What are the levers for decarbonising air transport?
AeroMAPS offers some answers to this question. This tool, developed by a team of researchers at ISAE-SUPAERO, aims to explore and assess the effectiveness of strategies to reduce the impact of air transport in relation to international commitments to combat climate change.
By playing on the sector’s transition levers, AeroMAPS users can define the scenarios whose impacts they wish to analyse. For example, the introduction of new types of aircraft, the use of new fuels or the rate of growth in air traffic.
“Based on the hypotheses chosen, AeroMAPS evaluates the corresponding CO2 emissions, other climate impacts and the associated consumption of energy resources”, explains Thomas Planès, lecturer and researcher in sustainable aviation and aircraft design at ISAE-SUPAERO. “We can then compare them with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.”
At a time when air traffic emits 2.5% of CO2 emissions linked to human activities, this platform is proving to be an essential tool for exploring the possible futures of aviation, in keeping with ISAE-SUPAERO’s commitment to mobilising its academic and scientific skills in the service of the transition to a sustainable society.
“A reference tool for research”
AeroMAPS is the first platform for exploring air transport scenarios built on an open-source scientific methodology. This means that the entire scientific community can appropriate the tool and participate in its development. Its development has been integrated into the work of the Institute for Sustainable Aviation (ISA), a collaborative research institute initiated by ISAE-SUPAERO, which aims to tackle the transition to low-carbon aviation in all its complexity.
“We wanted to build the most comprehensive sectoral assessment model possible, including technological, environmental, economic and sociological considerations”, explains Laurent Joly, Director of the ISA. “The aim is to make AeroMAPS a benchmark tool for research.”
The platform was initially designed and developed to enable researchers to explore air transport transition scenarios in detail. It was quickly incorporated into training: first in the engineering curriculum at ISAE-SUPAERO, then as part of continuing education programmes.
“For those who work all day on the design of tomorrow’s aircraft architectures, AeroMAPS allows them to take a step back and look at the different levers for action, and to understand the concrete effect of each lever,” stresses Thomas Planès.
Visualising CO2 emissions
The potential of AeroMAPS and its unique nature have gradually prompted the two teacher-researchers behind the project, Scott Delbecq and Thomas Planès, to think bigger: a second thesis, in partnership with Toulouse Business School, has been launched to add a socio-economic dimension to the tool.
“The decarbonisation options, such as new aircraft models and different alternative fuels, do not have the same economic characteristics and will cost more or less,” explains Antoine Salgas, recruited as a doctoral student on the project.
He then developed a traffic and emissions inventory, which will eventually enable the analyses carried out with AeroMAPS to be partitioned and regionalised. “I brought together numerous sources and developed models to create an open database, as part of a collaboration with the Dutch university TU Delft”.
This work led to the creation of a second tool, AeroSCOPE, aimed at researchers, decision-makers and the general public. “AeroSCOPE provides an overview of where CO2 emissions from aviation are located in the world. By combining the two tools, we can refine the scenarios and be much more precise about the decarbonisation solutions that can be proposed for each region.
“Serving society”
Today, the comprehensive, multidisciplinary nature of AeroMAPS is a decision-making aid for the entire aeronautics ecosystem, as well as for institutional, industrial and community decision-makers.
“This scientific and open methodological basis enables consensus to be reached and meets a need for transparency,” notes Scott Delbecq, a lecturer and researcher in aeronautical systems design.
To facilitate use of the tool, a partnership has been set up with the digital services company Sopra Steria. This major tech player built the platform’s new web interface to improve the user experience and make it accessible to decision-makers.
The faces behind AeroMAPS
Driven by a strong desire to contribute to the transition of the aviation sector, I focus my research on the design of aeronautical systems and their deployment in prospective scenarios using the FAST-OAD and AeroMAPS open source platforms. I am developing methods to increase the analysis and optimisation capabilities of these platforms. I am then working on integrating these research tools into our teaching programmes. My aim is to provide our students with the skills and knowledge they need to become the leaders and architects of the airline industry's transition.
Scott Delbecq Lecturer and researcher in aeronautical systems design
With a view to working towards a transition to sustainable aviation, my research focuses on modelling the air transport system, its environmental impact and decarbonisation solutions. In this context, I am leading the AeroMAPS project, which aims to develop dedicated open source tools, in conjunction with the work of the Institute for Sustainable Aviation. Finally, I'm committed to integrating these various contents into our training courses, so that our students can become the future players in the sector's transition.
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