PEIN

Aerospace firms are joining forces to tackle their industry's growing contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, with electric engines seen as one solution. But will this be enough to offset the growing demand for air travel?

LE BOURGET (Reuters) - An all-electric commuter plane and a small Airbus-backed hybrid are among aircraft programs being touted at the Paris Airshow, as the industry tries to convince a skeptical public it can deliver on a pledge to halve carbon emissions by 2050. Israeli startup Eviation has wheeled out Alice, a battery-powered nine-seater due for its maiden flight later this year, while Airbus and suppliers Safran and Daher are showing a scale model of their planned EcoPulse, a similarly sized short-hopper that packs a fuel tank as well as batteries.

French start-up electric-hybrid aircraft manufacturer VoltAero is preparing to start flight testing its Cessna 337-based "Cassio 1" aircraft with the front engine replaced with propellers driven by electric motors. Meanwhile, it is displaying its "iron bird" mockup incorporating the test hybrid power module at the Paris Air Show (Static A6) and is constructing the Cassio 2 production prototype, which will benefit from the fully validated propulsion system.

U.S.-based aerospace testing and engineering specialist AeroTec (Hall 3, Washington State Pavilion A82) and electric aircraft propulsion system manufacturer magniX (Hall 2B DE18) announced at the Paris Air Show plans to test and certify the 750-hp magni500 system on a Cessna 208 Caravan.

LE BOURGET, France (Reuters) - An electric plane capable of flying up to 650 miles with nine passengers made its debut at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday, with its manufacturer targeting regional commuter routes such as the French capital to the southern city of Toulouse. Eviation Aircraft said the plane - called Alice - was a radical rethinking of the cost, experience and environmental impact of regional travel.

Daher, Airbus, and Safran announced a collaborative partnership today at the Paris Air Show to design and develop EcoPulse, a wing-mounted distributed hybrid-propulsion demonstrator based on Daher’s TBM platform. First flight is expected in 2022, according to the three French companies.