16 February 2022
The Member of the European Parliament Caroline Nagtegaal talked to Royal NLR about the challenges in aviation. The climate challenge does not stop at national borders. It is a complex issue that concerns the whole of Europe. A lot needs to be done outside the aviation sector too to make the continent climate-neutral by 2050.
08 February 2022
This is the Week of the Circular Economy in the Netherlands. During last year’s edition, NLR organised a webinar and, together with its partners, NLR has been up to a lot since then. Connections were made with like-minded organisations and NLR incorporated the concept of circular aviation in its new Climate-Neutral Aviation programme. However, many more circular practices still need to be included.
24 January 2022
Technology Base Business Campus and Royal NLR are intensifying their cooperation to further develop opportunities at Twente Airport as a test and innovation airport. On behalf of NLR and Technology Base, in January two contracts have been signed that start to implement this. This involves a multi-year lease for office and work space on behalf of NLR and a cooperation contract giving Twente Airport access to NLR's premium knowledge and expertise. Both parties view the opportunities that the transition in aviation offers Twente Airport as contributing to sustainable aviation.
21 December 2021
At the beginning of 2021 NLR initiated an ambitious project with a view to flying its HYDRA-2 drone using liquid hydrogen in a full composite tank by the end of 2022. As the end of this year approaches, the NLR project team looks back at the challenges faced and celebrates its achievements.
11 November 2021
On October 31st the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) started in Glasgow. And the news is full of articles reminding us all, once again, the impact of all human activities on the climate and the desperate need to change. Criticism is raised against those participants who travelled to Glasgow by plane. As it happens more often this illustrates, the aviation sector is targeted as the “evil” industry.
01 October 2021
The Dutch aviation sector is investing in clean and smart mobility. To do that, various consortiums under the auspices of the sector organisations LRN and NAG have submitted ten project proposals to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, RVO. Royal NLR has played an essential role in that. Given the aim of improved sustainability in aviation, the sector wants to use these proposals to obtain access to the Mobility Fund. In concrete terms, the proposals range from applications of new lightweight materials and the use of digital techniques through to developing electrically powered flight and using greener aviation fuels.
24 September 2021
The amounts of sustainable aviation fuels being produced by 2050 from the biobased feedstocks that will be available in the Netherlands can only meet a fraction of the anticipated fuel demand. The supply potential for synthetic kerosene, produced using CO2 that has been recycled or captured from the atmosphere and renewable electricity, is larger and may be sufficient. However, that depends heavily on the amount of excess renewable electricity allocated to the aviation sector.
