ClimateSeed, the decarbonization partner of Solar Airship

EURO AIRSHIP, a sustainability trailblazer in aviation, has joined forces with ClimateSeed in a strategic partnership to assess its greenhouse gas emissions related to the groundbreaking airship project.

EURO AIRSHIP, seeks to offer new ways of flying through the development of airships powered by solar panels and fuel cells. The company plans to deploy several models of different sizes and applications. It has called on ClimateSeed's expertise to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of its demonstration airship, the same one scheduled for a global circumnavigation, in order to substantiate its climate-related impacts.

With ClimateSeed's expertise in carbon footprint quantification and management, SolarAirship One underscores its commitment to transparency and environmental responsibility.

Setting the Scene

After 13 years of research, including patented innovations and engineering work by Capgemini Engineering, the EURO AIRSHIP team is set to start industrializing an environmentally friendly rigid airship.

To promote this globally, EURO AIRSHIP is developing a 100% electric demonstrator, representing the future of decarbonized rigid airships. This innovative airship will find its utility in various applications, including tourism, surveillance, cargo transportation, and humanitarian aid.

Nonetheless, the airship is not designed to supplant traditional aviation due to its limited passenger capacity, different speed characteristics, and misalignment with EURO AIRSHIP's primary objectives.

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No reliance on fossil fuels

Minimal ground infrastructure required

Silent Flight

The collaboration with ClimateSeed

Initially, ClimateSeed conducted a carbon footprint study across the entire lifecycle of the solar demonstrator.

On graph 1, the production of the prototype accounts for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This covers the entire value chain, from raw material extraction to airship assembly, including transportation and energy needs at each stage. Aircraft maintenance, especially photovoltaic module replacements, has a significant impact, while the end-of-life phase has a smaller carbon footprint.

Graph 2 shows that photovoltaic module production is Euro Airship's main greenhouse gas source, contributing to nearly 60% of the solar airship's footprint over a 10-year lifespan with one replacement. It is important to emphasize that the 2060 tCO₂e estimate is a preliminary calculation based on current data, which may evolve as design improvements are made.

To go further, ClimateSeed and EURO AIRSHIP could:

Improve data collection and reduce environmental impact assessment estimates.
Emphasize eco-design and make decisions based on environmental studies.
Broaden their focus beyond carbon by conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), a method to quantify environmental impacts for eco-design, in order to explore other impact categories.

Other perspectives include conducting studies for other airship models, or even assess the carbon footprint of the world tour event.

To better understand the carbon impact of the airship, comparisons are often made. To make the comparison meaningful, we'll compare it to other means of transport. However, it is essential to remind the airship has not the same exact purpose as other means of transportation. Therefore, the comparison is limited and given for information purposes only.

To compare, we need to relate the impact to a given utility. The airship's total footprint can be reduced to an intensity per passenger and per kilometer traveled, based on assumptions about airship usage (occupancy rate and distance traveled per trip)*.

Solar Airship One: 0,027 kgCO₂e / passenger.km

*The calculation of total passenger-kilometers is based on the following hypothesis:

Airship capacity: 46 passengers
Occupancy rate: 80%
Travel time: 1 hour
Travel time along the route (excluding takeoff and landing): 70%
Travel speed: 60 km/h

The data depicted in this graph was gathered from the Emission Factor Source: Datagir

Note that this graph only provides a rough estimate, as many factors can influence GHG emissions for a same mode of transportation. For instance, emission factors associated with aviation can vary by a factor of around 1 to 7 (from 0.130 kgCO2e/pax-km for a short-haul economy without radiative forcing to 0.899 kgCO2e/pax-km for a long-haul first class with radiative forcing, source: DEFRA, 2023) depending on the class considered, the distance flown and whether radiative forcing (condensation trails at high altitudes) is taken into account.

"EURO AIRSHIP is thrilled to soar hand in hand with ClimateSeed, our trusted partner in charting a greener course through GHG assessment. Together, we navigate the winds of change towards a cleaner, brighter future."