Airbus Unveils Bigger Hydrogen Airliner Concept

Airbus's sudden postponement of its hydrogen aircraft development program in February set an ominous tone for what has been cited as among the most promising future aviation technologies, but that's all history now. The planemaker announced at its annual forum last week that its plans for its ZEROe concept just got bigger. It unveiled a bigger and more capable airliner with four propellers, whose electric motors are each powered by hydrogen fuel cells. It's the latest in a series of proposals by Airbus for bringing hydrogen-powered aircraft to market.

Details are scant on the aircraft itself, which appears to seat about 100-150 passengers and looks like a bigger ATR or Dash-8. The focus now is on the powerplants. It turns out fuel cells are heavy, and the challenge has been creating a light but powerful fuel cell "that would respect aerospace weight and safety regulations." The company partnered with ElringKlinger to make a system that pushed out 1.2 megawatts during testing a few years ago. The newest design is built around a fuel cell on each motor providing two megawatts of power to the prop.

“Over the last five years, we have explored multiple hydrogen-propulsion concepts, before down-selecting this fully electric concept," said ZEROe project head Glenn Llewellyn. "We are confident it could provide the necessary power density for a hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft and could evolve as we mature the technology. In the coming years, we will concentrate on advancing the storage, distribution and propulsion systems, while also advocating for the regulatory framework needed to ensure these aircraft can take flight.”