Airbus’s mission to market so-called zero-emissions aircraft by the middle of the next decade is making progress, the airline revealed recently, saying its experts had been working for the past 15 months on building tanks that could put hydrogen-powered jets in the air.
Hydrogen, Airbus believes, is a “compelling option” for giving lift-off to zero-emissions jets, and could be used as a fuel by modifying gas turbine engines or by generating electricity via hydrogen fuel cells.
But the storage tanks for the would-be fuel “are completely different to those you might find on a traditional aircraft”, Airbus said. The main hurdle is that the tanks need to keep hydrogen fuel at a constant -235 degrees – even when the tanks are depleted.
Airbus technicians have for now come up with a prototype tank which they are testing with nitrogen. The aim is to have a hydrogen fuel tank ready to install in a demonstration A380 by 2026-28.
