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COVER STORY

on a flight-mile basis. The price will drop
once production is scaled-up, but hydrogen
HYDROGEN will remain more costly than conventional jet

fuel for a considerable time, unless increasing
carbon taxes cause jet fuel prices to rise while
hydrogen costs are falling.”
FUTURE But those major challenges are not stopping

the industry embracing the magic bullet as
part of the arsenal needed to get to zero emis-
sions by 2050. More and more manufacturers
are on board the hydrogen express with the
WHEN IT COMES TO THE latest being Boeing which adjusted its green
HYDROGEN MAGIC BULLET FOR A agenda – Everything for Zero – at last year’s
Farnborough Air Show.
GREEN AVIATION FUTURE, THERE Its Everything for Zero programme says it all
IS ONE CRITICAL NUMBER – FOUR. – everything is on the green radar, whether

 Geoffrey Thomas it be SAF, liquid hydrogen, electric, hybrid or
fuel cells.

Hydrogen is four times the volume and four times the price of The shift came to light in a briefing for its new
JetA 1. Cascade modelling tool which is a data-driven
platform enabling a whole-of-life assessment
Last year, in a feature entitled Honeywell Explores Future of of various green options that cover opera-
Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft on the company’s website, Taylor tional efficiencies, fleet renewal, advanced
Alberstadt, Honeywell’s then Senior Director of Business technologies and, of course, green energy
Development, Electric/Hybrid-Electric Propulsion said that the sources.
green evolution from jet aviation fuel to Sustainable Aviation
Fuel (SAF) and ultimately to battery and hydrogen comes with Boeing unveiled a number of concepts includ-
a unique set of challenges. “Jet fuel has about four times the ing a four-engine turboprop.
volumetric energy density of hydrogen,” said Alberstadt. “That However, Boeing’s VP and GM of Product
means you need four times as large a fuel tank to fly the same Development Mike Sinnett told Asian
distance.” Aerospace that the industry is still working

Honeywell’s Senior Director of Zero-Emission Aviation Phil through what is the right [green] option. “We
Robinson added “this and other factors make production, trans- are doing our research and we believe there
portation and storage more complex, largely because efficient will not be one answer,” said Mr Sinnett.
hydrogen infrastructure is in its infancy.” Boeing Chief Sustainability Officer Chris
”Hydrogen currently costs about four times as much as jet fuel Raymond said at the Farnborough Air show
that “there are multiple ways to a future
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