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Interview
what they need when building prototypes . Thankfully , as our team is made up of aviation veterans whose credibility in the industry is not questioned , we don ’ t suffer too much from this .
With Ascendance at the forefront of aviation innovation , where do you see the industry in the next ten-to-15 years ? We see all major airlines switching to more sustainable commercial aircraft ( narrow bodies such as Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 ), running on more hybrid-electric engines to optimize fuel consumption and reduce the need for SAF . We see the future being a new , more sustainable aviation - powered partly by Sterna . supply chain today , and how is Ascendance addressing these ? SAF production and adoption is a major bottleneck in decarbonizing aviation - for Ascendance , this is why we ’ ve created our innovations in a way that utilizes a lower amount of SAF and is compatible with other energy sources .
Supply chain management can also be a challenge for some . Industry giants like Airbus and Boeing are top of the pecking order when it comes to supply chain engagement , so it can be a challenge for smaller companies and startups to access
Do you believe we ’ re on track to meet the 2050 net-zero goal , or do you foresee additional obstacles ? If we stick with the current roadmap - that being , relying almost exclusively on SAF and hydrogen - then we will not reach Net Zero by 2050 as SAF production is , right now , not sufficient and hydrogen is still too immature . Furthermore , battery electric won ’ t do the trick because it ’ s too limited in terms of performance and operations .
Combining decarbonized fuels , such as these ones , with fuel optimization technologies such as hybrid-electric will be the key to unlocking a real net-zero aviation . ■
Jean-Christophe Lambert www . ascendance-ft . com /
Jean-Christophe Lambert is Co-founder and CEO of Ascendance . He has been the CEO of Ascendance since 2018 , developing solutions for cleaner and more sustainable aviation including both eVTOL aircraft and hybrid-electric propulsion technologies .
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