Aerospace giant Airbus and Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) have allied with the goal of creating a hydrogen-based aircraft by 2035.
FFI, the green energy brainchild of mining billionaire Andew Forrest, has followed its founder’s ambitions in advancing carbon-free hydrogen as a fuel of the future.
Both of the companies have ramped up efforts to research and develop green alternatives within their respective industries amid mounting pressure on companies to reduce their emissions.
Under the new partnership, Airbus and FFI will work to address challenges spanning from hydrogen production to delivery at airports and on-board aircraft, including finding solutions in hydrogen regulations, supply, and infrastructure.
Andrew Forrest travelled to Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and said that aviation was next in the global transition.
“We are all citizens of a global world. People want to travel, reunite with family and friends and explore new places without being forced to pollute the planet.
“The problem isn’t travel, the problem is how we fuel our planes and ships—all of that must turn emissions free. No greenwash, no mirage, just 100 percent green.”
FFI has been at the forefront of Australia’s green hydrogen industry, a fuel touted to be the solution to long distance transport and coal-free steel and aluminium.
Green hydrogen itself is made through electrolysis—where an electrical current is passed through water to separate out the hydrogen gas—although this process is currently not commercially viable.
Airbus believes Forrest’s progress in the hydrogen industry will play a key role in allowing the fuel to eventually become feasible for use in aircraft.
“Airbus is preparing itself to put a zero emission aircraft in service by 2035. But this will only be possible if we can ensure enough green hydrogen is produced worldwide and I’m thrilled to see FFI enthusiasm with regards to our ambition.”
However, lead author for transport on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University, Peter Newman, cautioned that the technology was still in its infancy.
This is because, in its raw form, hydrogen as a gas cannot be used aboard aircraft due to the high pressures involved, and converting hydrogen into liquid form poses its own challenges.
“Hydrogen is too hard to compress and freeze—[and requires temperatures of] minus 253 degrees celsius,” Newman told The Epoch Times.
Newman outlined that producing hydrogen was rapidly becoming more affordable due to cheaper solar panels and electrolysers—in part thanks to the efforts of FFI—but that the step from hydrogen to a usable fuel remained unproven commercially.
“Hydrogen won’t work in planes unless it is converted into synthetic jet fuel,” Newman said.
“Hydrogen is not hard to make, it’s just very expensive. Solar is cheap, hydrolysers are getting cheaper, but the steps from hydrogen to synthetic jet fuel are expensive... major breakthroughs are needed.”
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