Liquid hydrogen: the jet fuel of the future?

On Monday, the FAA gave the go-ahead for California startup Universal Hydrogen to start flight testing its new liquid hydrogen-powered airplane.

The plane – a modified Dash-8 model that can seat 41 passengers – would be the largest such craft ever to take flight. But if/when it does, it won’t be traveling very far (at least at first).

• The hydrogen-powered plane has a current max range of 460 miles, or about the distance between San Diego and San Jose.
• Universal Hydrogen aims to increase its range to 630 miles, which would enable it to serve nearly all of the 2,500+ routes flown by conventional Dash-8 planes since 2004.

🤔 Why use hydrogen?... The aviation industry accounts for ~2.5% of all global CO2 emissions. And while EVs are seen as a way for automakers to decrease their emissions, electric-powered airplanes aren’t really feasible for one simple reason: they’re not powerful enough.

Lithium-ion batteries have 70x less energy density than jet fuel – and when you’re flying a big hunk of metal through the air, weight-to-power ratios are like shopping at dollar stores: you want more bang for your buck.

📝 The bottom line: Liquid hydrogen, which has 3x the energy density of conventional jet fuel and emits zero CO2 when consumed, aims to deliver that bang. But there are still some hurdles to overcome – a big one being the need for advanced cold storage on planes, since hydrogen only stays in its liquid form in temps below negative 423°F.