(Adds CEO, CTO comments)
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Britain's Rolls-Royce,
which makes engines for planes and ships, outlined plans to
reach net zero emissions by 2050 through investing more in
decarbonising technologies and, in the short term, using more
sustainable aviation fuel.
Major companies are under increasing pressure from investors
and climate change activists to report the emissions that result
when customers use their products.
Rolls-Royce chief executive Warren East said that made
decarbonising a particularly "challenging task" for the company
given the current use of fossil fuels in its products and the
increasing demand for power globally.
But he said it was also a commercial opportunity as
Rolls-Royce outlined plans for all its new products to be
compatible with net zero targets by 2030, en route to achieving
net zero by 2050 at the latest.
To ensure it reaches that target, the company said it will
lift its research and development spending on low carbon and net
zero technologies to 75% of its total budget by 2025 from about
50% now.
The company spends over 1 billion pounds annually on R&D,
although that fell in 2020 from 2019 as the pandemic strained
Rolls-Royce's finances. East said that figure would grow as
aviation recovered.
In the aviation sector, its biggest business, Rolls-Royce
plans to make all its commercial engines compatible to run on
100% sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which produces up to 70%
less carbon than conventional fuel, by 2023.
The challenge for SAFs is that there is a shortage of
supply. East said for that help was needed.
"We see a huge role for governments here in terms of
policy," East told a media call on Thursday.
In the longer term, Rolls-Royce is also working on less
carbon-intensive hybrid, electric or hydrogen options.
"We're in the process of discussing hydrogen with Airbus
now," said Chief Technology Officer Paul Stein.
By the mid-2030s, he said the company could also look to use
its small modular reactors to produce an e-fuel, which could
eventually replace sustainable aviation fuel.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Andrew MacAskill and Bill
Berkrot)
Rolls-Royce (RR.)
