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CLIMATEWIRE | BRUSSELS — The best way to cut greenhouse gas emissions from flying is to fly less — but that’s a nonstarter for the industry and millions of passengers.
Instead, the sector is hunting for a tech fix that would allow airplanes to keep flying while polluting less — and one idea is to use hydrogen. But there are big questions over whether this is a workable solution.
Here are five challenges facing hydrogen-powered aviation.
1. Sourcing clean hydrogen won’t be easy
Hydrogen can be very clean or very dirty — it all depends on how it’s produced.
Most hydrogen on the market today is so-called gray hydrogen, made by splitting natural gas — which emits a lot of CO2. Blue hydrogen captures those greenhouse gases, but it costs more and there are worries about where to store CO2. The rarest, and most expensive, is green hydrogen, made by using renewable power to split water.
“Hydrogen planes will only be as sustainable as the energy that powers them,” said Carlos López de la Osa, aviation manager with green group Transport & Environment (T&E).
“Most hydrogen for transportation is not zero emission today. It’s not green hydrogen,” said Val Miftakhov, CEO of ZeroAvia, a British-American manufacturer that aims to deliver its first hydrogen-electric aircraft with 40 to 80 seats by 2027.
2. Hydrogen could cut aircraft range
Hydrogen is the lightest element, but it has a much lower energy density than kerosene, meaning aircraft powered by it instead of fossil fuels would actually weigh more.
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Anna Berkut/Alamy Stock Photo
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