Airbus plans to test hydrogen engine on A380 jumbo jet to fly in 2026
Airbus said it plans to test a hydrogen-powered engine on a modified A380 by the middle of the decade, in hopes of bringing lower-emission fuels to commercial air travel.
The European aircraft giant said Tuesday that it's working with engine maker CFM International — a joint venture of General Electric's aviation arm and France's Safran — on the test plane, which will include a modified version of an engine already in use that will have to handle higher temperatures at which hydrogen burns. Test flights could begin 2026, Airbus said.
Aircraft manufacturers and airlines are scrambling to slash their carbon emissions, which account for more than 2% of the world's total. Airbus has aggressively pursued hydrogen and said it is working on a passenger aircraft powered by the fuel that it expects will enter service in 2035.
Rival Boeing has focused on more sustainable aviation fuels, which currently make up less than 1% of the jet fuel supply and are more expensive than conventional jet fuel. CEO Dave Calhoun said at an investor conference last June that he didn't expect a hydrogen-powered plane on “the scale of airplanes that we're referring to” before 2050.
“It will work for some very small packages,” he said.
One big challenge in using hydrogen fuel is that storing it would require additional equipment that adds weight to the aircraft, reducing the number of people or amount of cargo that a plane could carry, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at Aerodynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.
“Hydrogen is what happens when engineers and economists don't talk to each other,” he said.
Airbus said it selected its A380, the world's largest passenger plane, because it had room to store the liquid hydrogen tanks and other equipment.
空中客车公司表示，它计划在本世纪中期之前在改进的 A380 上测试氢动力发动机，希望将低排放燃料带入商业航空旅行。 这家欧洲飞机巨头周二表示，它正在与发动机制造商 CFM International（通用电气航空部门和法国赛峰集团的合资企业）合作测试飞机，其中将包括已在使用的发动机的改进版本，该发动机必须处理更高的压力。氢气燃烧的温度。空客表示，试飞可能会在 2026 年开始。
飞机制造商和航空公司正争先恐后地削减其碳排放量，碳排放量占全球总量的 2% 以上。空中客车公司一直在积极寻求氢气，并表示正在研制一种由燃料驱动的客机，预计将于 2035 年投入使用。
竞争对手波音公司专注于更可持续的航空燃料，目前占航空燃料供应的不到 1%，并且比传统航空燃料更昂贵。首席执行官戴夫·卡尔霍恩 (Dave Calhoun) 在去年 6 月的一次投资者会议上表示，他预计 2050 年之前不会出现“我们所指的飞机规模”的氢动力飞机。
“它适用于一些非常小的包裹，”他说。
航空咨询公司 Aerodynamic Advisory 的董事总经理理查德·阿布拉菲亚 (Richard Aboulafia) 表示，使用氢燃料的一大挑战是储存它需要额外的设备，这会增加飞机的重量，从而减少飞机可以运载的人数或货物数量。公司。
“当工程师和经济学家不互相交谈时，就会发生氢气，”他说。
空客表示，它选择了世界上最大的客机 A380，因为它有空间存放液氢罐和其他设备。
