Intelligent Finance App learned that GE Aerospace is developing a hybrid engine in hopes of providing power for the next generation narrow-body jet in the mid-next decade.

Although this technology is still in testing, if GE Aerospace succeeds, the company will be able to produce hybrid jetliners, which will greatly reduce carbon emissions from the global aviation industry (half of which come from single-aisle jetliners).

At present, hybrid power has become popular in the automotive industry, but decarbonization in the aerospace industry is considered much more difficult. In hybrid engines, the aircraft uses multiple energy sources during flight. Airbus estimates that this energy combination - a combination of aviation fuel or sustainable aviation fuel and electricity - can reduce fuel consumption by up to 5% compared to a standard flight.

GE Aerospace executives said the company is working with American airlines and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on a project that embeds electric motors or generators in high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines to supplement power during different operating phases.

On Wednesday, the company stated that it had completed initial tests of hybrid power components and baseline tests of engines. The company plans to test these components and engines together in the future.

The global aviation industry has set a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. However, technologies such as electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft have yet to be validated, making decarbonization a huge challenge for the industry, which accounts for about 2% of global carbon emissions.

Developing more energy-efficient engines to reduce emissions is a new challenge for the aviation industry. Environmental critics argue that the industry's net-zero emissions goal is unrealistic and that the only way to achieve these goals is to significantly reduce global flights.

The hybrid engine project is one of several projects that GE Aerospace has been committed to developing more energy-efficient technologies.

GE Aerospace is partnering with France's Safran Group to test basic components of an open-rotor jet engine for the next generation of medium-haul jetliners that could reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 20% in the mid-next decade.

GE Aerospace's competitor, RTX Corp, is also developing a hybrid power technology that combines a thermal engine with an electric motor, with the goal of improving fuel efficiency by 30%.