With the exacerbation of the climate change crisis, pressure has increased on the aviation industry to reduce emissions from aircraft, and accordingly, the industry has taken a step forward in this regard with the success of testing a zero-emission aircraft.
And the American “CNN” news network reported that the American-British company “ZeroAvia” had succeeded in testing its hydrogen-electric, two-engine aircraft.
The “Dornier 228” plane contains 19 seats, and it succeeded in flying for 10 minutes, Thursday, in British airspace.
Of course, the No. 19’s seats may seem small compared to the hundreds offered by conventional fuel-powered aircraft, but it is the largest aircraft of this type that relies on hydrogen-electric energy.
The new aircraft relies on dissolved hydrogen cells to power the fuel, a technology that virtually eliminates emissions while in flight.
Testing this plane appears to be part of the race to decarbonize the aviation industry, which accounts for about 2.5 percent of total global emissions.
However, the contribution of aviation to climate change is much greater, due to the presence of other gases, water vapor, and jets that are emitted from aircraft.
Hydrogen is described as a promising solution for aircraft fueling because, when burned, it emits no greenhouse gases.
Unless hydrogen is produced through renewable energy, its production will remain dependent on fossil fuels.
The new plane took off from Kotsoud Airport in western England and flew in the air, reaching a speed of 223 kilometres per hour.
The company said in a statement that all systems on the plane worked as expected.
The first engine on which the plane was based was under the captive wing, running on hydrogen and containing two sets of fuel cells.
The second engine under the right wing was conventional and did not use hydrogen for safety reasons; it was not used during the flight.
The aircraft was boosted with lithium-ion batteries to support the takeoff process.
Hydrogen tanks and energy production cells were placed inside the cabin of the aircraft, from which the seats were removed, but this will not continue in the case of commercial flights, as they will be transferred to the outer surface of the plane, “not at the present time,” the company says.
Half of the power came from the power cells and the other half from the battery packs, a company spokesperson confirmed at a press conference after the flight.
Thursday’s successful flight is part of a project backed by the British government to develop zero-emission aircraft that can accommodate 9–19 passengers and be able to travel 428 km.
