UK invests in 'greener' engine technology
The UK Government has announced that it will provide more than GBP 40 million (€59 million) towards developing environmentally-friendly engines. The money will help fund a collaborative industrial research project called Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE), which aims to design and test the next generation of gas turbine engines. It is expected that the EFE will contribute significantly to achieving the goals set by the Advisory Council for Aeronautics in Europe (ACARE) of reducing aircraft carbon dioxide emissions by 50% per passenger kilometre, nitrogen dioxide emissions by 80%, and perceived noise by 50% by 2020. 'New technologies have the potential to make a real difference in reducing aviation's impact on the environment. Aviation is a fast growing source of carbon emissions, and the amount that we fly is likely to increase,' said John Denham, Secretary of State for the UK Government's new Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). 'We need to act now to create cleaner, greener technology to help ensure emissions don't rise dramatically in the future. This technology is part of that,' he added. After the completion of the computer-based design and development engineering work, the project will begin building and then testing the performance of the components of the 'hot' end of the engine, namely the combustion and turbine parts. Industrial partners will also be manufacturing different test components at their bases across the country, which will be then be brought together in a full engine demonstrator and validated at a test-bed facility of Rolls Royce, the lead industrial partner in the programme. The EFE, which will run until 2010, is the largest single investment ever provided through the UK Government's Technology Programme. From 2005 to 2008, the programme will make available a total of GBP 320 million (€471 million) to businesses to support research and development (R&D) in key technology areas. Mr Denham said the EFE project illustrated all the elements the new DIUS will bring together to support innovation and business success. The new department was announced in June by the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. 'DIUS has been created to help ensure Britain stays ahead of global competition. Working with business, colleges and universities, DIUS will boost the number of world-class graduates and post-graduates and raise skills across the workforce. We will support universities in the drive for world class research [...] And we will work with companies, like Rolls Royce, that have the leadership and management to bring these different elements together in projects, like EFE, that will help secure the UK's future prosperity,' said Mr Denham
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