While climate changes that threaten the future of our planet continue to increase their impact day by day, many different sectors are making moves for a greener future. Aviation, which has an important role in carbon emissions, is one of these areas.
That’s why prominent names in the aviation industry have rolled up their sleeves to produce more environmentally friendly aircraft. The information received now shows that an important step has been taken in this regard. Rolls-Royce, one of the first companies that come to mind when it comes to aircraft engines, announced that they have signed a first in the world with the European airline company easyJet.
Hydrogen-fueled jet engine successfully tested
Rolls-Royce and easyJet announced today that they have successfully tested a hydrogen jet engine. Rolls-Royce, in a press release yesterday, used the expressions “the world’s first modern aircraft engine powered by hydrogen”. Both companies hope the technology will one day eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation industry.
Let’s talk briefly about why hydrogen is preferred in aviation. Aviation is considered one of the most difficult sectors to make environmentally friendly. This is because electric airplanes are much more difficult to build than electric cars. Although there are moves on electric planes, batteries that can be charged with renewable energies such as solar and wind are still not suitable for long flights. That’s why aviation companies are turning to cleaner fuels, such as hydrogen, which produces water vapor instead of carbon dioxide, as an alternative.
Rolls-Royce and easyJet conducted a ground test in the UK using a Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A aircraft engine. The European Marine Energy Center also produced the fuel for testing at a facility located in the country’s Orney Islands.
With these moves, both companies took their green hydrogen steps further and made significant progress towards zero emission targets in aviation. However, we can say that the road is still long in this regard. This is because green hydrogen is very expensive and insufficient these days.
How green is it to use hydrogen as a fuel? What are the barriers to this fuel?
It should be noted that the reason why hydrogen is described as ‘green’ is that it is produced with wind and tidal energies. This is the case here, though today most of the hydrogen is still produced using gas. This creates some controversy regarding its use. Whether hydrogen is really useful depends on the energy used. If gas is used instead of renewable energy in production, hydrogen has no meaning; because this process causes the release of carbon dioxide emissions that warm the planet.
According to the International Air Transport Association, there is one more hurdle for hydrogen-fueled aviation; making new aircraft designs and getting approval for them. Aircraft need to be redesigned to include larger fuel tanks to run on hydrogen. For example, according to The Guardian, a Boeing 747 needs more than 1 million liters of hydrogen to go the distance it goes on 250,000 liters of jet fuel. In addition, as we mentioned before, the insufficient and expensive green hydrogen is one of the obstacles in this regard.
Despite all this, it is possible to foresee that green hydrogen will soon be used, at least on short flights. A report published by the European Union in 2020 shows that hydrogen-powered airplanes that can travel up to 3,000 kilometers can be launched in 2035. EasyJet, which stands out at short distances, also wants to stand out in this regard in its partnership with Rolls-Royce. In the coming years, we will see how hydrogen-fueled airplanes will occupy our lives in the future.
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