Flying high: In praise of the hydrogen option
Aviation expert says hydrogen, not electric propulsion will likely power commercial airliners of the future
It likely won’t happen in my lifetime, but according to one German aviation expert, commercial aircraft powered by hydrogen technology may be as common as gas turbine engines are today, EFahrer.com reported.
Under pressure to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, airlines are experimenting with alternatives, including so-called sustainable aviation fuels, or SAF, as well as all-electric aircraft and hydrogen.
All of them are an integral part of the decarbonization roadmap.
Some companies argue that business commuters of the 2040s will take short hops on six-seater electric vehicles that take off and land vertically.
But these vehicles — VTOLs, for “vertical takeoff and landing”— can go only so far, and the most successful VTOL prototypes have barely gotten off the ground.
For medium or longer distances, this just won’t fly, as they say.
Which brings us to hydrogen.
Professor Tobias Grosche from the University of Worms in Germany sees electric aircraft only to a limited extent as an alternative. In his opinion, hydrogen has a better potential to power future aircraft.
How exactly does it work?
Compressed hydrogen gas can be used in two ways for aviation: for direct combustion in a turbine and in a fuel cell to generate electricity.
During combustion, modified engines could use the hydrogen together with the ambient air for propulsion.
Only small amounts of water vapor and other combustion gases are produced, but no harmful CO₂, according to the professor....
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