Airbus, Siemens and Rolls-Royce are teaming up to develop a hybrid passenger plane that would use a single electric turbofan along with three conventional jet engines running on aviation fuel.
The artist rendering provided by Airbus on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017 shows an Airbus e-FanX hybrid test plane. The aircraft will be flying with one electric turbofan motor and 3 conventional engines. (Airbus via AP)
The plane is an effort to develop and demonstrate technology that in the future could help limit emissions of carbon dioxide from aviation and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The three companies said Tuesday they aim to build a flying version of the E-Fan X technology demonstrator plane by 2020.
The aircraft would be based on the existing BAe 146 four-engine regional jet. The hybrid version would generate electric power through a turbine within the plane. That power would be used to turn the fan blades of the single electric turbofan engine.
If the system works, a second electric motor could be added, the companies said.
The companies said European plane maker Airbus SE would be responsible for building the aircraft's systems into a working whole, control systems and flight controls. Britain-based Rolls-Royce plc would make the generator and the turbo-shaft engine, while German engineering company Siemens AG would deliver the two-megawatt electric motor to power the engine. Rolls-Royce the aircraft engine maker is distinct from the luxury car brand owned by BMW AG.
The companies said they were looking ahead to the European Union's long-term goals of reducing CO2 emissions from aviation by 60 percent, as well as meeting noise and pollution limits that they said "cannot be achieved with technologies existing today." CO2 — carbon dioxide — is a greenhouse gas that scientists say contributes to global warming.
Other projects for hybrid or electric planes are in the works. Kirkland, Washington-based Zunum Aero says it is working on a 12-seat hybrid-electric commuter jet. The company's website lists its partners as Boeing, jetBlue Technology Ventures, and the Department of Commerce Clean Energy Fund.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s National Police agency says that it has recovered a hijacked cargo ship laden with rice following a gunbattle with gangs that lasted more than five hours.
Two police officers were injured and an undetermined number of gang members were killed in the shootout that occurred Saturday off the coast of the capital, Port-au-Prince, authorities said in a statement.
It was a rare victory for an underfunded police department that has struggled to quell gang violence following a spate of attacks that began Feb. 29.
Police said in the statement Sunday that those responsible for the hijacking were members of two gangs, named the 5 Seconds and the Taliban gang. They said gunmen seized the transport ship Magalie on Thursday as it departed the port of Varreux.
Radio Télé Métronome reported that the gangs kidnapped everyone aboard the ship and stole some 10,000 sacks of rice out of the 60,000 sacks it was carrying.
The ship was headed to the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien.
Also on Sunday, online news site Radio graphie reported that the Taliban gang used a front loader to demolish a police station in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Canaan where at least four police officers were killed in a recent attack. The station was no longer operational.
Gang violence continued on Monday, with police using megaphones to order the evacuation of the Champ de Mars area near the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince as heavy gunfire erupted nearby.
The most recent gunbattle between police and gangs comes more than a month after gunmen began targeting key government infrastructure. They have burned down multiple police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
The ongoing violence forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to announce he would resign once a transitional presidential council is formed.
Henry was in Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country when the attacks began and remains locked out of Haiti.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
People take cover from gunfire during clashes between police and gangs in the Champs de Mars area next to the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police take cover during an anti-gang operation next to the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A vendor sells grilled chicken to customers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A street vendor crosses a street that is empty due to residents staying home amid gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
National Police patrol an intersection amid gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A National Police officer patrols an intersection in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, April 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
