Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Aviation accounts for around 2-3% of global emissions, and is showing no sign of decreasing. There has been a lot of focus on replacement fuels, but no real paradigm shift in the industry. Anders Forslund has a plan to change that.
Anders is the CEO of Heart Aerospace, the Swedish airplane developers who've recently established an R&D facility in California to develop their 30 seater hybrid-electric plane. Later this year, their all-electric prototype will take to the skies in its first test flight.
While there are a number of companies innovating in the aerospace sector, including Joby Aviation, featured in Episode 156 of Cleaning Up, Heart is targeting larger planes and longer routes. They already have orders to buy hundreds of planes, most notably from United Airlines, and have received early investment from Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
This episode was recorded at the Heart Aerospace facilities in El Sugundo, Los Angeles.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, EcoPragma Capital, EDP of Portugal, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Links:
• heartaerospace.com
• youtube.com/watch?v=ldy_NC-Doi4
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
03:12 - Heart's Hybrid-Electric Plane
10:00 - The Range
15:00 - Jet Engines vs Battery Engines
19:30 - United's 100-Plane Order
23:00 - Kelly Johnson & The Skunk Works
26:30 - The Limits of Efficiency Improvements
30:30 - The Trump Effect
34:00 - Air vs High-Speed Rail
38:30 - What Fuel for Long Haul?
44:15 - The Test Flight
45:20 - Flight Shaming
48:30 - 6 Billion New Flyers
54:40 - Outro
Aviation accounts for around 2-3% of global emissions, and is showing no sign of decreasing. There has been a lot of focus on replacement fuels, but no real paradigm shift in the industry. Anders Forslund has a plan to change that.
Anders is the CEO of Heart Aerospace, the Swedish airplane developers who've recently established an R&D facility in California to develop their 30 seater hybrid-electric plane. Later this year, their all-electric prototype will take to the skies in its first test flight.
While there are a number of companies innovating in the aerospace sector, including Joby Aviation, featured in Episode 156 of Cleaning Up, Heart is targeting larger planes and longer routes. They already have orders to buy hundreds of planes, most notably from United Airlines, and have received early investment from Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
This episode was recorded at the Heart Aerospace facilities in El Sugundo, Los Angeles.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, EcoPragma Capital, EDP of Portugal, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Links:
• heartaerospace.com
• youtube.com/watch?v=ldy_NC-Doi4
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
03:12 - Heart's Hybrid-Electric Plane
10:00 - The Range
15:00 - Jet Engines vs Battery Engines
19:30 - United's 100-Plane Order
23:00 - Kelly Johnson & The Skunk Works
26:30 - The Limits of Efficiency Improvements
30:30 - The Trump Effect
34:00 - Air vs High-Speed Rail
38:30 - What Fuel for Long Haul?
44:15 - The Test Flight
45:20 - Flight Shaming
48:30 - 6 Billion New Flyers
54:40 - Outro
