Airbus to launch World’s first Commercial Hydrogen aircraft by 2035

September 22, 2020

On September 21 2020 the aviation company airbus launched three concepts for the first zero emission commercial aircraft. Their aircraftcraft is to enter into service by 2035.

Highlights

The three concepts of the company has been introduced under the code name ZEROe. The concept of are as follows

Turbofan design. It can accommodate 120 to 200 passengers and can fly at a range of 2000 plus nautical miles.
Blended wing body design. This type can accommodate up to 200 passengers. Here the wings merge with the main body of the aircraft.
Turboprop design. This type of aircraft can accommodate up 200 passengers. It is capable of travelling at a speed of 1000 + nautical miles. They are perfect for short haul trips.

Background

The aviation emissions contribute 5 percentage of anthropogenic climate change. Therefore, it is essential to shift towards clean aircraft fuels such as hydrogen.

Concerns

The airports will have to adopt hydrogen refueling infrastructure in order to make the model a success. Also, the governments should show interest in adopting the ambitious objectives.

First hydrogen aircraft

The hydrogen aircraft designed and created by airbus is the first commercial hydrogen powered aircraft. Prior to this the Russian manufacturer Tupolev had built a prototype called Tu-154. This was the first experimental aircraft that operated on liquid nitrogen.

Hydrogen

Though hydrogen is a clean fuel, it is more expensive than that of the fossil fuels. This is mainly because there are several obstacles in using hydrogen as fuel. Hydrogen is the lightest element and hence escape towards upper atmosphere very easily. And so, it is rarely found in its pure form.

Hydrogen production

Hydrogen is generally produced from methane or by electrolysis of water. In 2020, hydrogen is predominantly produced from fossil fuels by steam reforming, coal gasification or by partial oxidation of Methane. Out of these three, steam Methane reforming is the current leading technology in 2020. However, it releases carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.