By 
Aerospace Technology Institute ATI
A U.K. government-backed research firm, Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), showed a new liquid-hydrogen-powered airliner concept called FlyZero.
In theory, this 279-seater aircraft will have the same performance ability as a traditional midsize aircraft, but without creating carbon emissions, the ATI says in a press release.
Aerospace and Aviation in Future
The FlyZero aircraft is one of a range of aircraft being structured by the FlyZero program. The new concept will store hydrogen in cryogenic fuel tanks, keeping them at a temperature of minus 250°Celsius (minus 418°Fahrenheit). Two cryogenic tanks will be set at the rear of the plane, while two smaller “cheek” tanks will be placed near the front of the plane to keep the aircraft balanced. The mid-size aircraft will have a wingspan of 54 meters, each of which will have a turbofan engine attached.
“These designs could explain the future of aerospace and aviation,” said U.K. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in the ATI’s statement. “By working with industry, we are proposing that carbon-free flight could be possible, with hydrogen a frontrunner to replace conventional fossil fuels.”
In its statement, the ATI estimates that “highly-efficient hydrogen-powered aircraft” will “have higher operating economics compared to conventional aircraft from the mid-2030s onwards.” The ATI has got £1.95 billion ($2.6 billion) in funding since 2013. The FlyZero concept program, which received £15 million of that funding, promises to allow travelers to fly with the same speed and comfort given by airliners today.
Slashing the Aviation Industry’s Carbon Emissions
Hydrogen propulsion is being touted as one of the great desires for decreasing aviation emissions, which account for roughly 2 percent of global emissions. Other alternatives involve drop-in fuels for existing aircraft, as well as electric propulsion airliners. In the latter case, current battery technologies simply aren’t advanced enough to allow electric aircraft to fly for significant periods of time. NASA’s experimental electric Maxwell X-57 light aircraft, for example, can only fly for 40 minutes at a time, giving it a range of 100 miles on one charge.
In order to make hydrogen airliners feasible, a lot of work will have to go into building the mandatory airport refueling infrastructure in the upcoming years. With companies such as industry giant Airbus having revealed concepts — slated for service by 2035 — for their own hydrogen-fueled aircraft, we are likely to see a huge shift in this direction in the upcoming years. All of this, of course, is part of an industry-wide effort to increase carbon emissions, following the IPCC’s latest report on climate change.
