First flight of a 40-passenger hydrogen-powered airplane
This page is translated from the original post "Premier vol d’un avion à hydrogène de 40 passagers" in French.
- 03/03/2023 13:30
Universal Hydrogen has flown its hydrogen-powered regional electric aircraft capable of carrying 40 passengers on board. An important step toward reducing polluting emissions in air travel.
It’s not like hydrogen-powered cars are rushing to the market. This very promising technology is still too expensive for individual cars, and charging stations are still far too rare (less than thirty in France), even though hydrogen tanks offer good range. Currently, only the Hyundai Nexo and Toyota Mirai are available here, awaiting the BMW iX5 hydrogen and the Honda CR-V hydrogen.
In the air, hesitation still prevails, but this technology has more potential there, as the cost per passenger could become reasonable. This is the bet of Universal Hydrogen, which achieved the first flight of a hydrogen-powered aircraft capable of carrying up to 40 passengers on board.
The “guinea pig” aircraft took off from Washington State and reached an altitude of 3,500 feet above the sea, for about 8 minutes.
Three people on board this first flight
The model used is a Dash-8, with two pilots and an engineer on board. The very stripped-down fuselage for the occasion housed two racks of electronics and sensors, as well as two large hydrogen tanks with 30 kg of fuel. The right wing contained an electric motor driven by a Plug Power hydrogen fuel cell. This process converts hydrogen into electricity and water, effectively creating a polluting-emissions-free power plant.
Today, the aviation sector contributes to about 2.5% of global carbon emissions, but this figure could increase by 4% per year. Therefore, it is essential to anticipate this trend with new technologies like hydrogen.
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