Flight shame got you down? We have good news for you.
Why we invested in the future of air travel
There has been a lot of talk about how to decarbonize aviation but very little action. In order to truly make a dent in a space that is on track to represent 25% of global emissions, we need innovators that are delivering on execution, not just promising to.
Want to take a deep dive into sustainable aviation first? Check out our public research.
In the early days of commercial aviation, flying was a luxury reserved for only the wealthiest individuals, and a round-trip flight cost half as much as purchasing an entire car. Today, most of us wouldn’t give a second thought to buying a plane ticket when planning our vacations, and that is all thanks to the jet engine revolutionizing air travel in the 1950s. Jet-engine-powered airliners were fast, powerful, and large enough that by the 1970s, exclusivity was no longer the name of the game. Since the jet engine became standard, passenger flights have quite literally taken off. In 1980, 800 million passengers traversed the skies, and in 2020 that number rose to 4.6 billion–that’s a growth of 475%.
Unfortunately, while air travel has connected the world, it is also one of the heaviest emitting industries, so this rise in accessibility has come at a high cost. For every 1 kg of jet fuel burned, 3.16 kg of CO2 is released into the atmosphere. So between passenger travel and cargo transportation, the aviation industry is responsible for adding about 920 million tonnes of CO2 to our atmosphere each year, or 2.4% of global emissions. And CO2 emissions are only part of the story when it comes to the global warming potential of aviation. If you look at everything else that comes out of a jet engine (nitrogen oxides, water vapor, and soot), the warming effects are 3x higher than just the CO2.
In a time when most sectors have a clear path forward in terms of reducing emissions, the aviation industry continues to climb. At this pace, aviation could account for 25% of all global emissions by 2050. Jet engines opened up the skies, and now it’s time for the next phase of innovation with a focus on sustainability.
Looking beyond the jet engine
To understand the best path toward sustainable aviation, it's essential to know why the warming effects of air travel extend beyond CO2 emissions. The exhaust from a jet engine contains up to 30% water vapor, a potent GHG that amplifies global warming, and soot (aka black carbon). In the atmosphere, soot gathers water on its surface, forming contrails–those long white streaks you see following airplanes in the sky. Contrails act like thin clouds in the sky and trap heat at the earth's surface that would otherwise escape into space.
There are many proposed approaches to creating a more sustainable aviation industry, but unfortunately, methods to reduce non-CO2 factors can actually increase CO2 emissions and vice versa. For example, rerouting around cool air masses can help prevent contrail formation, but CO2 emissions increase because this approach consumes more energy.
What about alternative fuels? Is it possible to move away from fossil fuels completely? Well, yes, but it’s complicated. Hydrogen fuel is one option, but burning hydrogen releases water vapor and working with the material itself (a gas above -253° C) is not without its difficulties. Bio-based and synthetic fuels already exist and are compatible with existing engines, but both options will still release CO2, and neither is currently cost-effective to scale.
Electrifying aviation has the potential to reduce, and even eliminate, CO2 emissions without increasing other warming factors, but today’s battery technology is not energy dense enough. It is estimated that only about 8% of current aircraft in operation could fly their mission on a retrofitted battery-electric powertrain. So, to give batteries wings, we need a new type of plane.
Enabling an electric future
The investing landscape has fundamentally changed over the past several months. Before now, there was so much money going into VC that a compelling story and long-term vision were enough to secure large rounds. That has all changed. Startups today need to show action and have a certain speed of execution to inspire the same level of confidence. So while a year or two ago, it was enough to say, “we are going to build the future of aviation,” today, you have to show that you are actually doing it.
We knew that if we were going to take a step into the aviation space, it had to be with a results-oriented team, and we found that in the stellar group at Cosmic. Cosmic is pushing forward the electrification of main-stream air travel by building a longer-range electric aircraft for trips up to about 1,000 km, a distance that will cover more than 50% of all flights today. This is a zero-emissions aircraft, with twice the efficiency and half the operating cost of conventional jets, and they already have a working engine.
Cosmic’s approach follows decades of aerospace research and is enabled by recent advancements in computer modeling, materials science, and manufacturing. Engine development can take decades, making it even more incredible that the Cosmic team could design and build a breakthrough engine in only six months and be on track for a full aircraft by 2025. We’re not surprised, given that the founding team is made up of alums of Boom Supersonic, NASA, Oxford, and Kittyhawk. Christopher, Marshall, and Joe have the perfect balance of engineering expertise and business acumen, and we couldn’t be more impressed.
The team at Cosmic has a unique approach and a great start. We can’t wait to support them as they continue to expand on their designs and development and move us toward the next great age of air travel.
Learn more about Cosmic Aerospace.
Looking for more information on sustainable aviation? Check out our public research.