A project to make a non-stop flight around the globe powered by liquid hydrogen has taken a step closer to becoming reality, with a press event in France on 13 February 2025 detailing its progress.
Led by Swiss explorer and physicist Bertrand Piccard, the Climate Impulse project aims to fly a two-seater aircraft around the world for nine days, fuelled by clean or “green” hydrogen. Clean hydrogen is generated by splitting water molecules by electrolysis.
The wingspan of an Airbus 320
Displayed in a hangar in Les Sables d’Olonne in France, the plane is made from lightweight composites. Its design would rely on super-cold liquid hydrogen being released from ultra-insulated tanks under the airplane’s wings, feeding energy into a fuel cell that drives the plane. There are also plans to economise on fuel by borrowing energy from the “turbulence section” of the atmosphere.
“The plane has the wingspan of an Airbus 320: 34 metres (about 110 feet). It weighs 5-1/2 tons, and it flies at 180 kilometres per hour — that means 100 knots at 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) altitude,” Piccard told reporters.
Piccard is no stranger to innovation and the attempted development of sustainable flight. He is the man behind the Climate Impulse’s predecessor, Solar Impulse, which flew around the world on solar power in 2025, but had to make numerous stops. Climate Impulse will instead, if the project goes to plan, be able take off and fly 40,000 kilometres (about 25,000 miles) around the Equator with no need for mid-air refuelling or stops.
From a workshop in the west of France, the makers of a two-seater plane say it could be a pioneer in sustainable aviation. The project, Climate Impulse, is designed to fly around the world non-stop and aims to prove the viability of hydrogen-powered flight. pic.twitter.com/KSePmGm8Wh
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 14, 2025
We have to show it’s possible
Although Piccard has notable support from Airbus and Belgian multinational chemical company Solvay through its Syensqo arm, he has claimed to be very much on his own with his team, since the project is deemed too risky for major aviation manufacturers to get involved with. There are multiple challenges, including the creation of an insulated chamber that will store the highly flammable hydrogen at almost absolute zero, with no risk of leaks.
𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
— Climate Impulse (@ClimateImpulse) February 7, 2024
The first hydrogen flight around the world by @bertrandpiccard & Raphaël Dinelli#BeTheImpulse
Discover the groundbreaking adventure ➡ https://t.co/oidQS99Dyx@syensqo pic.twitter.com/hmEruqVpG4
”It’s my job to be a pioneer,” Piccard said in an interview reported by AP. “We have to show it’s possible, then it’s a big incentive for the others to continue.”
The groundbreaking flight is not expected to happen until 2028, and even after that could take decades to become commercially viable since scaling the production of green hydrogen is currently still an issue, even though the World Economic Forum suggested in 2022 that hydrogen fuel cells could be used to electrify mid-range flights and hydrogen combustion aircraft could be used on long-haul flights as early as 2035.
