With the UK becoming the first major nation to include international aviation in its carbon dioxide emissions targets, and air traffic still expected to reach 10 billion passengers a year by 2050 – a key target date in achieving net zero CO2 emissions for the wider economy – the global commercial aviation sector needs commercially viable technology solutions which can deliver zero carbon emissions.

For aircraft, several solutions exist to reduce CO2 emission and pollutant emissions as per terrestrial applications: bio- and synthetic fuels for conventional engines and gas turbines, hybrid electric propulsion systems, battery electric only or hydrogen fuel cells.

Hydrogen is not a new technology for transport: it was developed as rocket fuel for the US space programme in the 1950s and is currently used in heavy duty commercial vehicles such as long-haul trucks and buses. What has changed to make it an appealing technology for commercial aviation now?

In this webinar, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Ricardo give their technical insight into Project Fresson which is using hydrogen fuel cell technology to develop a commercially viable, retrofit powertrain solution for the nine-passenger Britten-Norman Islander aircraft. They also look ahead to the next steps required to prepare what will be the world’s first truly green passenger-carrying airline services.

Key topics and takeaways:

• Presentation of the state-of-the-art for aircraft propulsion
• Why fuel cell development for aircraft
• Selecting hydrogen fuel cells
• Methodology used to develop multiple stack fuel cell systems, and optimising for aerospace applications
• Ricardo’s expert use of model-based development for terrestrial applications
• Designing a multiple fuel cell stack system to fulfil the challenging aerospace performance, weight and volume targets

Ricardo is proud to be a member of: ADS, Farnborough Aerospace Consortium, Midlands Aerospace Alliance and The Royal Aeronautical Society.