Hydrogen planes

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Hydrogen planes are airplanes that use hydrogen as a fuel source.

As an alternative to jet fuel, hydrogen has a higher energy density per unit mass but a lower energy density per unit volume, and containing the hydrogen at high pressure would require a heavy container. If hydrogen were available in quantity from renewable energy sources, its use in aircraft would produce fewer greenhouse gasses (water vapor and a small amount of nitrogen) than current aircraft, and therefore it would, be better for the environment. However, currently little hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources, and there are several serious obstacles to the use of hydrogen in aircraft and other vehicles.^[1] According to research at the Pennsylvania State University in 2006, large commercial hydrogen aircraft could be built by 2020 but "will probably not enter service until closer to 2040."^[2]

The European Union has developed a research project in cooperation with Airbus and 34 other partner companies for a hydrogen powered aircraft dubbed CRYOPLANE.^[3] According to the technical assessment of the project, hydrogen-fueled aircraft engines will be as efficient as the current kerosene ones but storage and weight related problems still remain to be solved. Unmanned hydrogen planes have been tested, and in February 2008 Boeing tested a manned flight of a small aircraft powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The Times reported that "Boeing said that hydrogen fuel cells were unlikely to power the engines of large passenger jets but could be used as backup or auxiliary power units onboard."^[4]

The Soviet Union successfully tested a Tu-154 plane flying on liquid hydrogen in April 1988.