Airbus has revealed its plans to manufacture the zero emission commercial aircraft. The company released three concepts and said that they could enter into service by 2035. The three ZEROe concepts include a turboprop, a turbofan, and a blended wing body design. These concepts will explore diverse options to use hydrogen as a primary source of power to fly these planes. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury termed it a historic moment for the commercial aviation sector. Faury said that the company intends to play a crucial role in the most important transition the aviation industry has ever witnessed. Faury stressed that hydrogen has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of the aviation sector on climate.
Airlines and aircraft manufactures have been facing pressure to do something to reduce carbon emissions. The aviation sector is facing its worst ever slump because of the global pandemic and is expected to focus more on shifting its reliability to renewable forms of energy. Several countries are using this opportunity to promote a green recovery. The aviation industry is trying to cut emissions and has committed to reduce it to half of 2005 levels by 2050. The sector needs to rapidly reduce the use of crude oil-based jet fuel to achieve this target. But the problem is that the greener options are much more expensive than conventional fuels and largely untapped.
The other major challenge is the availability of supply. Airbus estimates that using hydrogen as a fuel has the potential to reduce carbon emissions of the aviation sector by up to 50 per cent. Airbus said that the turbofan design will be powered by a modified gas-turbine engine that will use hydrogen. Airbus feels that it will take them at least 3 to 5 years to select a concept for development. Zero-emission aircraft vice president Glenn Llewellyn billions will be spent on this project. Llewellyn said that they are already working with energy companies and airlines. He said that this will bring a massive change in the aviation system. Experts feel that this transition will require decisive action. This cannot be achieved without the support of the government.
