Why Hydrogen-Powered Planes Will Beat Electric Planes

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Published 2023-05-09
With 4.5 billion passenger trips taken each year and more than 16 million planes taking off annually in the U.S. alone, aircraft are responsible for 2.5% of global CO2 emissions, and the problem is growing. But there could be a solution that rivals the power of fossil fuels without the negatives - hydrogen. Aircraft giant, Airbus, is exploring the technology, as well as new startups, ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen. CNBC explores hydrogen planes and whether they could fix aviation’s emissions problem.

Chapters:
00:00 — Introduction
02:17 — Hydrogen in aviation
04:16 — Companies
09:17 — Challenges

Produced, Shot and Edited by: Andrew Evers
Senior Producer: Shawn Baldwin
Additional Camera and Narration: Erin Black
Animations: Josh Kalven
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Universal Hydrogen, ZeroAvia, Airbus, Eviation, NASA, Textron Aviation, Connect Airlines, Amelia

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Why Hydrogen-Powered Planes Will Beat Electric Planes

All Comments (21)
  • @mattzerega
    I'd like to see a documentary like this that includes some explanation of fuel storage and transportation 'why' and 'how' -- including descriptions of storage container weight, materials and construction; compression and cooling equipment design and costs (up-front capital, O&M, energy (kWh) required to run it), and; transport and storage compression pressures -- in order to help viewers understand why a fuel with, "...the highest energy per mass of any fuel..." has to be compressed to 13,000 psi or cryogenically cooled before it's useful in an aircraft, car or truck. This would help viewers appreciate what it actually takes to achieve and sustain 13,000 psi or minus 425F, and the challenges created by such pressures and temperatures during transporting and storage as compared to traditional liquid fuels.
  • @xlynx9
    I'd like to see a similar report for the future of shipping and sea transport.
  • @alyshmahell
    4:25 Great idea, show a random graph while talking about "airbus looking into hydrogen over time", I guess they were -25% looking into it in October 2022, whatever that means...
  • @io9883
    Quels sont les avantages de ce moteur par rapport aux autres moteurs à essence existants : peut-il être plus rapide (plus de 1 500 kilomètres par heure), avoir une autonomie plus longue, être plus doux et plus silencieux ? Puis-je transporter un tonnage plus lourd (par exemple, deux fois le tonnage du Beluga XL d’Airbus) ? Les batteries peuvent-elles atteindre une puissance de 20 à 50 mégawatts tout en conservant des dimensions appropriées ? Pourrait-il être plus automatisé/plus facile à entretenir et à gérer ? Existe-t-il une capacité de production en volume dans la région européenne ou dans la région de l’Atlantique Nord ? Nous espérons que les ingénieurs et les équipes auront des objectifs clairs et éviteront de concevoir des produits ayant un positionnement difficile sur le marché et un développement lent.
  • @Cj-xl3jv
    I love how aviation is always talked about so heavily but the useless cruise ship industry is never mentioned. One ship burning “bunker oil” is equivalent pollution to 5 million cars per day but I guess that’s okay?…
  • @user-tb8hz8qr1q
    Những phương tiện hàng không tốc độ cao rất cần thiết cho nhu cầu thu hoạch kiến thức trí tuệ ngoài không gian hay lắm, cảm ơn video chia sẻ của bạn chúc bạn sức khỏe và hạnh phúc.
  • While H2 is energy dense by mass, by volume it leaves much to be desired. H2 also needs to be either cryogenically frozen or highly pressurized in storage which drags on its round trip efficiency. H2 could still play a big role in green ammonia production, which has greater energy density by volume without the previously mentioned problems of h2. The holy grail in my view would be developing a scalable and cheap direct ammonia fuel cell (vs having to crack the ammonia back to H2, which again, drags on efficiency).
  • Brilliant Coverage in Hydrogen usage in aircraft! Thank you for sharing this important topic in in aviation fuel alternatives. Greetings from Madang, Papua New Guinea!
  • In a way, even hydrocarbon is some kind of battery. Plants absorb the energy from the sun and convert it to carbohydrate as energy storage. When the plant died they got buried deep overtime. The fibrous part was petrified, and the carbohydrate was refined by pressure and heat into hydrocarbon.
  • Former USAF flight surgeon and undergrad chemistry major here. Hydrogen has a very low energy density per volume and must be stored under immense pressure and/or low temperatures in order to have adequate energy to power anything other than very short flights. That requires very heavy, very expensive alloys. The very tiny molecule hydrogen literally seeps into metals and other materials causing “hydrogen embrittlement” and accelerating material fatigue. Extremely low temperatures make all materials less malleable and more prone to sudden, catastrophic fracture. Metals are bad, but plastics and other polymers can be even worse at low temperatures. Maintaining the necessary low temperatures adds even more weight and energy expenditure not directed to flight. Air pressure decreases with altitude magnifying the material stresses even more. The repeated ascents and descents under such immense pressure changes induce accelerated material fatigue. Temperatures also drop precipitously at altitude. H2 fuel cells and their platinum or iridium catalysts do very poorly at low temperatures. Direct combustion is more plausible, but H2 is incredibly explosive if a leak develops. Shut-off valves work well with liquid jet fuel, but much less well with gaseous H2 under immense pressure. All of the fuel lines and valves must be able to withstand all of the radical changes in pressure and temperature as well as the bulk H2 storage tanks. All of this adds immensely to weight which in turn stresses the non-fuel portions of the airframe and reduces flight efficiencies. We perform non-destructive stress damage analysis on current planes. This would needed to be performed even more sedulously on hydrogen planes. More delays and costs. Hydrogen-powered ships—yes; hydrogen-powered planes—I respectfully have my reservations. I hope they prove me wrong, but I heard none of these issues addressed to any significant degree. I am willing to be persuaded. Best wishes.
  • @stuarthirsch
    Aviation is where hydrogen makes the most sense to start a hydrogen economy. Next would be replacing natural gas with hydrogen. Then hydrogen for trains, busses, trucks, and finally passenger cars. Hydrogen is a great way of storing and transmitting energy. There are however a number of technical, safety, and economic hurdles to overcome. Hydrogen can be produced from water and electricity. Renewable, nuclear, or even fossil fuels. Thus hydrogen could ultimately be not only the cleanest fuel, but also the cheapest fuel.
  • @danieltyson2865
    Excellent and intelligent coverage of the prospect and hope.
  • Cool video. Unfortunately, I suspect hydrogen will take longer to supplant the current air travel logistics than declared, but it will eventually happen. In the nearer term though, I suspect some mix of biofuels and carbon neutral synthetic efuels will be what initially decarbonizes air travel before hydrogen tech is able to become a superior technology. To get the ball rolling I suggest legislating that private jets be LEGALLY REQUIRED to use carbon neutral fuels, be they biofuels, efuels, green hydrogen, direct electricity, or something else. This will help stimulate the market and development to make these technologies become more available at larger scale by having those who CAN pay the premium, do so in the early days.
  • I like the idea of a combination of two fuels: Catalytically derived, cellulosic or algae biobutanol for landings and takeoffs; Then a switchover to ammonia (NH⁴) for cruising. Might be the easy & quick low CO² fuel path. I think speed & 'anti-absolecence' is important to avoid the increase in CO² from the manufacturing of new aircraft right away.
  • @StarrDust0
    CNBC does top-notch documentaries, interesting and well researched. Ammonia is really the key here...too bad there was no mention of it (though this doc was focused on H2)...NH3 is a better H2 carrier than liquid hydrogen....about twice as much and its in liquid form can be held at a much lower pressure about 10 bar (while H2 gas is at 700 bar)...that's the real future imo. Ofc NH3 is a toxic substance, so we'd need to handle it better than we do gasoline (as it can cause blindness), but for decarbonizing, it's the pinnacle for an alternate energy source.
  • @tibsyy895
    Boeing and Airbus should use the new propeller types to be even more efficient! ✌️
  • @melihaksoy7430
    If I was a scientist, I would make a research about how to overcome gravitational forces of the earth by deflecting or changing the direction of gravitational forces to enable aircrafts fly with a minimum amount of fuel. 1. Define gravitational forces. How can we reverse it or cancel it? Can we build a machine that could make it possible? 2. Is that possible to find a material to isolate or deflect gravitational forces 3. Can we convert gravitational forces into a power source? I'm quite sure that somebody could take the challange & make it possible, like Wright Brothers. If we can convert sunlight into electricity by using solar panels why can't we achieve creating weightlessness by harnessing gravitational forces?
  • @Hanad3
    cnbc contents are getting better by the day