King Charles visits £58m laboratory dedicated to developing net-zero flight technology

King Charles is back at work today as he begins work on a £58million research facility which will aim to develop net-zero flight technology.

The monarch’s first engagement since her coronation at the weekend saw her make an hour-long trip to the Whittle laboratory Cambridge University,

The research center established 50 years ago is developing a new laboratory that will bring together the world’s top aviation and energy experts to achieve emissions-free flights as soon as possible.

It is a fitting first engagement for the king, who is a fervent environmentalist but can no longer speak on such issues after ascending the throne.

Charles visited Whittle in 2020, when the then Prince said: ‘The need to decarbonise flight must remain top of the agenda.

‘While many are calling for net zero flights by 2050, I challenge you all to think of halving that deadline by 2035.’ He visited again last March.

But in his first speech since his mother’s death last year, Charles vowed to uphold the constitutional obligation of British monarchs to stay above political battles, like the late Queen.

‘It will no longer be possible to give so much of my time and energy to the charities and causes for which I care so deeply, but I know that this important work will be in the trusted hands of others,’ he said.

In a 2018 documentary to mark his 70th birthday, then-Prince Charles also said he would change his behavior when he became king.

He said, ‘The idea, somehow, that I’m going to carry on in exactly the same way, if I’m to be successful, is complete nonsense because the two – the two situations – are completely different.

Her Majesty took a short tour of the Whittle facility on Tuesday morning, which included a demonstration of the key technologies and methods the new laboratory will enable.

He was accompanied by Energy Secretary Grant Shapps and Science Minister George Freeman.

Charles wore a gray checkered suit, light blue shirt and patterned tie during his whistle-stop tour.

After breaking the ground at the new site, Raja was in a jubilant mood as he raised his spade in the air before shaking hands with the academicians.

The main goal of the new lab is to halve the time it takes to develop key technologies for widespread commercial use.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: ‘Today, it usually takes six to eight years for a new technology to be developed to the point where it can be considered for commercial deployment in the aerospace and energy sectors.

‘Recent tests in the Whittle laboratory have shown that this timeframe can be accelerated by breaking down the silos that exist between academia and industry.

‘Supporting this work, the new laboratory will host the National Center for Propulsion and Power, built around a fast feedback innovation model pioneered by Formula One.’

Following the demonstrations, Charles attended a ‘collaborative roundtable’ of government and aviation representatives to discuss how to make the industry more sustainable.

Charles broke ground on the new laboratory while 100 members of Whittle staff, university students and professors watched, before unveiling a plaque to mark the occasion.

The Whittle Laboratory is an aerospace and energy research center based at the University of Cambridge.

It was opened in 1973 by Sir Frank Whittle, who founded the company that invented the jet engine while still an undergraduate at Cambridge. The lab has worked with companies such as Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens.

King has visited the lab twice in past years, when he has had more freedom to speak on climate change issues.

In August 2021, he made one of His most powerful intervention ever was when he told UK business leaders told they must do more or the planet is ‘done for’.

Drawing emotionally on his family ties with wildfire-stricken Greece, the then-prince issued a strong challenge to big business to join his crusade for action ‘before it’s too late’ Did.

The then heir to the throne said humanity’s ‘only hope’ is for business leaders to join world leaders in an ‘epic battle’ to prevent a ‘climate catastrophe’.

He urged leading companies to sign their ‘Terra Carta’ charters, which commit them to keep sustainability at the center of all their business activities.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva revealed late last week that Charles had personally asked him to protect the Amazon rainforest.

Lula and the British Emperor met Buckingham Palace In London Last Friday evening, on the eve of the King’s coronation.

‘The first thing the king said to me was that I should take care of the Amazon,’ Lula told a news conference in London.

‘I replied: ‘I need help’,’ said the Brazilian leader, whose country is home to 60 per cent The world’s largest tropical rainforest, an important carbon sink,

On Friday, following a meeting between Lula and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Britain pledged to contribute £80 million ($101 million) to an Amazon fund created in 2008 to preserve the rainforest.