Clean Sky thinking

The ‘Clean Sky’ joint technology initiative by the European Commission and the EU has launched its first call for proposals.

The Clean Sky project aims to assess and prove the technology needed to reach European environmental air-transport targets by 2020.

These targets include reducing CO₂ emissions by 50 per cent, an 80 per cent reduction of NO_x emissions and a 50 per cent reduction of external noise.

Currently, Clean Sky incorporates 120 organisations from 16 countries, including 20 SMEs, 15 research centres and 17 universities.

EU commissioner for research, Janez Potocnik, said: ‘The new step taken today by Clean Sky highlights the joint commitment of the European Commission and the European air-transport industry to develop breakthrough technologies to significantly reduce the impact of air transport on the environment and strengthen the competitiveness of this vital sector for Europe’s economy.’