Boeing announced on August 1 that it will open a research and development center in Aichi, Japan, to conduct research and development on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrogen, electric propulsion technology, robotics, automation, digitalization, and carbon fiber composite materials.
Boeing has long placed orders with Subaru and other companies for key components such as the center wing of the 787 and 777, which have been manufactured in Handa City, Aichi Prefecture, and other locations near Nagoya. The opening of the new center is intended to accelerate research and development of new fuel and propulsion technologies and manufacturing technologies for next-generation aircraft.
The industry is aiming to achieve virtually zero CO2 emissions (carbon neutrality) by 2050, and propulsion technologies such as SAF will play a fundamental role in this goal. Boeing and METI signed an agreement in 2019 to strengthen cooperation on electrification, automation, and composite material technologies related to aircraft. The opening of this center will be an opportunity to further expand this agreement. The areas to be expanded include propulsion technology and “a future flight concept with zero CO2 emissions” (related article: “METI and Boeing Agree on Aircraft Technology Cooperation. Reaching out to Japanese companies in new fields such as the automobile industry”).
On the same day, Boeing announced its participation in ACT FOR SKY, an organization established by ANA, JAL, JGC Holdings, Revo International, and others to work toward the commercialization of domestically produced SAF, and will cooperate widely toward commercialization (see related article “ANA /JAL and others established an organization for the domestic production of sustainable aviation fuel. (Related article: “ANA/JAL Establish Organization for Domestic Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Involving Non-Energy and Aviation Industries.) In addition, ANAHD and JAL have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote research on sustainable aviation technologies. They will cooperate in research on propulsion systems using electric, hybrid, hydrogen, and other new power sources.
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