Rolls-Royce makes move towards hybrid planes
Engine-maker Rolls-Royce took a major step towards greener travel as it today announced the acquisition of Siemens’s electric aeroplane business.
The e-aircraft business employs around 180 designers and engineers to develop all-electric and hybrid systems for planes.
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The deal is understood to have been worth around €50m (£45m).
Rolls-Royce has already collaborated with the Siemens unit when the two teamed up with Airbus to develop a hybrid system for planes. The system reduces emissions by using a jet engine to create electricity which then propels the plane.
“Electrification is set to have as dramatic an impact on aviation as the replacement of piston engines by gas turbines,” said Rob Watson, director of Rolls-Royce Electrical.
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The aviation industry is looking to develop cleaner technology to meet carbon emission targets.
“We believe that pure electric, or all-electric, propulsion will power smaller aircraft in the foreseeable future, while larger aircraft will rely upon hybrid electric solutions that combine electrification with evolutions of the gas turbine,” said the company’s chief technology officer Paul Stein.