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Dave

Winners of zero emission flight aviation competition announced

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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced the winners of the latest competition focused on making zero emission flights a reality.

Winning projects include wireless charging for electric planes, swappable battery packs to keep flight turnover times to a minimum and state-of-the-art fuelling tanks to safely and efficiently refuel flights of the future.

The fifteen successful projects have been awarded a share of over £700,000 to help bring forward innovative research and technology, which can support UK airports in handling new types of electric and hydrogen aircraft.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

As the world reopens from the pandemic, it is essential that we are investing in greener aviation as part of our transport decarbonisation agenda.

Funding these revolutionary projects will help to slash carbon, create jobs and get us closer to our goal of operating zero emission flights.

The funding forms part of the government’s commitment in the Prime Minister’s Ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, with a commitment of £3 million funding to research into airport infrastructure for zero emission flights this year.

Aviation Minister Robert Courts said:

As an island nation, aviation is essential for our future growth and plans to build back better and greener from the pandemic.

With COP26 around the corner, we’re ramping up our efforts even further by funding the technology that unlocks the flights of the future.

Earlier this year, the UK government set out its ambition to become world-leaders in sustainable aviation fuel production, launching the £15 million Green Fuel, Green Skies competition and publishing a consultation proposing to mandate sustainable aviation fuel use in the UK from 2025.

Val Miftakhov, CEO of ZeroAvia, said:

We are delighted to have been successful with the zero emission flight infrastructure project and to have the opportunity to show just how these projects are critical to the future of zero emission aviation.

In the future, we believe there will be a hydrogen-electric engine in every aircraft as this is the only viable way to deliver truly zero emission aircraft and to comprehensively tackle the industry’s growing climate impact. When we deliver our first hydrogen-electric powertrains into service in 2024, operators need to be able to fuel their aircraft with low carbon hydrogen, and today’s announcement is a big step towards that.

Nicola Yates OBE, CEO of Connected Places Catapult, said:

Connected Places Catapult is delighted to welcome these 15 innovative projects onto the TRIG: zero emission flight programme. The progress being made in this sector to enable sustainable air travel is exciting and an important step for the UK’s successful transition to net zero.

This funding is the latest in a string of initiatives aimed at reducing emissions from flying and consolidating the UK’s position as leaders in green aviation.

The winning projects are:

Cranfield University

  •  Low carbon energy demand scenarios for aviation (LOCESA)
  •  Wireless opportunity charging of electric aircraft
  •  Hydrogen Safety in Aviation: an immersive XR training scenario for airport personnel

University of Warwick

  • Creation of Full Airport Energy Model to Simulate/Understand Infrastructure Impacts of Electric and Hydrogen Aircraft and Support Vehicles on Airports – A Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) Case Study with Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA)
  • Evaluation of safety zones and mitigation measures for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure at airports

Protium Green Solutions Limited

  • Developing a digital twin for the fast refuelling process and procedure for gaseous hydrogen aircraft

Hive Composites Limited

  • Next-Generation Thermoplastic Composite Pipe for Hydrogen Distribution in Airports

Stratospheric Platforms Ltd

  • Development of a safety zonal tool for the operation of liquid hydrogen powered aircraft at airfields

EGB Engineering Consultants Ltd

  • Modelling of Electricity and Green Hydrogen Scenarios to meet future Airport Demand (MEHSAD)

ZeroAvia Limited

  • Liquid Hydrogen Airport Refuelling Ecosystem (LHARE)

University of Strathclyde

  • Solutions Pathway Evaluation Toolkit for Airside Infrastructure to Power Zero Emissions Flight

Ultima Forma Ltd

  • Flexible electroformed twin-walled hydrogen fuel hoses

Ampaire Ltd

  • Modelling demand of electric aviation and airport infrastructure

School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast

  •  UltraCompHy: Ultra-lightweight composite pressure vessels for safe and cost-effective hydrogen storage

CD02 Ltd

  • SafeBatt: Swappable aircraft battery packs for safe ground handling and charging
Dave

British Airways and ZeroAvia to explore hydrogen-powered aircraft

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British Airways has teamed up with ZeroAvia, a leading innovator in decarbonising commercial aviation, in a project to explore how hydrogen-powered aircraft can play a leading role in the future of sustainable flying.

The collaboration, which reflects the importance of sustainability at British Airways, will see ZeroAvia embedded in the heart of the airline. The team will work remotely alongside mentors and experts to explore the transformational possibilities of moving from fossil fuels to zero-emission hydrogen to power the airline’s future fleet.

ZeroAvia recently completed the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft

Partnership with British Airways is part of parent IAG’s Hangar 51 tech accelerator programme

Announcement comes in the week the BA retired its final 747 aircraft, four years earlier than planned, to make way for more fuel-efficient models

In September 2020, ZeroAvia received global acclaim when it achieved a major technological breakthrough by completing the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-size aircraft, which took off from Cranfield Airport. The Piper M-class six-seat plane completed taxi, take-off, a full pattern circuit, and landing.

The partnership forms part of IAG’s industry leading Hangar 51 accelerator programme, which works with start-ups and scale-ups from around the world, providing them with an opportunity to develop and test their products on real world business challenges on a global scale. At the end of the programme, research and learnings from the process will be shared and the ZeroAvia and Hangar 51 teams will consider how the partnership will progress longer term.

Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, said: 

British Airways is committed to a sustainable future and  achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In the short-term this means improving our operational efficiency and introducing carbon offset and removal projects, while in the medium to longer term we’re investing in the development of sustainable aviation fuel and looking at how we can help accelerate the growth of new technologies such as zero emissions hydrogen-powered aircraft.

Louise Evans, Director of External Communications & Sustainability said: 

We are very excited to partner with ZeroAvia and get a glimpse of a zero-emissions future using hydrogen powered aircraft. During the partnership, as well as assessing the environmental advantages of the technology, we will also be exploring the operational, commercial and customer experience improvements that can be achieved.

Sergey Kiselev, ZeroAvia’s Head of Europe, said:

We have found that in addition to improving the sustainability of flight, which is vital, hydrogen-electric technology has the potential to lower operating costs and improve the in-flight passenger experience. We are delighted to be working with British Airways, one of the world’s iconic airlines, and the Hangar 51 programme to explore how hydrogen-electric aircraft can power the fleet of the future. That promising future is closer than ever.

In 2021, ZeroAvia expects to further demonstrate the credibility of its technology at longer ranges and using larger aircraft. The company expects to achieve the commercialisation of hydrogen-electric power for aircraft as early as 2023 with flights of up to 500-miles in up to 20-seater aircraft. By 2027, it plans to have powerplants in service capable of powering commercial flights of over 500-miles in aircraft with up to 100 seats and by 2030 more than 1,000-miles in aircraft with 100+ seats.

Both British Airways and ZeroAvia are part of the Jet Zero Council, a partnership between government and industry to drive forward the UK Government’s net zero-emission ambitions for the aviation and aerospace sector.

ZeroAvia on Sky News