Thierry Dubois One year after unveiling the concept, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury characterizes a hydrogen-powered aircraft as challenging but doable.
Thierry Dubois
Transitioning to hydrogen from current-technology aircraft is a complex effort involving every player in airport operations. Credit: Airbus
Airbus is seeing positive signs that its ambition for a hydrogen-fueled commercial aircraft in 2035 is realistic. The airframer is receiving support from customers, two major airport operators have started large-scale demonstration projects on the use of hydrogen, and research work in Toulouse appears to be continuing apace.
The OEM’s technology road map also includes exploring other technologies such as the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and electrification (including hybrid-electric propulsion). The group has chosen its helicopter division to launch the first electrification program, the all-electric CityAirbus NextGen. The move is a way for Airbus to prove it can actually have a breakthrough design certified. The aircraft can also be seen as a small-scale project to pave the way for an innovative commercial aircraft with 100 or more seats.
On that road map, time is of the essence, and not just because the window in which to fight climate change is limited. Airbus may also face national or European-level decisions that might shatter the hopes of the entire aviation industry. Governments could resort to instituting demand management if they expect it will take too long to introduce zero-emission aircraft.
“The more we go, the more problems we see, the more solutions we find and the more globally we find the challenge needs to be addressed,” says Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. “A learning of the COVID-19 crisis has been our incredible ability to find solutions in the face of challenges. Climate change is another global crisis. . . . We have to drive action at an unprecedented speed.”
Another necessary condition for success is broad collaboration. “All the group is mobilized, but all our investments would be irrelevant without the support of the ecosystem, including regulators,” Faury says. “We cannot do it alone.”
The sector appears to be rising to the challenge. “Hydrogen is absolutely key,” says EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren. “It is a proven technology, as opposed to batteries.”
“Having a renewable source does not help CO2,” says Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle. “Looking for new technologies, hydrogen could be that solution.”
At the airport level, operator Vinci Airports has partnered with Airbus and hydrogen specialist Air Liquide to develop a hydrogen infrastructure. Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport will host Vinci’s first hydrogen facilities. In 2023, a hydrogen gas distribution station is slated to be built to supply both ground vehicles and heavy-goods vehicles that drive around the airport, Vinci says.
Then, between 2023 and 2030, liquid-hydrogen infrastructure will be deployed, targeting future aircraft. After 2030, that infrastructure will expand to production and mass distribution of liquid hydrogen at the airport. “We are not starting from scratch; we already work with ArianeGroup on space launchers in Kourou, French Guiana,” says Eric Delobel, Vinci Airports chief technical officer (CTO). “The components of the facilities we are planning in Lyon are up and running.”
What about generating revenues? “Hydrogen will at some point have to be profitable,” Delobel says. “It is a long journey, and this is a reason to start now. . . . We need to [assemble and grow to meet] the needs.”
Vinci’s effort runs parallel to the H2 Hub Airport project, led by Paris airport operator Groupe ADP. Eleven companies were selected for a broad study, including on-site testing of the use of hydrogen as aviation fuel.
“We should start to use hydrogen at airports, rather on the airside [for the stricter safety environment], soon,” says David Morgan, EasyJet director of flight operations.
Meanwhile, Air Liquide is ramping up its production capacity for green hydrogen. The hydrogen currently used in other industries mainly derives from the reforming of fossil fuels.
In Becancourt, Quebec, a 20-megawatt plant has been running since January. In Le Havre, France a 200-megawatt site using photovoltaic cells and wind turbines is planned for 2025, says Cecilia Fouvry Renzi, Air Liquide vice president for hydrogen energy in southwest Europe.
Airbus is looking at having a demonstrator flying by the end of the decade, according to CTO Sabine Klauke. Of the three conceptual configurations unveiled last year, the blended wing body shape is the least likely to materialize in 2035. Despite the benefits for hydrogen storage, it would involve changing the aircraft architecture simultaneously with the propulsion system, points out Glenn Llewellyn, Airbus vice president for zero emissions. Hence the likeliness of a more conventional “tube and wings” arrangement.
“I do not want to give the impression Airbus is betting everything on hydrogen,” Faury says. “Long-range widebodies will need SAF for a long time.”
While carriers are generally supportive of SAF, including the Airlines for Europe lobbying association, there are dissenters. “At best, SAF is an offset mechanism,” says EasyJet’s Lundgren. “I cannot see SAF as a long-term solution for aviation.”
Lufthansa, the largest (albeit modest) SAF user in Europe, is finding it difficult to obtain the requested quantities, so it studied building a production facility. “Just to fuel our domestic flights, the cost would be €3.0-3.5 billion [$3.5-4 billion],” says Annette Mann, senior vice president of corporate responsibility.
“Our concern is the scalability of SAF production,” Faury stresses. “The jury is out on the level of investment to be made over the next 2-4 years.”
Alternative-technology plans will be required, regardless of the success of Airbus’ hydrogen endeavor. “Starting with SAF, then hybrid solutions, we are also looking at microhybridization in order to mature the technologies,” Klauke says.
“Hybridization is a clever way of combining a thermal engine [the conventional gas turbine] and an electric motor,” says Karim Mokaddem, Airbus head of electrification.
But battery weight may be a roadblock. Airbus is looking for “a frugal way to size the electrical system,” says Mokaddem. Electric power will need to be formulated at the right level to relieve the thermal engine in transient phases, without planning on an all-electric propulsion phase. The expected bottom line is a reduction in fuel burn on the order of 5%, Mokaddem says.
In Airbus’ first foray into micro-hybridization, Airbus Helicopters has begun flight tests of an electrical backup system (EBS) on its H130 Flightlab experimental helicopter. The EBS uses a 100-kW electric motor connected to the main gearbox, which in the event of an engine failure could provide up to 30 sec. of additional power, allowing the pilot to make a safe auto-rotation landing. Airbus Helicopters engineers are pursuing certification.
The next level of electrification on an Airbus vertical-lift vehicle will come with the CityAirbus NextGen. Committing to the advanced air mobility market, Airbus is targeting the certification of a winged multicopter by 2025, after a first flight in 2023.
The NextGen uses eight electric motors, each driving a four-blade propeller. It will focus on an urban operations niche, a range of 80 km (50 mi.) for connecting airports with central business districts, says Balkiz Sarihan, head of Airbus’ urban air mobility strategy.
Airbus has not provided weight and payload details for NextGen, but the platform is likely to be slightly heavier than the full-scale CityAirbus demonstrator, which was 2.2 metric tons.
NextGen will have seating for four, including the pilot, and is planned to be certified for piloted operation initially and for autonomous self-piloted operation later. Cruise speed would be 120 kph (75 mph).
Airbus has yet to detail the supplier base but is likely to lean on the lithium-ion battery technology developed by the defense and space business.
In its quest for a green aircraft, Airbus is also counting on the creation of broader industry synergies, which seems to be progressing. Llewellyn describes Airbus’ relationship with Air Liquide, carriers EasyJet and SAS and Vinci Airports as “a deep exchange.” Amelia Deluca, Delta Air Lines managing director for sustainability, says she will begin talking to her counterparts on a weekly basis. EasyJet’s Morgan recently spoke with an offshore wind provider. “We would welcome Boeing on this adventure to make the zero-emission aircraft a reality,” Llewellyn adds.
All these technology-oriented projects may be rendered null and void if governments adopt demand management, says Andrew Murphy, aviation director of lobbying group Transport & Environment. The International Energy Agency in May published an analysis, “Net Zero Emissions by 2050,” outlining three changes that would lead to a 50% reduction in emissions from aviation in 2050 while reducing the number of flights by only 12%: capping long-haul leisure flights, capping business flights and shifting to high-speed rail.
—With Tony Osborne in Toulouse
