Steven Barrett

Steven Barrett is the Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Before this he was H. N. Slater Professor and Head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also Director of the MIT Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment from 2012 until 2024. Before joining MIT in 2010 Steven was a lecturer at Cambridge University’s Engineering Department, where he completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His research focuses on helping the aviation industry achieve zero environmental impacts, including topics such as low emissions propulsion, contrail avoidance, and evaluating the sustainability of alternative aviation fuel options.

Keynote 1: Can aviation become climate-change neutral and by when?

Wednesday, January 15th
08:45 – 09:30 | HG F 30 | Audi Max

Abstract:

This talk explores the key technologies and strategies needed for aviation to reach climate change-neutrality. It will cover sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), direct air capture (DAC) for offsetting emissions, contrail avoidance to mitigate non-CO2 impacts, and hydrogen propulsion. By examining the feasibility, scalability, and timelines of these solutions, the talk aims to address if aviation can realistically achieve net-zero emissions and on what time scale.