- Saudi Arabia is planning a zero-carbon zone within the Neom development project called “The Line.”
- Neom has partnered with Volocopter to develop electric flying taxis for transportation.
- Although Saudi Arabia promotes sustainability, it has signaled it has no intention of phasing out fossil fuels.
- This article is part of “A Sustainable Aerospace Future,” a series exploring green trends in the industry.
Of all the splashy projects Saudi Arabia is embarking on, Neom is perhaps the most outlandish: The kingdom plans to spend more than $500 billion to transform the desert into 10 futuristic neighborhoods, including a floating port city and a yacht hub.
Its most famous feature is “The Line,” a city with a 0.12-mile-wide, 105-mile-long mirrored facade. Saudi Arabia hopes Neom will become a “vertical garden city” home to 9 million people, with daily necessities within a five-minute walk.
The high-speed train will take people from one end to the other in 20 minutes. There will be no roads, no traffic, no pollution, and it will all run on renewable energy. Collect more data It knows more about its residents and services than other so-called smart cities.
The airline plans to operate international flights to four airports, but currently only serves Neom Bay, with London Heathrow being its only destination outside the Middle East.
The route is operated by Saudi Arabia’s national airline, Saudia, which on Monday announced the kingdom’s largest aviation order in history: 105 Airbus narrow-body aircraft.
Saudi Arabia hopes that further investment in its aviation industry, including the establishment of new airline Riyadh Air, will help promote the country as a tourist destination.
Boom Supersonic, an American start-up that is designing an aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in three and a half hours using only sustainable aviation fuel, announced in November last year. Investment from NeomThe amount of investment has not been disclosed.
Since 2021, Neom has been working on a joint venture with Volocopter, a German company that designs electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, known as eVTOLs or air taxis, that are battery-powered and therefore emit no carbon dioxide.
Neom has 15 aircraft on order, Invested $175 million Volocopter’s Series E funding round in November 2022.
Borja Blonde, CEO of the Neom-Volocopter joint venture, explained the company’s ambitions during a presentation at the Dubai Air Show attended by Business Insider in November.
The plan is for Neom to operate three variants of Volocopter’s eVTOLs: VoloCity, VoloRegion and VoloDrone. Neom aims to have a fleet of aircraft by 2025, but it’s not clear how many aircraft that will be needed.
“We are confident that Volocopter is close to certifying its aircraft,” Blond said.
Volocopter is due to receive European Aviation Safety Agency certification in time for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, when it will begin operations for the first time.
Designed to carry up to 330 pounds, the drone will be used to transport cargo.
VoloCity is designed to only travel 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) at a time, meaning it will act as a flying taxi to ferry people around areas like The Line.
Neom plans to use the Boro Region, which has a top speed of 137 mph and a range of 220 km, to transport passengers between regions, although the presentation said it would also work within the region.
“We need to think about how to seamlessly connect all of these regions and align very well with the vision we have here,” Blond said. “Fundamentally, we want to operate on 100 percent renewable energy.”
Neom plans to keep 95% of the area intact, making it one of the world’s largest nature reserves. The line has been designed using giant mirrors to reflect the vast natural scenery.
Blonde said Neom “doesn’t have the opportunity to build big runways or many airports,” adding that that makes eVTOLs a good solution for Neom’s transportation needs.
He said the goal is to establish safe flight routes for Volo-Region aircraft in sparsely populated areas.
“We want to give the world a blueprint. This is what we’ve done, this is the way forward for cities of the future,” Blond said.
Saudi Arabia will not phase out fossil fuels
But while it promotes renewable energy at home, it also seeks to reap huge profits from fossil fuels abroad.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, which includes NEOM and The Line, aims to make the economy less dependent on oil, but the country recently suggested it has no intention of reducing its fossil fuel exports.
Asked in December COP28 Summit Asked whether he would agree to a phase-out of fossil fuels, the country’s energy minister said “definitely not,” Bloomberg reported.
According to an investigation by Channel 4 and the Centre for Climate Reporting published in November last year, officials with Saudi Arabia’s Oil Sustainability Programme said the country State-backed plan to target petroleum products to Africa and Asia.
Jim Crane, an expert on energy geopolitics at Rice University, spoke about the discrepancy between Saudi Arabia’s green energy plans and its status as the largest oil exporter. He told Time magazine last year“They like to have their cake and leave it there.”
“The Saudis’ ambition is to be the last man standing in the global oil market,” he added. “They want every last drop of oil that’s drilled to come from Saudi fields.”