Hydrogen key to aviation decarbonisation, says leading consultant

A transition to hydrogen fuel will be essential if the aviation industry is to decarbonise, according to a leading aviation consultant.

Jenny Kavanagh, co-chair of the Zero Emissions Flight Infrastructure Group – a coalition of airports, hydrogen suppliers and technology companies – told the Abta forum: “We’re going to have to transition to hydrogen if we want to decarbonise.”

Kavanagh, until recently chief strategy officer at Cranfield Aerospace, acknowledged Airbus has confirmed a delay to its 2035 target for the launch of a hydrogen-powered aircraft.

She said: “Most of us were not surprised Airbus put back its target date. It’s a monumental challenge.

“It’s not just the aircraft technology. If we’re going to have the hydrogen, it will need a lot of energy and that is not something the aviation industry can sort out.”

She argued: “Hydrogen technology is in development, but it will be a lot more expensive and take more time than we thought.”

Kavanagh called for “government policy and leadership” to develop “an integrated strategy and to create certainty”, saying: “The UK is good at technology development but not at commercialising technology.”

She insisted: “With the right support we could see a zero-emissions flight this decade [with a small aircraft]. That would show the investment community this is not a pipedream.”

However, Christopher Snelling, policy director at airports association Airports UK, noted: “There are questions about how a hydrogen-fuelled airport would work.

“Some of the infrastructure requirements will be fundamental – for example, you don’t want hydrogen planes in hangars, and you don’t want to be refuelling hydrogen aircraft on stands.”

He said: “If you look at Gatwick’s expansions plans, hydrogen is not really part of that. We would expect hydrogen [use] to start at smaller airports.”

Duncan McCourt, chief executive of the Sustainable Aviation industry coalition, agreed, saying: “We need to work out how to move the fuel.”

Airbus confirmed in February that any launch of a hydrogen-powered aircraft would “come later than 2035”, with a spokesperson saying: “Developing a hydrogen ecosystem is a huge challenge and progress on key enablers is slower than anticipated.” (Travel Weekly, February 13)

Its ZEROe hydrogen project aims to develop a 100-seat, short-haul turboprop aircraft powered either directly by hydrogen or by hydrogen-electric fuel cells.

Boeing has been more sceptical of hydrogen, noting the greater fire risk, additional weight and large fuel tanks that hydrogen use would require.