Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support research into (a) improving aircraft efficiency and (b) new technologies to enable electric and hybrid powered flight.

The focus of our policy development and analysis to date has been on ways to meet our 2050 net zero carbon commitment. We have not specifically made an assessment of the savings that could be made if the focus were the next five or ten years, but we continue to develop policies to reduce emissions over both the short term and the medium term.

The Transport Secretary recently announced the Jet Zero Council, which will provide leadership and strategic direction to cut aviation emissions. The Council will focus on developing UK capabilities to deliver zero emission flight.

Through the Aerospace Growth Partnership, Government and industry are committing a total of £3.9bn in funding for mid-stage aerospace research and development between 2013 and 2026.

DfT’s Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition makes £20 million of capital funding available for projects that will produce low carbon waste-based fuels for use in aircraft and heavy goods vehicles. This government funding will be matched by the private sector, and is expected to support construction of first-of-a-kind plants by 2021. The sustainable aviation fuel produced in these plants is expected to have emissions savings of at least 70% when compared to traditional jet fuel.