According to „Sustainable Future Aviation 2025-2045: Trends, Technologies, Forecasts,” the market for hydrogen-powered aircraft is expected to reach a valuation of USD28.4bn by 2045. The majority of this will come from narrow-body commercial aircraft fuelled by hydrogen. This is only possible, though, if the appropriate airports receive strategic infrastructure investments.
„Hydrogen is a promising option for the future of aviation. Unlike batteries, it has enormous gravimetric energy density, allowing the plane to carry plenty of energy without becoming too heavy. The limitation of hydrogen is its volumetric energy density – the space it takes up. Because hydrogen is light, it occupies far more space than jet fuel for the same energy. At room temperature and pressure, a hydrogen tank would need to be more than 3,000 times the size of a jet fuel tank to hold the same energy,” Dr James Jeffs, Principal Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, declared.
Higher energy in a smaller volume can be achieved by compressing hydrogen. Regarding compressed hydrogen, the majority of businesses are thinking about 700 bar. A 700-bar hydrogen refueling infrastructure is required for anyone wishing to use hydrogen, as this raises the density of hydrogen by a factor of 470. This means that the tank must be slightly larger for the same amount of energy.
Density is significantly higher in liquid hydrogen (LH2). It now contains around 25% of the energy of jet fuel for the same volume, although it still weighs about ten times less at 71g/L. Thus, a plane could expect to gain about 25% of its range if it could be refueled with liquid hydrogen and its engines operated at a similar efficiency. In the case of an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737max, this translates to around 1,500 kilometers of range. However, it may not seem like much, but surprisingly many flights are less than 1,500 kilometers.
By converting from a hydrogen-combustion turbofan to a fuel-cell electric propulsion system, the range of a hydrogen plane can be further increased. By doing this, the hydrogen plane’s range would be increased by almost 50%, from 1,500 km to 2,000+ km for a narrow body. It might be feasible for a long-range wide-body aircraft, such as the Airbus A350 or Boeing 777, to travel more than 4,000 kilometers on hydrogen fuel. In comparison, the longest trip in the 48 contiguous states is from Seattle to Miami, covering a distance of just less than 4,400 kilometers.
The use of hydrogen in commercial aviation is still a long way off, despite its great potential. Before the first passenger-carrying flights operate, there will still be years of testing, research, and certification. However, to handle liquid hydrogen, airport infrastructure will need to be upgraded in addition to the development of aircraft. For this reason, the market for hydrogen-powered air travel won’t take off until a few major airports invest in hydrogen infrastructure.
„In 2023 airplanes from Los Angeles (LAX) to Las Vegas (LAS) transported nearly 3.5m passengers, making it one of the busiest routes in the US. Additionally, it is only 380km, making it easy to complete with hydrogen power, and possibly with battery electric. Furthermore, these airports are some of the key hubs in the US, along with Atlanta, Denver, Dallas Fort Worth, and Chicago O’Hare. The network between these six airports covered 2.2% of the US’s domestic air travel demand in 2023. Adding just a few more of the most popular airports in the US to this list and creating a network of 21 airports would cover nearly 25% of the US’s domestic air travel demand in 2023,” Jeffs added.
New York (JFK) to London (LHR) is one of the busiest routes in the world, with approximately 3.8m passengers flying this route in 2023. At 5,500km, it is perhaps outside the realms of possibility for hydrogen power. However, LHR would be one of the starting points for creating a hydrogen-powered network in Europe, along with other important hubs like Schiphol and Frankfurt.
„Hydrogen-powered flight will not be easy. There are still many technical challenges around certification, hydrogen fuel cells, longevity, making motors powerful enough for airplanes, hydrogen storage, and more. However, with the right airports investing in LH2, refueling technologies will be a key step in getting the upcoming industry off the ground,” Jeffs concluded.
