Euro commission sees hydrogen competition to kero-jet fuel possible

Diesel Fuel News, June 10, 2002

A liquid hydrogen "Cryoplane" might seem ludicrous given the Hindenburg disaster. Another big problem is that liquid cryogenic hydrogen requires four times more volume than kero-jet distillate fuel (a common blendstock of diesel fuel) for the same energy content. Hence a huge increase in aircraft fuselage would be required for any hydrogen-powered jets.

Nevertheless, the BC last month announced results of its 26-month investigation on "Cryoplane," largely the work of aircraft maker AirBus and 35 research partners. The BC report claims that such an aircraft, if ever built, would be "technically feasible and would greatly reduce the environmental impact of aviation without affecting safety." However, such a plane would emit almost three times the water vapor of kero-jet-combustion, potentially affecting climate via a large increase in contrails. Still, it probably would have less impact on global warming than jet-fuel combustion, the report sa id.