Macron wants his “green” engine

2023-06-16 08:59:00

Before the Paris Air Show, the President of the Republic visits a Safran site. The French company is working with the American GE on an engine that is supposed to revolutionize aviation.

Pair Olivier Ubertalli

The Leap engine manufactured by Safran and on board the A320neo, the 737MAX and the Chinese C919.
© ERIC PIERMONT / AFP

Published on 06/16/2023 at 08:59

CHow to decarbonize aviation? As a prelude to the Paris Air Show which opens on Monday, Emmanuel Macron is going to Villaroche (Seine-et-Marne) on Friday, where he will visit the factory and R&D center of Safran Engine Aircraft, which produces engines for civil aircraft. and military. The president is to announce a series of measures to develop the “zero emission” aircraft.

To manufacture a “green” engine that will consume less, Safran is associated 50-50 with the American GE within the joint company CFM. Together, they have already invented the CFM56, the best-selling engine in the history of aeronautics. It notably powers the Airbus A320 and the Boeign 737. Currently, in Villaroche, Safran notably manufactures the Leap engine, on board the A320neo, the 737MAX and the Chinese C919. “Almost 10,000 orders for this engine have been placed. The Leap engine is 15% less fuel consumption compared to the CFM56 engine. So it’s 15% less consumption, which required nearly 35 years of research and experimental development, ”we explain at the Élysée.

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It is now a question of producing an even less greedy engine. This future, according to Safran and GE, has a code name: Rise, for Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines. Under study since 2019, this engine promises to reduce fuel consumption by at least 20% (even up to 30%), a central element for the decarbonization of aviation.

“Since the creation of CFM in 1974, our enormous efforts in research and innovation have made it possible to reduce the fuel consumption of our engines by 1% per year on average. […]. It is not enough. We now have to go twice as fast,” explained Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, X-Mines and former adviser to Jean-Luc Lagardère, in 2021 during the presentation of this innovation to the press. “When we talk about a 20% reduction in consumption, it is compared to current aviation fuel. If we were to put just sustainable fuel in this new engine, it would reduce emissions by 80% and if it were hydrogen, which is a bit of nirvana, it would reduce CO2 emissions.₂ 100%,” added John Slattery, CEO of GE.

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To achieve its ends, the Rise engine will have composite fan blades and metal alloys resistant to very high temperatures. It will use additive manufacturing, in other words three-dimensional objects printed in 3D from a digital file. “The question is to know to what extent with public support and private support, we will be able to develop this engine and to what extent we will be on time compared to the American or Chinese competition,” he explains. – we at the Elysée.

An issue of “green sovereignty” in which Safran therefore has its part to play. The airline sector transported 4.5 billion passengers in 2019, producing 2.4% of global CO emissions₂, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). It is expected to double by 2050.