The Anonymous Widower

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.

December 17, 2021 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , | 1 Comment

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!

October 29, 2021 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , | 7 Comments

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.

 

 

June 14, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Would Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft Work For Regional Airports In The UK?

In Stealthy Startup Promises Cheaper Flying Via Renewable Hydrogen, I wrote about ZeroAvia and their plans for hydrogen-powered mini-airliners.

They could power a mini-airliner with the size and performance of the Cessna Caravan, of which well over two thousand have been built for all sorts of purposes. I flew in one, on holiday in Kenya, to get to the Masai Mara.

But could hydrogen-powered mini-airliners, as proposed by ZeroAvia, have applications in the UK?

All around the coast and islands of the UK and Ireland, there are small airfields with commercial services.

  • Many commercial services are struggling and some airlines have gone bust.
  • Many services are important to sustain the local economy or develop new industries like offshore oil and gas in the past and offshore wind in the future.
  • Many of the airports are ex-RAF bases and don’t lack space.
  • Some of the airports in this category, that I have visited, don’t lack wind.

I think it would be possible to install a wind or solar power driven hydrogen plant on these airports to support hydrogen-powered mini-airliners providing short feeder services to major airports.

The key to making this structure work would be the range of the hydrogen-powered aircraft.

  • Refuelling at the remote airport wouldn’t be a problem.
  • Would a major airport welcome a gas tanker refuelling the hydrogen-powered aircraft?
  • Could some routes be flown, by only refuelling at the remote airport?

I’m looking forward to my first flight!

 

 

August 15, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | 1 Comment

Stealthy Startup Promises Cheaper Flying Via Renewable Hydrogen

The title of this post is the same as an article on IEEE Spectrum.

ZeroAvia are a company that is developing hydrogen-powered aircraft.

They are starting with six to nine seaters like Eivation.

These two paragraphs sum up their philosophy.

By this February, ZeroAvia had assembled its six-seater, 275-kilowatt test plane, and had received FAA experimental flight certification. Miftakhov says the company’s first production powertrains will generate 600-800 kilowatts, which he says is “right in the middle of the power range” for the Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboshaft engines employed on many regional aircraft.

Rather than build airplanes, ZeroAvia plans to lease its powertrain and also supply hydrogen fuel to aircraft manufacturers or airlines. “We’re targeting power levels that are in use today and we are able to utilize the airframes that exist today, with minor modifications,” says Miftakhov.

I like that philosophy.

It will also spin off into other areas.

To make hydrogen-powered aircraft work, ZeroAvia must do the following.

  • Design and certify a 600-800 kW powertrain and hydrogen tank with the lightest possible weight.
  • Develop a wind and solar powered-infrastructure to produce hydrogen by electrolysis at the point-of-use.
  • Provide a complete package to aircraft manufacturers and aircraft operators.

They certainly seem to have assembled a team capable of making the venture take off.

Trucks, buses, construction equipment and trains, both passenger and freight would all benefit from a more efficient powertrain.

The author’s last paragraph is work repeating.

Zero-emissions aircraft, whether battery or hydrogen-powered, may also benefit from a psychological advantage: guilt relief. Concern over climate change is already fueling “flight-shaming” and a resurgence in rail travel in Europe, where trains offer a low-carbon—though sometimes slower—alternative to regional flights.

Read the article!

Conclusion

I like it!

If they achieve their objective of being able to replace the current engine in an existing aircraft, I’ll like it even more.

That would enable pilots to be able to fly the new version of an existing aircraft, after a conversion course.

August 15, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 1 Comment