Hydrogen Aviation
The use of hydrogen, particularly hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, as a pathway to zero-emissions aviation. Hydrogen offers vastly superior energy density to lithium batteries. Indeed, there's a pathway using existing technology to building aircraft that can travel just as far as anything carrying jet fuel, for significantly reduced prices, while eliminating emissions.
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Hypersonix Launch Systems is looking to make the delivery of satellites into orbit cheaper, more accessible, and greener by developing a reusable launch system powered by green hydrogen – and is eyeing off hypersonic airliners further down the line. -
De Havilland Canada has partnered with ZeroAvia to develop a zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell powertrain for its Dash 8-400 airliner, which can either be retrofit to existing planes or supplied as a factory option on new aircraft orders.
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California startup H2 Clipper wants to bring back hydrogen-filled airships, claiming they can unlock completely green intercontinental cargo operations carrying 8-10 times the payload of any cargo plane over 6,000 miles, at a quarter of the price.
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Long-haul aviation presents a tough challenge for decarbonization, but a group of 100 aerospace experts working on the UK government's FlyZero project says 279-seat liquid hydrogen airliners will connect any two points on the globe with just one stop.
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US-based Wright Electric has announced a 100-seat electric short-hop aircraft slated to go into service by 2026. It'll either be powered by hydrogen, or it'll use recyclable metal in what the company calls an "aluminum fuel cell."
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Hydrogen aviation pioneer ZeroAvia has announced its biggest zero-emissions H2 aircraft yet: a 76-seat airliner it's building with Alaska Airlines and hoping to fly in 2023 – as well as its commercial H2 flight between London and Rotterdam in 2024.
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Australia's AMSL Aero is preparing to start flight tests on what it claims will be the world's most efficient eVTOL design, and one of the most affordable. This box-wing beauty, the Vertiia, will travel up to 1,000 km on a tank of hydrogen.
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HyPoint's aviation-targeted fuel cells were already promising three times the power of a regular fuel cell by weight, but thanks to a new proton-conductive membrane developed in partnership with BASF, their power density is set to jump by another 50 percent.
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Paragon VTOL Aerospace is working on a second-gen version of its nine-seat Soar air taxi design, and it's settled on hydrogen-burning engines that'll deliver monster range figures between 300-900 miles (480-1,450 km) depending on passenger numbers.
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Piasecki's PA-890 slowed-rotor compound helicopter will be a remarkable enough aircraft in its own right – but the company is also working with HyPoint to develop a long-range, powerful hydrogen powertrain to sell to other eVTOL manufacturers.
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Universal Hydrogen has signed letters of intent with three airlines to convert regional airliners to run on green hydrogen. The company is developing conversion kits that accept interchangeable hydrogen modules that work like recyclable coffee pods.
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German clean aviation companies H2Fly and Deutsche Aircraft are joining forces to develop a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered airliner capable of carrying 40 people, with a demonstration aircraft set to take its first flights in 2025.
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