Preparing For Take-Off: Aviation Embraces Clean Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article on Ryse Hydrogen.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
Aviation’s clean hydrogen revolution is coming from all directions.
Taking a bottom-up approach, start-ups such as ZeroAvia are developing technology to convert small aircraft to hydrogen fuel, while at the other end of the spectrum, industry giants such as Airbus and Rolls-Royce are exploring how they can carry hundreds of passengers 1,000s of miles across the world.
The timescales for these projects are very different but progress is visible for both approaches.
The last two paragraphs are optimistic.
Hydrogen fuel could make up 32% of the market by 2050 if it becomes commercially available by 2035, according to a study from climate think-tank Energy Transition Commission.
It would seem that it’s only a matter of time before truly clean air travel is cleared for take-off and hydrogen-powered aircraft are carrying passengers and cargo across the skies.
The article is a good summary of the state of zero-carbon hydrogen-powered aircraft. Read it!
Birmingham Plays The Green Card
This article in The Times today is entitled Birmingham Airport Set For Hydrogen Take-Off.
These two paragraphs introduce the article.
Birmingham Airport aims to become the first in Britain to operate commercial zero-emission hydrogen-fuelled flights — and by as early as 2025.
The ambitious goal follows the signing of a partnership with the British start-up ZeroAvia whose first trial flight of a 19-seater passenger aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells took place last month.
Other points from the article include.
- ZeroAvia is also working with Rotterdam Airport.
- Initially, it is likely that the hydrogen-powered aircraft will be used for cargo.
- The government wants all UK domestic flights to be zero-carbon by 2040.
- Birmingham wants to be zero-carbon by 2033.
- ZeroAvia has received upwards of £20 million of matched-taxpayer funding.
- It has some big backers and well-known airlines, who have placed orders.
These are my thoughts.
ZeroAvia’s Airliners
This paragraph from The Times article describes their first two aircraft.
ZeroAvia is retrofitting turboprops, 19-seater Dornier and in future 80-seater De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s, with tanks of hydrogen which is converted by fuel cell stacks to energy taken to electric motors that power the propellers. The only emission is water. It is talking to potential new-entrant airframe makers to build all-new hydrogen aircraft of the future.
Note.
- The Dornier 228 is a 19-seater airliner of which over three hundred have been built.
- The de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 is an 80-seater airliner of which over six hundred have been ordered and over 1200 of all marques of Dash 8s have been built.
Both are workhorses of the smaller airlines all over the world.
As the paragraph from The Times indicates the power system is not conventional, but then most of this new breed of small electric/hydrogen/hybrid airliners have electric propulsion. I suspect that there’s been a marked improvement in the design and efficiency of electric motors.
Electric propulsion should have a substantial noise advantage over turboprops.
ZeroAvia are also retrofitting their two chosen airliners.
This offers advantages in the certifying of the airliners. Providing the changes made to the airframe are not significant, the various certifying authorities in the UK, US and EU will allow previous certification to be carried over.
This means that ZeroAvia only have to thoroughly test and certify the powerplant and its integration into the aircraft.
One of their competitors, the Eviation Alice is a completely new airframe with battery-electric power, so I suspect this aircraft will take longer to certify.
I think ZeroAvia have used this shorter certification time to aim to get their airliners in service first.
Those that don’t win, don’t get the same fame.
Hydrogen At Birmingham Airport
Hydrogen will be needed at Birmingham Airport to refuel ZeroAvia’s airliners.
But will hydrogen also be used on the airside to power some of the heavy vehicles you see on airports.
Look at this page on the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, which shows a Hydrogen Fuel Cell U-30 Aircraft Tow Tractor. The specification indicates, that it can tow a C-17 or a Boeing 747.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Birmingham Airport build their own electrolyser nearby both to supply hydrogen-powered aircraft and decarbonise the airside.
To And From Birmingham Airport
Consider.
- Birmingham Airport is connected to Birmingham International station by a free AirRail Link.
- Birmingham International station has an impressive number of services, many of which are electric.
- There will be a people mover to connect to Birmingham Interchange for High Speed Two.
- Birmingham Interchange will have five trains per hour (tph) to and from London, taking under forty minutes.
- There are plans to extend the West Midlands Metro to the airport, with journeys taking thirty minutes from the City Centre.
- Birmingham Airport is at the centre of the UK’s motorway network.
Most public transport to Birmingham Airport will be zero-carbon and the percentage that is will increase.
A Green Air Bridge To Ireland
Currently the fastest services between London and Birmingham International station take a few minutes over the hour.
But after High Speed Two opens, the service will improve.
- High Speed Two will take under forty minutes.
- There will be five tph.
- High Speed Two will connect to the Elizabeth Line and the London Overground at Old Oak Common station.
- Euston station will have better connectivity to the Underground.
This diagram shows High Speed Two services.
Consider.
- Birmingham Interchange has good connections in the North.
- I can see that Birmingham Airport could start to attract lots of passengers going between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
- And don’t forget Cardiff, Swansea, Exeter, Isle of Man and New Quay.
- Could Birmingham-Dublin and Birmingham-Belfast be run as frequent shuttles?
- Will there be AirRail tickets between Euston and Belfast and Dublin?
I also wonder if zero-carbon travel will attract passengers?
Zero-Carbon Air Cargo At Birmingham Airport
This article on Railway Gazette is entitled Varamis Rail Launches Regular Express Light Freight Service.
These three paragraphs outline the service from Varamis Rail.
Varamis Rail has launched a 160 km/h express freight service between Glasgow and Birmingham International using a converted electric multiple-unit.
The service is targeted at express parcels and third-party delivery companies seeking next day delivery of consumer goods.
Consignments arriving at the Glasgow hub by 17.30 from Monday to Friday can reach Birmingham at 23.00, with northbound freight arriving at the Birmingham site by 23.00 reaching Glasgow at 05.30 the next morning.
I think this service would interface well with cargo planes operating overnight from Birmingham Airport.
It seems to me, that Spokes at Speke could be reborn at Birmingham.
Conclusion
Birmingham Airport seems to be positioning itself to take advantage of aviation’s new breed of planes.
ZeroAvia – Dornier228 – First Flight
Does Anyone Remember Suckling Airways?
They started by flying a Dornier 228 between Ipswich and Manchester airports.
But look at this Dornier 228 in a short flight from Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire.
This press release from ZeroAvia is entitled ZeroAvia Makes Aviation History, Flying World’s Largest Aircraft Powered With a Hydrogen-Electric Engine.
This paragraph describes the aircraft’s engines in this testbed configuration.
The twin-engine aircraft was retrofitted to incorporate ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engine on its left wing, which then operated alongside a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right. In this testing configuration, the hydrogen-electric powertrain comprises two fuel cell stacks, with lithium-ion battery packs providing peak power support during take-off and adding additional redundancy for safe testing. In this testbed configuration, hydrogen tanks and fuel cell power generation systems were housed inside the cabin. In a commercial configuration, external storage would be used and the seats restored.
As I suspect a Dornier 228 can fly on one Honeywell engine, this must be a very safe way to prove the concept of the hydrogen-electric powertrain.
This paragraph indicates their path to full certification and entry into service in 2025.
ZeroAvia will now work towards its certifiable configuration in order to deliver commercial routes using the technology by 2025. The Dornier 228 will conduct a series of test flights from Kemble and later demonstration flights from other airports. Almost exactly two years ago, ZeroAvia conducted the first of more than 30 flights of a six-seat Piper Malibu aircraft using a 250kW hydrogen-electric powertrain.
That is an ambitious date, but, they haven’t got to develop and certify a new airframe.
ZeroAvia Hydrogen Powered Jets For American Airlines?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Aviation Source.
The article states that American Airlines will be investing an undisclosed amount into ZeroAvia and that it might use their regional hydrogen-powered aircraft in the United States.
Monte To Purchase 100 FC Aircraft Drives From ZeroAvia
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on electrive.com.
This is the first paragraph.
ZeroAvia and Monte Aircraft Leasing will jointly market hydrogen-powered aircraft to regional operators. Under an agreement now signed between the companies, Monte will purchase up to 100 ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrains from ZeroAvia to be installed on existing and new 5- to 20-seat aircraft.
Monte look to be an interesting company from their web site, which has this title.
Supporting The Transition Of The Regional Aviation Industry To Net Zero Carbon Emissions
The business model appears to be a well-proven and it is not that far removed from the one, colleagues and myself used to sell the project management system; Artemis.
In our case we took proven Hewlett-Packard computers and and other hardware, added our Artemis software and a custom-made desk and leased the systems to those who wanted to do project management, with as much support as our clients required. Customers just had to supply operators, printer paper and a thirteen amp socket.
Finance was obtained by various innovative methods, often through a bank manager, who was a bit of a rogue. But he was a rogue, who was on the side of the angels.
Later he became a firm friend of mine, before he sadly died within a few days of my wife.
Monte Aircraft Leasing’s model would appear to take a proven aircraft like a Cessna Caravan, Dornier 228 or Dash 8, replace the turboprop engines with a zero-carbon powerplant and then lease the aircraft. Often this will just be an additional lease to the existing operator.
The great advantage of this approach, is that the reengined aircraft does not need to be fully re-certified. It can fly under a Supplemental Type Certificate, which is described like this in Wikipedia.
A supplemental type certificate (STC) is a civil aviation authority-approved major modification or repair to an existing type certified aircraft, engine or propeller. As it adds to the existing type certificate, it is deemed “supplemental”. In the United States issuance of such certificates is under the purview of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Monte seem to have found a good way to make money from going net-zero.
ZeroAvia Raises $35 Million From United And Alaska Air Group to Provide Hydrogen-Electric Engines For Large Aircraft
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Aviation Today.
This is the first paragraph.
United Airlines announced an investment this week in ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engines. ZeroAvia has secured $35 million in this latest round of investments from both United and Alaska Air Group. The total amount of investments in ZeroAvia is now $115 million and includes previous investors AP Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Shell Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Summa Equity, and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund.
ZeroAvia certainly seem to be bringing in the investment.
After, yesterday’s trip in a dual-fuel train, lower- and zero-carbon fuels seem to be on the way.
Commercial Hydrogen Planes Will Be Flying By 2024
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
There is also this sub-heading.
ZeroAvia plans to start flying passenger flights between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
I am not as sure as the author of this article, but I do feel we’ll see some viable hydrogen aircraft.
- Airbus have gone from first flight to in service in eighteen months, but not with hydrogen.
- Turboprop and turbofans can be modified to run on hydrogen.
- Hydrogen storage is getting better at a fast rate.
Never underestimate engineers with ambition!
Air Passengers Can Beat Queues With Uber-Style Private Jet Service
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
Hyer Aviation are starting a service that uses similar technology to Uber to share seats on private jets around Europe.
Their modus operandi is laid out in this press release on their web site.
This paragraph is from the press release.
The concept works like an extra-comfortable UberPool with wings. Passengers can initiate their own flight or join flights proposed by others. This allows them to fly on private aircraft for a fraction of the cost while offsetting the carbon emission of their flights. From London, routes are available to some of Britain’s favourite holiday destinations such as Ibiza, Cannes, Malaga, Amalfi Coast and Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, it is also possible to find flights proposed by other passengers to Nice and Ibiza.
think this business model could fly.
Years ago, I owned a twin piston-engined six seater aircraft and I flew it all over Europe. I don’t fly now, as my medical history would probably stop that, but the experience showed there are many quiet airports all over the UK and Europe, that could be destinations for a 6-9 seater aircraft.
To me the interesting thing about this business model, is that there are several zero-carbon 6-9 seater aircraft under development.
Two are electric developments of the widely-used Cessna Caravan and the Britten-Norman Islander and others are clean-sheet developments like the Eviation Alice or the Faradair BEHA.
ZeroAvia are also experimenting with a hydrogen-powered Piper Malibu.
An electric or zero-carbon future for aviation is closer than many think.
But it will start at the smaller end with ranges of up to 500 miles.
The Anonymous Widower 