Sustainable Aviation for Reducing Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emission in Canadian Skies

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The Government of Canada has a 2050 target of net-zero emissions, yet the electric aviation (EA) option is missing from Canadian studies of transportation choices, while it has attracted significant interest in European countries with climate conditions similar to that of Canada. The proposed research focuses on atmospheric monitoring/modeling and socio-economic analysis of the EA systems in Canada and provides reliable and economical solutions to reduce associated emissions, using electric planes (e-planes) and airport microgrids. The critical market for the entry of e-planes in Canada is flight schools (1400 aircrafts) where pilots are trained in small two-seat aircraft and will be exposed to this future technology. A second key market is regional travel where small planes (10,000 aircraft) make trips under three hours in duration, such as coastal and remote communities. This includes many Indigenous communities that rely on air access for health services and high value goods, and destinations that increasingly promote sustainable tourism and need a low carbon means of transport. Waterloo-Wellington Flight Center (WWFC) has already partnered with UWaterloo to study the potentials of e-planes for flight training. This Alliance proposal will complement the other awarded grants, which have been utilized to purchase an e-plane to be in WWFC, by supporting research on the operation of the e-plane battery in Canadian climate conditions and proposing infrastructural changes in the electric distribution systems of Canadian flight Centers. The over-arching goals of this research proposal are to test e-plane viability, including analysis of battery system performance under Canadian environmental conditions, including a wide range in temperatures and extended cold season, and provide recommendations for optimal design of airport microgrids to maintain high state-of-health for batteries, while utilizing the e-planes for flight training. Making advances in operational testing of the new technology allows Canada to join other early adopters of e-plane technology and keep an edge in the future of air transportation.