Guidance

Jet Zero Council: Zero Emission Flight Delivery Group terms of reference

Updated 30 December 2022

Purpose

The Jet Zero Council (JZC) brings together government and industry to accelerate the development of a UK sustainable aviation fuel industry and be a catalyst for Zero Emission Flight (ZEF). The council focuses on developing UK capabilities to deliver both net zero and zero emission technologies.

The purpose of the ZEF Delivery Group is to put the UK in a leading position in the race to achieve zero emission flight, supporting the JZC to deliver on its objectives to:

• accelerate the design, manufacture, testing, certification, infrastructure and commercial operation of zero emission aircraft and aviation systems in the UK, through sustained investment in applied research and development (R&D) and fostering greater collaboration across sectors
• support grassroots innovation in these areas and make the UK the best place in the world to develop new aviation technology
• challenge existing approaches by involving disruptors and innovators in the dialogue

Objectives

The Delivery Group and its sub-groups will:

• provide advice to government and the JZC on how best to accelerate the adoption of zero emission aircraft in commercial air transport for passenger and freight operations
• convene and engage with expertise from across a range of sectors required to make zero emission flight a reality
• advise on a co-ordinated approach to the infrastructure adaptions needed at airports and airstrips for the operation of zero emission aircrafts
• act as a forum for industry, government and regulatory bodies to discuss zero emission flight technologies and systems
• advise on the development of a regulatory framework to enable commercialisation of zero emission aircraft
• provide advice on means of supporting the commercialisation of new ZEF routes from UK airports

Scope

For the purposes of the ZEF Delivery Group, ‘zero emission flight’ is defined as a flight by an aircraft that results in no carbon emissions at the aircraft tailpipe. The ZEF Delivery Group will require a focus on the key areas needed to make this happen: the development of zero carbon emission aircraft technologies, the infrastructure at airports and airstrips to facilitate their operation, and the regulations required to safely operate those aircraft and infrastructure.

The scope of the group is to provide a clear focus but is not designed to inhibit working with related sectors and government or industry initiatives. The priorities of the ZEF Delivery Group will be to focus on those areas which will have the greatest impact on zero emission aviation and UK growth.

In scope

Aviation sector

Commercial air transport.

Where there are learnings for the decarbonisation of commercial air transport, we will also consider:

• general rollout of hybrid (dual fuel) aircraft with a zero-emission fuel component ^{[footnote 1]}
• new types of air mobility
• business aviation
• general aviation ^{[footnote 2]}

Fuels

• hydrogen ^{[footnote 3]}
• electric
• ammonia (not as aircraft fuel, only for ground storage)

Emissions

Carbon and non-CO2 impacts of zero emission aircraft.

H2 remit

Use of hydrogen at airports (including possible production, transportation, handling, and demand scenarios).

Out of scope

Aviation sector

• general roll-out of advanced air mobility ^{[footnote 4]}
• spaceflight, high altitude vehicles, hypersonic and supersonic aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and airspace modernisation^{[footnote 5]}

Fuels

‘Drop in fuels’ which can be used in existing aircraft, such as sustainable aviation fuels.

Emissions

• efficiency improvements to and non-CO2 impacts of existing aircraft
• emissions associated with manufacture of aircraft

H2 remit

General hydrogen production including its environmental impacts.

Roles

Membership

The ZEF Delivery Group will bring together a wide variety of experts to ensure the membership provides cross-cutting input to inform policy makers.

This will allow consideration of the full ZEF ecosystem, from manufacture to deployment.

Industry representative bodies in UK aerospace manufacturing, airlines, airports, energy and academia will be invited to attend or nominate representatives from their member organisations.

The government, through the Department for Transport (DfT) and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will participate in all groups with DfT, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the devolved administrations invited to join groups of interest.

DfT and BEIS officials, together with the chair, will regularly review the membership of the Delivery Group to ensure it meets the current and future needs and priorities. Other experts on particular topics could be invited to individual meetings.

Chair

The chair will have responsibility for:

• managing the meetings in accordance with relevant corporate governance best practice and compliance with competition law
• overseeing the development and delivery of a work programme for the ZEF Delivery Group which integrates advice across the subgroups
• reporting to the JZC and its CEO on progress made by the ZEF Delivery Group and its sub-groups
• ensuring that meetings run effectively and smoothly, taking members through the agenda items, keeping members to time and summarising key actions from each meeting
• ensuring that the full range of views expressed by members and invited experts are appropriately taken into account during meetings
• ensure the aims and progress of the JZC are promoted to the Jet Zero community.

Secretariat

The secretariat will:

• confirm agenda items for forthcoming meetings with DfT and BEIS officials, the ZEF Delivery Group chair and relevant subgroup chairs. Arrange meetings with sufficient notice, ideally 6-12 months in advance
• ensure the timely circulation of background papers and agenda to members (at least one week in advance)
• commission more detailed update notes and digital surveys between meetings, focussing on topics relevant to the ZEF Delivery Group discussions that can support policymaking, as required
• disseminate and keep track of the agreed actions from each meeting.
• minute each meeting (non-attributable), assemble and analyse records (including key actions), share with members and responsible officials.
• prepare short briefing papers for the chair to use to report to the JZC on progress made by the ZEF Delivery Group
• ensure the affiliate members are kept informed and their views integrated into the ZEF Delivery Group as appropriate

Core secretariat functions will be undertaken jointly between CPC and Innovate UK-KTN, with additional support from DfT and BEIS where necessary, under guidance of the chair. Arrangements for secretariat of the sub-groups will be agree with their chairs but is expected to be carried out by Innovate UK-KTN.

Members

The core responsibilities of the ZEF Delivery Group and subgroup members include:

Delivery

• offer specialist expertise on request.
• bring diverse, economy-wide input to making recommendations to the ZEF Delivery Group in respect of work plans, including commenting on progress and analysing gaps, aligning the streams of activities, to maximise the outcomes of projects and investment

Strategy

• muster the challenge sector’s expert community - across academia, industry, business, and public policy - to advise on priorities, shaping the scope of the ZEF Delivery Group’s programme over time to ensure it remains strategic and policy-aligned in the long-term
• advise on challenge, opportunities, technology roadmaps and capabilities that already exist or that are likely to arise in the relevant market sectors and closely related spill out sectors

Assurance

• provide independent insight to support the ZEF Delivery Group in providing quality assurance and strategic alignment to individual activities, projects, or programmes
• offer the ZEF Delivery Group insight on timeliness and appropriateness, as well as advising on risks, offering recommendations for improvement

Additional

• creating a dynamic vibrant forum to promote information sharing, debate, and identification of relevant proposals for consideration by the ZEF Delivery Group
• driving alignment between the work of the ZEF Delivery Group with activity within the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP), and other programmes active on aerospace technology work

Members are expected to:

• prioritise the overall aims of the ZEF Delivery Group
• help ensure meetings are focused, engaging, inclusive and action-orientated
• attend 75% of ZEF Delivery Group’s each year; delegation is only at the express permission of the chair to ensure consistency of membership
• attend in person where possible
• read background material provided to them by the secretariat before each meeting
• proactively contribute during meetings and participate in the discussion
• complete actions agreed and accepted during meetings, if any, in a timely manner and provide quantitative and qualitative evidence, if requested and agreed during meetings, in a confidential way where needed, to support the points raised
• ensure the independence, objectivity, and impartiality of the ZEF Delivery Group, by acting in the public interest and not being constrained by their own organisational or professional boundaries
• communicate the activity and successes of the ZEF Delivery Group, proactively showcasing progress and achievements externally, and supporting the demonstration of the wider Jet Zero ambitions to decarbonise aviation
• inform the secretariat and chair of any changes to their professional status, or affiliation, as well as any concerns regarding the ZEF Delivery Group

Meeting and timing

The ZEF Delivery Group will meet at least on a quarterly basis, with meeting dates set at least six-months in advance. Each meeting will have a maximum duration of 2 hours.

Notes

1. Although not the core objective of the group, it should consider the benefit to the ZEF Delivery Group’s objectives when it comes to common or similar enabling infrastructure and regulatory environment for introducing and operating some configurations of ultra-low emission aircraft.  For the avoidance of doubt, this would be restricted to aircraft that have some power provided via hydrogen or electricity in addition to another fuel component that is non-ZEF, often referred to as hybrids. ↩

2. The Department for Transport (DfT) General Aviation Advocate is a member of the ZEF Delivery Group to support alignment of activity across the aviation sector. ↩

3. To include the use of hydrogen in gaseous and liquid forms and used in combustion through fuel cells. The UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard applies, broadly defined as ‘blue’ and ‘green’ hydrogen. ↩

4. Whilst the focus is on decarbonisation of existing commercial air transport where the biggest decarbonisation opportunities are, the group will learn valuable lessons from new developments in associated areas, including but not limited to advanced air mobility. ↩

5. DfT and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will work with the chair to enable collaboration between and manage interdependencies with the government-Industry Future of Flight Group, Airspace Modernisation Programme, JZC Sustainable Aviation Fuel Delivery Group and other relevant initiatives in which the government participates. ↩