.

It is thus necessary to designaircraft and engines that will consume less», notes the presidency, recalling that consumption per passenger transported has already been divided by five since 1960, by two since 1990 and must still drop by “20 to 30%“. This means lightening the planes with new composite materials as well as new aircraft and engine architectures. The air sector transported 4.5 billion passengers in 2019, before the Covid crisis, a level which it should almost regain this year and which could double by 2050.