Airbus worries embracing hydrogen now could lead to Concorde-style failure

Airbus does not want to risk producing a “Concorde of hydrogen”, its chief executive said, just weeks after the world's largest plane maker delayed plans to develop a hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2035.

The lack of a hydrogen ecosystem and commercial viability at scale were the main reasons cited by Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury for the company's decision to postpone the plans. He did not provide a new timeline.

“We have concluded positively on the feasibility of a commercial airliner powered by hydrogen … but with today's conditions, it would not be a competitive aircraft compared to other ones and, compared to other forms of fuel,” he said at the Airbus Summit in Toulouse.

Other challenges include a lack of regulatory framework to certify a hydrogen-powered aircraft and the fact that the “availability of decarbonised hydrogen at scale, at the airport, at the right price is not around the corner”, he added.

While the time is not right for such a plane, Airbus is “absolutely convinced” that hydrogen is the energy for the future of aviation but more work is needed to produce hydrogen at scale and contribute to the industry's decarbonisation efforts.

“We have come to the conclusion that we would be wrong to be right too early. The timing is not right,” Mr Faury said.

The plane maker is instead “refocusing” on new technologies that must be developed before the hydrogen plane can become commercially competitive when it comes to market, he added.

In February, Airbus said it is pushing back plans for the hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft by the mid-2030s, pointing to “huge” technological and infrastructure challenges. The Airbus project was a major pillar in the industry's efforts to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Aviation accounts for just 2 per cent to 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but it is one of the hardest industries to decarbonise due to technical and infrastructure challenges, safety requirements that slow major aircraft design changes and the long lifespans of aircraft that airlines already have in their fleet.

Decarbonising aviation depends on use of sustainable aviation fuels in existing planes, developing new technology for future aircraft designs and more efficient air traffic management systems.

Net zero by 2050 target at risk

The global aviation industry could miss its target of net-zero emissions by 2050, Airbus boss said at the annual event.

The goal remains reachable and the industry needs to “stay on course”, but it is not a “walk in the park” as progress on sustainable aviation fuels remains “too slow”, Mr Faury said.

“I don't think we are wrong to continue to pursue net zero by 2050. Probably the way it's going to be achieved will be different,” he said.

“Maybe it's going to take a bit more time but let's not be shy in the ambition. Let's keep focus on it. There's still so much to happen, we have not yet understood all the possibilities, all the technologies, all the solutions that will be found.”

The plane-maker's next single-aisle aircraft will be “evolutionary” not “revolutionary”, but this could include an open-rotor engine such as that being considered by engine-maker CFM, he said.

“There will be a significant step forward with the next generation of planes and we're looking at technologies that will make a significant difference,” he said.

Non-stop nine-day around the world trip

Bertrand Piccard, chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation, shared the stage with Mr Faury and highlighted the Climate Impulse project, which is developing a hydrogen-powered aircraft with twin fuselages.

The Swiss adventurer, 66, who led the flight of an electric plane powered by sunlight, is now aiming higher – towards greener commercial flight – with plans for a 100-seater passenger plane powered by super-cold liquid hydrogen.

Under the Climate Impulse project, a green hydrogen-powered aeroplane will be designed for non-stop, nine-day, zero-emission circumvention of the globe in 2028

Mr Piccard outlined a future scenario where parabolic suborbital flights can connect Toulouse with Sydney in two hours.

“My job [with Climate Impulse] will stop in 2028 because you need pioneers in the beginning to open the way, but in 2028 your job will start to make it happen on a commercial level,” Mr Piccard told a roomful of Airbus executives.

Climate Impulse counts among its backers Airbus and science incubator Syensqo as well as Morocco's non-profit private research institution University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) and Moroccan phosphate and fertiliser giant OCP group.

“Morocco has become a main partner” for Climate Impulse, Mr Piccard said. “OCP, a state industry wants to diversify into hydrogen, while UM6P wants to use Climate Impulse as a disrupter in technology for educating their students,” he said.

“Morocco is the door open for Africa for education and technology.”