Climate Effects of the Flying V

Abstract

Climate impact from aviation becomes increasingly important. The Flying-V is a promising concept with superior aerodynamic efficiency and lower weight, leading to lower fuel consumption and lower CO2-emission compared to a tube-and-wing aircraft like the A350. Climate impact from non-CO2 effects (NOx-emission, H2O-emission and contrails) depends on location and time of emission. Due to different design altitudes of the Flying-V and the A350, the impact from all effects have been assessed. At design conditions, the difference in climate impact is 1% in favor of the A350. The benefits of lower CO2- and NOx-emissions are trumped by increased impact from contrails. At identical conditions however, the Flying-V outperforms the A350 in both climate impact and fuel consumption. Also, lower altitudes showed substantially lower climate impact for both aircraft. It is recommended to redesign the Flying-V for lower altitudes and to operate existing civil aircraft at lower altitudes to reduce climate impact.