Running a hydrogen plane could be cheaper than traditional aircraft by 2035

June 2, 2023
Deploying hydrogen planes in Europe is economically feasible, new study shows, but must be supported by the right set of policies and incentives.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Hydrogen jets could be cheaper to run than fossil fuel planes from 2035 provided kerosene is taxed adequately, a new study shows[1],[2]. In 2035, running planes on hydrogen could be 8% more expensive than using kerosene. But with a tax on fossil jet fuel and a price on carbon, hydrogen planes could become 2% cheaper to operate than their kerosene counterparts. These pricing measures are key to the deployment of green technologies like hydrogen planes, Transport & Environment reports. Continue reading original article.

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

2 June 2023 - Transport & Environment, an organization that works to eliminate carbon emissions in the European Union, commissioned an economic study by research group Steer to look at future operating costs of hydrogen-powered aircraft on intra-EU flights could be cost-competitive against aircraft fueled with kerosene.

T&E note that European aviation giant Airbus plans to launch a hydrogen-powered by 2035. T&E say the development is slow and market forces may need a push in the form of increased taxation on fossil fuels from the EU to support "green" efforts.

Carlos López de la Osa, aviation technical manager at T&E, says: “Airbus promised the world it would build a hydrogen jet by 2035. Building these planes is economically feasible, but if we want Airbus to walk the talk, we’ll need to create a market for zero emission aircraft, by taxing fossil jet fuel and mandating zero emission planes in the future. If we have to rely only on Airbus’ goodwill, hydrogen jets will never be more than a pipe dream.”

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Related: Honeywell announces tech to turn hydrogen and CO2 into lower-carbon aviation fuel

Related: ZeroAvia, Natilus partner on hydrogen-electric cargo aircraft

Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics

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