(20/05/24) An innovative project has been launched to demonstrate small-scale liquid
hydrogen aircraft ground operations at three European airports.
The project is currently scheduled to last for
four years and is aiming to demonstrate how
high-flow liquid hydrogen (LH2) handling and refuelling
technologies can be developed and used safely and reliably for
airport operations.
As a clean and efficient fuel, LH2 offers a promising
solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with
airport operations and their dependence on fossil fuels.
Airbus believes that hydrogen will be an important fuel for the future of short-haul aviation
LH2’s
high energy density enables long-range travel for aircraft, yet
there are many steps to the widespread deployment of hydrogen at
airports, including the need to better understand the operational,
regulatory, economic and safety impacts, as well as the capacity
and performance of technologies.
“We continue to believe that hydrogen will be an
important fuel for the future of short-haul aviation,” said Karine
Guenan, Vice President of ZEROe Ecosystem, Airbus. “We welcome the
opportunity to help build the operating case for the widespread
daily use of liquid hydrogen at airports.”
The benefits of hydrogen
in aviation include:
– Hydrogen is a high-potential technology with a
specific energy-per-unit mass that is three times higher than
traditional jet fuel. If generated from renewable energy through
electrolysis, hydrogen emits no CO2 emissions, thereby enabling
renewable energy to potentially power large aircraft over long
distances without the undesirable by-product of CO2 emissions.
– Because hydrogen has a lower volumetric energy density, the
visual appearance of future aircraft will likely change to better
accommodate hydrogen storage solutions that will be bulkier than
existing jet fuel storage tanks.
– Hydrogen has been safely
used in the aerospace and automobile industries for decades. The
aviation industry’s challenge is to adapt this decarbonised energy
carrier to commercial aviation’s needs.
There are two
primary uses for hydrogen in aviation:
Hydrogen Propulsion: Hydrogen
can be combusted through modified gas-turbine engines or converted
into electrical power that complements the gas turbine via fuel
cells. The combination of both creates a highly efficient
hybrid-electric propulsion chain powered entirely by hydrogen.
Synthetic Fuels: Hydrogen can be used to create
e-fuels, which are generated exclusively through renewable energy.
The GOLIAT (Ground Operations of LIquid hydrogen AircrafT) consortium
is made up of ten
partners from eight countries: Airbus (France, Germany and UK), Chart
Industries (Czech Republic and Italy), TU Delft (Netherlands),
Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), Royal Schiphol Group
(Netherlands), Rotterdam The Hague Airport (Netherlands), Vinci
Airports (France and Portugal), Stuttgart Airport (Germany), H2FLY
(Germany), and Budapest Airport (Hungary).
The GOLIAT
project will receive funding of €10.8 million from the EU’s
Horizon Europe Framework Programme via CINEA, the European
Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.
“We are very pleased to join the GOLIAT team and
to contribute our expertise on techno-economics of green LH2
supply infrastructures to the project. Such demonstrators are not
only an important step towards making H2-powered aviation a
reality, but also provide valuable insights for the future
development of a cost effective and reliable LH2 supply chain,”
said Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach, Head of Institute of Electric
Power Systems, Leibniz University Hannover. “Identifying the
requirements for the infrastructure as early as possible is
crucial to the success of our joint efforts towards a more
climate-friendly air transport system.”
The project will
support the aviation industry’s adoption of LH2 transportation and
energy storage solutions by:
– Developing and demonstrating
LH2 refuelling technologies scaled-up for future large commercial
aircraft;
– Demonstrating small-scale LH2 aircraft ground
operations at airports;
– Developing the standardisation and
certification framework for future LH2 operations;
– Assessing
the sizing and economics of the hydrogen value chains for
airports.
“Leveraging our experience in the HEAVEN project,
where we completed the world’s first piloted flight of a liquid
hydrogen-powered electric aircraft, we look forward to
contributing our expertise in LH2 operations to GOLIAT,” said
Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO, H2FLY. “We believe in the
potential of hydrogen to transform aviation and are committed to
supporting its adoption for a sustainable future. GOLIAT marks
another important step in our journey toward decarbonizing the
aviation industry, and we are excited to be part of this important
initiative.”
