Electric airplanes ?

Aviation accounts for about 7% of total greenhouse gas emissions in developed nations such as the UK (in 2017).

The aviation industry has been an emissions laggard compared with the car industry or power generation, but improvements in the power-to-weight ratio of batteries mean some forms of sustainable aviation for shorter trips may finally be coming into view.

The industry will move towards hybrid and electric engines for regional travel (below 1,000 miles) much quicker than many think, according to a report published this week by analysts at investment bank UBS. They predict annual demand for about 550 hybrid planes, using a mixture of fossil fuel and electric power, between 2028 and 2040. This would create a $178bn (£140bn) industry over that time period.

The Seattle-based electric engine company MagniX will be at the show and is planning its first test flight in November with a retrofitted seaplane. Its engines will also power the nine-seater Alice plane currently being made by Eviation, an Israeli startup targeting commercial deliveries in 2022.

“The only option is going to be electric propulsion,” said Roei Ganzarski, MagniX’s chief executive. His company will focus on powering flights of under 900 miles, which accounted for about 45% of trips in 2018.

Yet for the larger commercial aircraft which are responsible for the bulk of global emissions, a change from carbon-emitting propulsion systems is still 20 years away, according to Paul Everitt, chief executive of ADS, the UK aerospace group. Emissions from aviation will have to fall less slowly than in other parts of the economy because of the “fundamental reality” of increasing demand and a lack of alternatives, he said.

Glenn Llewellyn, general manager for electrification at Airbus, said the company saw “reducing our CO2 emissions as a necessity”. Those who don’t invest heavily could be left behind as carbon emissions regulations become stricter, he added.

“ There’s huge progress. It’s not enough [yet], it’s not sufficient for our ambitions, but the technology is progressing.”

Airbus is building a hybrid-electric plane in partnership with the UK’s Rolls-Royce, Germany’s Siemens and Cranfield University, with the first flight due in 2021. However, Llewellyn said the technology would not be viable in larger commercial aircraft until the 2030s at least.

The Guardian