From competitors to collaborators: A&D’s new approach to sustainability

Sustainability has evolved from just a buzzword to the backbone of aerospace strategy.

Orders for new aircraft are flooding in, pushing production lines to their limits. Airlines, emerging from pandemic-induced slowdowns, are racing to meet rebounding travel demands. Yet, even as manufacturers scramble to ramp up output, they face a complex, evolving, regulatory landscape to reduce emissions.

This collision of forces – surging production needs and stringent sustainability requirements – is reshaping the aerospace landscape. In boardrooms and on factory floors, industry leaders grapple with a complex equation: how to deliver more aircraft, faster, while simultaneously slashing carbon footprints and reducing environmental impacts.

What’s fascinating is how this challenge is fostering unprecedented collaboration within our industry. In the International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG), we’re witnessing something truly remarkable: experts from different aerospace companies, often competitors, are coming together to share insights and work on sustainability solutions. Imagine Airbus and Boeing sitting at the same table, working collaboratively – it’s a testament to how critical this issue has become for all of us.

This collaborative approach isn’t born from mere goodwill, but from necessity. The complex web of Science-Based Targets, rigorous reporting requirements, and the sheer scale of the sustainability challenge have made it clear: no single company can solve this alone. We need collective action, shared knowledge, and industry-wide innovation.

Three key areas have become the focus of these collaborative efforts: sustainable aviation fuels, circular economy, and decarbonization. These interconnected domains offer significant potential for reducing the industry’s environmental impact while promoting sustainable practices across the value chain.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels

In the race to decarbonize aviation, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) have emerged as the industry’s most promising solution to significant emissions reduction without requiring overhauls to existing aircraft or airport infrastructure.

The urgency surrounding SAFs stems from mounting pressure on the aviation sector to cut its carbon footprint. With air travel demand projected to grow substantially in the coming decades, SAFs represent a critical bridge, allowing the industry to reduce emissions while longer-term solutions like electric and hydrogen propulsion mature.

The potential of hydrogen as a renewable energy source is promising, but its adoption requires a comprehensive evaluation of the global aviation ecosystem. The complexities of hydrogen fuel implementation extend beyond aircraft design to encompass airport infrastructure and operational procedures. Safety considerations are paramount as well. At Capgemini, our strength lies in our ability to collaborate across industries to support our clients in finding the right balance between innovation and practicality, and the right ecosystem of stakeholders to scale these solutions.

The industry recognizes that time is of the essence. Collaborative initiatives are accelerating SAF development and deployment, from securing sustainable feedstocks to establishing robust supply chains. Cross-sector partnerships, including those with agricultural and waste management industries, are being forged to ensure a steady, sustainable supply of raw materials for SAF production.

Circular Economy

The aerospace industry stands at a critical juncture where environmental regulations and business imperatives converge. Circular economy practices offer a powerful solution to meet stringent sustainability targets while simultaneously transforming our business model. This shift from a linear “take-make-dispose” approach to a circular “reduce-reuse-recycle” model is not just an environmental necessity—it’s a strategic imperative.

Regulatory pressures, including Science-Based Targets and rigorous reporting requirements, are pushing the industry to rethink its approach to resource use and waste management. Simultaneously, the potential for cost savings, new revenue streams, and enhanced supply chain resilience make circular economy principles attractive from a business perspective.

Collaboration has emerged as the key to unlocking these opportunities. By working together, aerospace companies are finding innovative ways to overcome the technical, logistical, and economic barriers to circularity. One exemplary initiative in this collaborative landscape is the Lifecycle Optimization for Aerospace platform, developed through a partnership between Capgemini and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

This platform addresses a critical pain point: the management of aircraft and parts maintenance history. By digitizing this process, it unlocks new possibilities for parts reuse, repair, and recycling. Leveraging cloud computing and AI, the platform analyzes maintenance records with unprecedented efficiency, identifying opportunities for reuse and flagging components for recycling when repair is no longer viable.

The collaboration extends beyond Capgemini and AWS, with industry leaders like Air France and Safran joining as early adopters. This multi-stakeholder approach ensures the solution addresses real-world needs across the aerospace value chain.

While the platform is a significant step forward, it’s just one example of industry-wide circular initiatives. Companies are also collaborating on developing recyclable materials and designing components with disassembly and reuse in mind.

The transition to a circular economy in aerospace faces challenges, including the complexity of aircraft systems and high-performance requirements. However, the potential benefits—both environmental and economic—make this transition imperative.

Decarbonization

Decarbonization in the aerospace industry extends far beyond reducing emissions from aircraft operations. It now encompasses a holistic approach that addresses the entire value chain, from sustainable manufacturing practices to innovative aircraft design.

While reducing carbon emissions from fuel combustion remains a primary focus, the industry recognizes the critical importance of decarbonizing production processes. Sustainable manufacturing has become a key priority, with companies aligning their operations with environmental goals such as reducing energy consumption, waste, and water usage at production sites.

The Energy Command Centre in India is a great example of our industry’s commitment to sustainable manufacturing. This integrated platform monitors, optimizes, and controls all building assets consuming energy, including data centers, seamlessly blending digital and physical systems across a diverse set of connected devices. By leveraging best-in-class technologies, advanced AI, machine learning, and IoT, the center optimizes energy performance at all levels. This includes offline reporting, dynamic real-time monitoring, and proactive control and optimization. Organizations utilizing this platform can achieve up to 30% in energy savings.

Central to the center’s capabilities is the implementation of digital twins. These virtual replicas of physical assets, including entire facilities, allow for real-time simulation and optimization of manufacturing processes. By linking production decisions with key performance indicators such as lead times and sustainability metrics, the digital twins provide invaluable insights for enhancing both operational efficiency and environmental performance.

Decarbonization efforts extend to aircraft design and material selection as well. The industry is collaboratively exploring lightweight, aerodynamic designs that minimize fuel consumption. Simultaneously, there’s a push towards adopting sustainable materials to reduce the overall environmental footprint. Advances in material sciences, particularly in the development of advanced composites, are yielding significant efficiency gains and contributing to the decarbonization of the entire aerospace supply chain.

Racing against time: the power of collaboration in aerospace sustainability

The aerospace industry’s journey towards sustainability is a race against the clock. We cannot expect to have hydrogen-powered aircraft certified and flying tomorrow, since the technologies are barely mature. It’s a complex and lengthy endeavor, but the pressure is on.

Regulatory deadlines for emissions reduction loom on the horizon. Market demands for more sustainable air travel are intensifying. Meanwhile, the climate crisis itself adds urgency to our efforts. Yet, the inherent complexity of aerospace innovation – from concept to certification – means that transformative changes often unfold over decades rather than years.

However, this challenge is precisely where the power of collaboration comes to the forefront. By working together, aerospace companies can significantly accelerate the pace of innovation and implementation:

1. Shared Research and Development: Collaborative R&D efforts allow for the pooling of resources, expertise, and data. This can dramatically speed up the maturation of new technologies, from sustainable aviation fuels to electric propulsion systems.

2. Streamlined Certification Processes: Industry-wide cooperation, including partnerships with regulatory bodies, can help streamline and expedite certification processes for new sustainable technologies without compromising safety.

3. Rapid Scaling of Solutions: Once innovations are proven, collaborative networks can facilitate their rapid adoption across the industry. This is particularly crucial for infrastructure-dependent technologies like hydrogen fuel.

4. Knowledge Sharing: Open exchange of best practices and lessons learned can help companies avoid redundant efforts and overcome common hurdles more quickly.

5. Supply Chain Alignment: Coordinated efforts across the supply chain can ensure that sustainable practices and technologies are implemented coherently and efficiently.

We must run together in the race to a sustainable future in aerospace. Through continued collaboration, we can accelerate our progress, turning the obstacle of time into an opportunity for unprecedented innovation and transformation in our industry.

Learn more:

Digital Continuity in the Aerospace Industry

Digital Twins in Aerospace and Defense

Intelligent Supply Chain for the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Lifecycle Optimization for Aerospace and Defense