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Less is more

At MTU, we’re pursuing a clear course: cleaner, quieter, more economical. Therefore, we focus on innovative technologies and concepts for commercial propulsion systems and service solutions that make aviation more sustainable. We’re also continuously reducing our emissions in production and maintenance and switching to low-emission power generation. Our Smart Repair and Reuse approach in maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) promotes the principle of the circular economy by extending the service life of products, making efficient use of resources, and minimizing waste. We take our responsibility—both for the product itself as well as for its development, manufacture, and maintenance—very seriously, which is how we’re playing our part in achieving the climate target set out in the Paris Agreement.

 

On the way toward sustainable aviation

In our Clean Air Engine (Claire) technology agenda, we lay out innovative technologies and concepts for sustainable commercial engines. The course we’re following is clear: the propulsion concepts of the future aim to greatly reduce emissions of climate-damaging gases—CO2 and nitrogen oxides—and curb the formation of contrails. Further reductions in energy consumption remain important. Our focus for all this is on refining the highly efficient geared turbofan as well as on developing completely new groundbreaking technologies, such as the Revolutionary Turbofan and the Flying Fuel CellTM.
 

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GTF engine family

The Pratt & Whitney GTFTM engine family jointly developed and built by Pratt & Whitney and MTU powers the Airbus A220 and A320neo family and Embraer's E-Jets. The engines offer double-digit improvements in fuel burn, pollutant and noise emissions, and operating costs. They feature a Fan Drive Gear System which uncouples the fan from the low-pressure compressor as well as the low-pressure turbine, which drives the fan. This allows the fan to rotate at a lower speed and the low-pressure compressor and turbine much faster. As a result, the fan pressure ratios are lower and the bypass ratios much higher and all components can achieve their respective optimum speeds, which greatly boosts overall efficiency. 

  • Thrust range

    14 k to 33 k (increasable)

  • Reduction in fuel consumption

    25% fuel savings possible per seat with GTF-powered aircraft

  • Noise reduction

    20dB noise reduction over ICAO Stage 4 requirements

  • Reduction in NOx emissions

    50% reduction in NOx emissions over 2009 standard (CAEP6)

The parameters for success:
  • up to
    75%
    reduction in noise
  • up to
    50%
    reduction in NOx emissions
  • per trip
    20%
    reduction in carbon dioxide emissions possible
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The future belongs to sustainable fuels

At MTU, we firmly believe that sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are the way toward climate-neutral aviation. SAFs are already helping to reduce aviation’s climate impact. They can be used for current aircraft fleets as a “drop-in” fuel—i.e., without the need to adapt the aircraft or engine. MTU has successfully tested engines with SAF on its test stands and has already demonstrated that they are capable of running on 100 percent SAF. To exploit the full potential of SAFs, production of these fuels must be massively expanded. Although we’re not a fuel manufacturer ourselves, we are involved as a cooperation partner in setting up production facilities for power-to-liquid fuels.

“If we want to achieve climate-neutral aviation by 2050, then the widespread introduction of SAF is essential,” says Fabian Donus, Head of MTU Technology Management.


Find out more in the interview

More renewables, less CO2

 

 

What goes for our products applies equally to our production facilities and maintenance shops: we want our operations to steadily reduce emissions that impact the climate. Sustainable engines must be built in a sustainable way. MTU’s climate strategy is based on this holistic approach. We aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 63 percent by 2035 relative to 2024. MTU is also focusing on sustainable energy sources—and drilling deep: at our Munich site, we’re building a geothermal plant that will cover up to 80 percent of future heating requirements with renewable energy.

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less CO2
63 %

We want to reduce our carbon footprint by 63 percent by 2035 relative to 2024. Our climate strategy shows how we mean to achieve this—by reducing consumption, expanding our own renewable power generation, and making increased use of green energy.

This is how MTU calculates CO2 emissions

What does it mean?

We have determined MTU’s carbon footprint and brought transparency to the climate impact along our entire value chain. This gives us a better understanding of the effect we have on the environment. In this interview, MTU Climate Action Manager Sandra Kiefer explains the procedure.

How does classifying carbon emissions into scopes help companies reduce their carbon emissions more effectively and thus do more to protect the climate?

Working out a company’s carbon footprint isn’t a question of calculating total global emissions. And we don’t measure them only to derive a footprint, but also to better understand our climate impact. Dividing emissions into scopes makes it possible to work together with other players to reduce them. If we reduce our carbon emissions from engines, that’s something airlines have a strong interest in because it directly reduces their Scope 1. It’s a much better way for us all to pull together on the big common goal of protecting the climate.

How did you go about determining MTU’s Scope 3 emissions?

We worked according to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, which divides Scope 3 emissions into 15 different categories. We looked at each of these to determine whether they’re relevant to MTU at all. For 13 relevant categories, we applied the GHG Protocol’s standardized calculation methods to MTU. We ended up with five categories whose emissions are significant and therefore material. The remaining categories each account for less than 1 percent of our Scope 3 emissions.

Can you give us an example of such a calculation?

We determine the CO2 emissions from product use at the module level, using parameters such as service life, consumption values, emission factors for fuels, number of products sold, and weight per MTU module and aircraft. Ultimately, we account for MTU’s CO2 emissions in proportion to the weight of our module.

We want to set ourselves realistic reduction targets for Scope 3 on the basis of this accounting. Given the dependencies on SAF, the long product and development cycles, and the growth of the industry, this is a challenge.

Circular economy – in design, manufacturing, and MRO

When it comes to our use of raw materials, we consider the entire lifecycle of our products—from development, manufacturing, and maintenance through to their disposal. We bear in mind the manufacturability, reparability, and recyclability of our products right from the product design stage.That’s because engines are real treasures: 98.2 percent of the materials used in our MTU modules are recyclable and, thanks to innovative processes, we can manufacture them resource-efficiently at our production sites. A robust design and tailored maintenance extend the service life of the engines, and with the help of our MTUplus intelligent solutions, we ensure optimal use of valuable raw materials during maintenance.

ESG Factbook

What does it mean?

Andrea Hohmann is responsible for the circular economy at MTU. She explains what the recyclability of our products is all about.

Recyclability of 98.2 percent—that’s an impressive figure. But what exactly does that mean?

Our low-pressure turbines, high-pressure compressors, and turbine center frames have a very high metal content and are predominantly made of high-quality nickel-based and titanium alloys. When our modules and individual components reach the end of their life, they can be melted down and the valuable raw materials reused. Given the value of the materials, we ensure that any chips arising from production are recovered and sorted by material type and then returned to our supply chain. This enables us to increase the security of supply of critical raw materials, do our bit to handle resources carefully, and reduce CO2 emissions by using recycled materials in the value creation process.

How is MTU positioned when it comes to circularity?

Our products are designed with the aircraft’s entire service life in mind. Regular, tailored maintenance and repair procedures ensure safe and efficient operation over a long useful life. That means reparability is an essential principle for our products and is already taken into account when we develop them. I’m also very impressed by how we buy decommissioned engines and give their components a second life in another engine. Now that’s what I call a first-class circular economy! We not only use resource-efficient manufacturing technologies for our products, but also want to use digitalization to make our processes even more robust.

Digitalization—let’s talk about that. To what extent do digital twins already play a role, and how can they help the circular economy?

MTU is working on developing and using digital twins—virtual versions—of engines in all phases of their lifecycle. In product design, digital twins can further improve the manufacturability and reparability of our modules and enable the early development of suitable repair processes. During an engine’s service life, digital twins permit better predictions of component wear based on usage behavior and environmental conditions. These findings can in turn be incorporated into the product design and usage-specific maintenance of engines.

You also deal with the topic of lifecycle assessment. How does that fit in with the circular economy?

It fits very well. The lifecycle assessment method allows us to take a truly holistic view of all aspects of a product’s lifecycle. This applies to all phases of the value chain—from the cradle to the grave—and to all environmental impacts, such as the use of finite resources and the carbon emissions released. As a result, we can identify measures that improve our overall ecological footprint rather than just reducing one aspect of it.

Reducing the impact on water ressources

We use water responsibly as a natural resource, and we have set up a local water management system for water protection at the production and maintenance sites.

Find out more in our Factbook