NASA has launched its hunt for a large-scale experimental aircraft to demonstrate the airframe configuration and technologies for a sustainable single-aisle-class airliner that could enter service by the mid-2030s.

Researchers with the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology have designed a three-member family of Flying-V aircraft to demonstrate that the next-generation concept scales.

The facility at the Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co. near Ningpo, Zhejiang Province, is designed to manufacture 100,000 metric tons of unblended biofuel annually, and the state-owned company says its refinery will pave the way toward large-scale production. 

No fast lane is in sight for the introduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in significant quantities, as producers still have to cope with complex processes and high costs, French oil giant TotalEnergies says.

IATA says SAF production needs to increase from roughly 100 million liters (26.4 million gal.) annually in 2021 to 449 billion liters (119 billion gal.) to meet the industry’s goal of net zero carbon emissions.

Airbus has partnered with energy supplier Uniper, Siemens Energy and sustainable fuels company Sasol EcoFT to launch the Green Fuels Hamburg project to produce power-to-liquid synthetic e-kerosene on a commercial scale in Germany.

Urban Sky has started selling imagery captured from cameras hoisted into the stratosphere by its “Microballoons.”

Airbus and global industrial gases and engineering company Linde are broadening their cooperation agreement to study the logistics aspects of hydrogen use in aviation.