On 2nd September 2021, at the International Hydrogen Aviation Conference IHAC 2021, Paul Perera, CEO Fluxart spoke about the need to develop a systems approach starting with the cyrogenic motor and drive.
We currently have work underway to understand the challenges of hydrogen-fuelled propulsion and developing the associated technology roadmaps, and we are working with the industry to fully explore the potential of hydrogen.Hydrogen is ideally suited to decarbonise many energy and power sectors but we also recognise aviation has unique challenges - partially due to the specific weight and size constraints of carrying fuel, and also because the industry’s reliability and safety requirements are set very high, which requires very high engineering maturity barriers to be achieved, particularly for passenger-carrying services. While not insurmountable, these requirements mean we need to ensure enough account is taken of the time to transition from prototypes to products.Timing-wise small hydrogen-powered aircraft could potentially be available before the end of the decade with regional becoming available early in the next decade (2030-35). We cannot delay this pathway.Whilst some say hydrogen-powered aviation is not the silver bullet,
Paul agrees it will take a combination of different solutions, including SAFs, electric, hybrid and more efficient gas turbines, powering different missions and complementing one another, to help the industry reach its decarbonisation goals - he argues it is important to invest now in Hydrogen Aviation powered by Green Hydrogen.
