Embraer Energia initiative engages climate tech disrupters on sustainable flight

Embraer has completed its first ‘Start-Up Day’ aimed at encouraging start-up organisations and new entrants with the most innovative technologies, to join its Energia sustainable flight initiative. Embraer’s goal is to select these organisations to collaborate on Energia. Embraer seeks to develop technologies with the greatest potential to meet the challenges of the climate crisis; start-ups at the edge of innovation will have a significant role in resolving technical obstacles. 

The first ‘intake’ of 16 organisations from across the globe pitched their technologies to Embraer’s Energia team, each focusing on one of four critical areas: electric and hybrid-electric powertrain; fuel cells; Hydrogen storage; and battery technology. In the coming months the Energia team will explore these opportunities and aims to make the first down selection in Q3 2022. 

Carlos Ilario, Head of Zero Emissions Innovation at Embraer, said, “To meet the climate challenge it is essential to encourage every innovation path, not just rely on traditional players. Embraer has a natural affinity with nimble innovators, and we believe the growing eco-system of small, tech-savvy start-ups have a huge contribution to make – if given the opportunity. We do not underestimate the scale of the challenge. Some of the technologies aviation needs are yet to be discovered. So, it is essential to harness all the world’s available talent to find answers that work, are affordable, and practical in the real world”.

“It is pleasing to have attracted so many exciting organisations from around the globe, including France, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, United Kingdom, and United States to our Energia initiative,” said Arjan Meijer, President and CEO Embraer Commercial Aviation. “The quality of the interactions and the potential capabilities of the technologies presented, produced a number of interesting moments that really excited our engineers.”

Embraer is planning to more Start-Up Days, adding further areas of interest such as sustainable cabin design, connectivity, ground handling, clean energy generation and more. Organisations interested in the next rounds can sign up from the Energia pages at the Embraer website.