AIRBUS UNVEILS CONCEPTS

FOR ZERO-EMISSION COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT

AIRBUS has unveiled a new project codenamed ZEROe with which it hopes to bring zero-emission commercial aircraft into service by 2035.

The manufacturer has detailed three turboprop, turbofan and blended wing concepts, all relying on hydrogen as their primary power source, which Airbus says it believes “holds exceptional promise as a clean aviation fuel and is likely to be a solution for aerospace and many other industries to meet their climate-neutral targets”.

Airbus’s CEO Guillaume Faury called it “a historic moment for the commercial aviation sector”, adding “I strongly believe that the use of hydrogen – both in synthetic fuels and as a primary power source for commercial aircraft – has the potential to significantly reduce aviation’s climate impact.”

However, he warned that the transition to hydrogen as the primary power source “would require decisive action from the entire aviation ecosystem”.

“Together with support from government and industrial partners we can rise to this challenge to scale-up renewable energy and hydrogen for the sustainable future of the aviation industry,” he said.