EU consortium TULIPS to accelerate innovations for a more sustainable aviation

The European Commission has awarded €25 million in funding to a consortium with 29 parties called TULIPS. The funding is part of the European Green Deal, to develop innovations that facilitate the transition to low-carbon mobility and enhance sustainability at airports. To realize these challenges in the hard to abate aviation sector, commitment from the entire chain is required. The collaboration of airports, airlines, knowledge institutes and industrial partners in this unique European consortium makes it possible to contribute significantly to sustainable aviation.

Led by Royal Schiphol Group, the consortium TULIPS aims to speed up the rollout of sustainable technologies in aviation and significantly contribute towards the zero emissions and zero waste airports by 2030 and climate-neutral aviation by 2050. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will be the proving ground for 17 demonstrator projects that result from the collaboration. The TULIPS project consists of 29 parties and will kick off in January 2022 and last until December 2025.

Accelerating sustainability
All new innovations aimed at increasing sustainability will be demonstrated at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, while partner airports Oslo, Turin and Larnaka will also implement a selection of these innovations. Airports, airlines, knowledge institutes and industrial partners will collaborate to accelerate sustainability at or around the airport, such as reducing or eliminating vehicle emissions. In addition, facilities for recharging aircraft with electricity or hydrogen will be tested, large-scale supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) will be introduced and optimised, and circular use of materials will be improved. Demonstrations at airside will be carried out to capture ultra-fine particles from departing and landing flights. The entire journey of passengers and cargo will be examined, with solutions proposed for an optimal mix of multi-modal solutions.

Collaborating at four very different airports, with the input from the broad coalition of partners will allow the impact of the solutions on the European climate targets to become apparent. Successful demonstration of specific actions to accelerate sustainability in different scenarios will showcase these innovations and how they can be implemented throughout Europe. The outcomes of the project are expected to contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of the aviation sector. The relevant knowledge gained will be shared publicly with the aviation industry and other European airports, which will allow them to apply the TULIPS concepts and technologies through practical roadmaps.

Partners
Royal Schiphol Group took the initiative to submit a proposal. The TULIPS consortium (‘DemonsTrating lower pollUting soLutions for sustaInable airPorts acrosS Europe’) is a partnership between Royal Schiphol Group and Oslo Airport, SINTEF AS, SINTEF Energi AS, Hermes Airports, Catalink Ltd, Torino Airport, Politecnico di Torino, Beta-I, Egis S.A., Excess Materials Exchange, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM Equipment Services, Manchester Metropolitan University, Mobility Concept, Royal NLR, Nouryon Industrial Chemicals, Pipistrel Vertical Solutions, Port of Amsterdam, SKYNRG, TNO, TU Delft, Instituto Superior Téchnico, University of Antwerp, BAM Infraconsult, Ballard Power Systems Europe, DHL Global Forwarding Netherlands and Zepp.solutions.