Table 6 Fuel use of aircraft generations for each of the three pathways for aircraft technology considered

From: Air traffic growth jeopardises European aviation’s climate mitigation efforts despite the substantial potential of hydrogen

Generation and introduction year

Pre-2020 generation

Generation 2035

Generation 2050

Fuel type

Hydrocarbon

Hydrocarbon

Hydrogen

Hydrocarbon

Hydrogen

Aircraft type

NB & WB

NB

WB

NB

NB

WB

NB

WB

Business as usual

1.00

0.87

0.87

1.04

0.78

0.78

0.94

1.09

Optimistic

1.00

0.78

0.82

0.90

0.62

0.66

0.71

0.66

Breakthrough

1.00

0.70

0.70

0.67

0.50

0.50

0.48

0.45

  1. Values are relative to the current generation and expressed based on the lower heating value of the fuel used. The current generation of narrow-body (NB) and wide-body (WB) aircraft only consists of aircraft powered by hydrocarbons, but introducing hydrogen-powered aircraft in future generations is considered.
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