SUSAN « SUStainable AviatioN »

A research project on sustainable development and the aviation sector

The SUSAN research project “SUStainable AviatioN” proposes to approach the fight against climate change in the aviation sector from a new angle. It doesn’t focus only on the aircraft but on the entire ecosystem and all stages of the life cycle, to better understand and assess the environmental impacts. It also focuses on the social and economic impacts of a transition to cleaner aviation.

A transversal research on the impacts of the aviation sector

Air transport is committed to sustainable development and in particular to the fight against climate change. Many studies address this issue at the aircraft level from the aspect of the propulsion chain, new energies, and the electrification of functions. The SUSAN research project “SUStainable AviatioN” proposes to introduce life cycle analysis into an aircraft design methodology to answer this question at the aviation sector level and not just at the aircraft level.

This joint research project between ISAE-SUPAERO and TBS Education will contribute to the assessment of the environmental impacts on the life cycle of air transport systems (infrastructure, vehicles, etc.) and the economic and social impacts of the transition from a conventional aviation towards cleaner aviation. It will also allow the development of environmental, economic and societal models that can be integrated during the design and evaluation of new aircraft architectures.

A bi-disciplinary collaboration

This bi-disciplinary research project is led by Scott DELBECQ, Engineer-Researcher in architecture and integration of drone and aircraft systems at ISAE-SUPAERO, and project coordinator, and by Gilles LAFFORGUE, Professor of economics at TBS Education and associate researcher at Toulouse School of Economics (member of the Energy and Climate Focus Center).

Alice Fabre, post-doctoral fellow from INSA Toulouse, is co-supervised for 12 months by Scott DELBECQ and Gilles LAFFORGUES.

The SUSAN research project is funded by the Science and Technology for Aeronautics and Space Foundation (STAE Foundation) as part of the “Tremplin de la recherche”. It is legally supported by the Institute for Technological Research IRT ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY based in Toulouse.

Contact