The Netherlands is determined to fly medium-sized commercial aircraft on hydrogen by 2028.
1. Hydrogen-powered aircraft
A consortium of 17 Dutch companies, including Fokker and TU Delft, is working on this initiative which foresees journeys with a range of 750km and already counts with €100 million from the national government. Given the relatively slow range, the Dutch consortium is initially expecting — and convinced — that commercially profitable flights between Rotterdam and London, carrying 40 to 80 passengers, will be a reality by 2028.
The aviation industry is looking at hydrogen-powered passenger planes as the holy grail of sustainable flying since they don’t emit harmful greenhouse gases. More than that, hydrogen is a very light fuel to carry.
“We take out the engine and build a new system in it, after which it flies on nitrogen,” entrepreneur Michel van Ierland, who has helped bring the consortium together over the past two years, said to the Dutch media outlet AD. “There are currently about 1,500 aircrafts flying around the world that are suitable for our package. We have already received the first request for a quote.”
2. Higher ticket costs
If successful, the consortium estimates that flying on hydrogen will make tickets up to 10% more expensive for passengers. However, they expect consumers will be willing to pay that if their flight is really green.
We are going to accelerate the greening of aviation. With flying on hydrogen, the Dutch aviation industry will once again lead the way.
Rinke Zonneveld of development company InnovationQuarter told AD
World’s first commercial hydrogen-powered aircraft is ‘Made-in-Holland’ and zero emission https://t.co/MCsF2KzFIj
— InnovationQuarter (@InnoQuarter) June 13, 2022
Green jet fuel is already available and it has the potential to green aviation, but production costs remain high, hampering scale up and keeping the costs high.
