A review of more electric aircraft technology

Air travel is the main focus of attention with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. This creates the necessity for having environmentally friendly flights to facilitate local and global transport. To address this issue, several initiatives are being taken by the aircraft industry to promote the use of electrical power to drive most of the aircraft systems and subsystems that were conventionally driven by hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical systems. The development of aircraft designs with improved performance to make them more efficient and environmentally-friendly is the motivation underlying the concept of More Electric Aircraft (MEA). In this context, this paper reviews some of the notable MEA initiatives undertaken by the aerospace industry.