Urban Air Mobility (UAM) emerges as a viable solution for future mobility needs, interesting for highly crowded and congested cities. However, to align with European Union sustainability goals, it is fundamental to investigate and identify the most suitable architecture solutions for this new sector. This study conducts a multi-impact lifecycle assessment of different sustainable architectures. Several drone solutions are sized and evaluated across key environmental categories, considering both current and foreseen scenarios. The work analyses hybrid- electric, full-electric, and hydrogen-based configurations by examining resource utilization, manufacturing, energy/fuel cycles and utilization stages, even fueled with synthetic fuels. Results highlight that e-fuels might decarbonize the sector (achieving reductions of 60–80% relative to electric and green hydrogen fuel cell solutions) but behave worst in other categories, while overall, green hydrogen fuel cell and renewable electricity are the best ones in four out of the five considered categories. These findings sustain the informed design of low-impact UAM solutions aligned with European Union’s sustainability goals.
Multi-impact lifecycle assessment of innovative powertrain architectures for urban air mobility / Brancaleoni, P.P., Baroncini, G., Damiani Ferretti, A.N., Corti, E., Silvagni, G., Ravaglioli, V.. - In: AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. - ISSN 1270-9638. - 177:(2026). [10.1016/j.ast.2026.112977]
Multi-impact lifecycle assessment of innovative powertrain architectures for urban air mobility
Brancaleoni P. P.
;
2026-01-01
Abstract
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) emerges as a viable solution for future mobility needs, interesting for highly crowded and congested cities. However, to align with European Union sustainability goals, it is fundamental to investigate and identify the most suitable architecture solutions for this new sector. This study conducts a multi-impact lifecycle assessment of different sustainable architectures. Several drone solutions are sized and evaluated across key environmental categories, considering both current and foreseen scenarios. The work analyses hybrid- electric, full-electric, and hydrogen-based configurations by examining resource utilization, manufacturing, energy/fuel cycles and utilization stages, even fueled with synthetic fuels. Results highlight that e-fuels might decarbonize the sector (achieving reductions of 60–80% relative to electric and green hydrogen fuel cell solutions) but behave worst in other categories, while overall, green hydrogen fuel cell and renewable electricity are the best ones in four out of the five considered categories. These findings sustain the informed design of low-impact UAM solutions aligned with European Union’s sustainability goals.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
