A new partnership with the UK's largest regional airline could help make sustainable hydrogen-powered flights a reality by 2030.
Unlike traditional jet fuel, hydrogen doesn't release harmful carbon pollution and can be made using clean energy. Loganair is exploring how to harness that sustainable potential for regional aircraft routes in Scotland.
As part of the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment, the airline has partnered with airports and other organizations to participate in the UK Civil Aviation Authority's "Hydrogen Challenge."
The partnership will explore how to roll out large-scale hydrogen fuel infrastructure and pave the way for commercially viable hydrogen aircraft. According to Fuel Cells Works, Loganair has already identified short-haul routes ideal for hydrogen-fuelled services.
The move is just one of Loganair's sustainable initiatives. The airline is also developing a hybrid-electric aircraft.
Alternative airplane fuel would reduce air travel's planet-warming pollution without sacrificing the ease and speed of flying.
Most planes burn jet fuel, a dirty fuel also known as kerosene, which produces heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Research has shown that other harmful pollution is released in the jet engine exhaust plumes, or contrails, which can reflect sunlight during the day and trap heat at night.
Over the past two decades, aviation has grown faster than other types of transportation. A flight releases around 100 times more harmful carbon pollution per hour than a bus or train. In 2023, aviation was responsible for 2.5% of global carbon pollution, according to the International Energy Agency. That's around one billion tons of pollution, more than many countries generate in a year, per Mongabay.
Carbon pollution is rising, overheating the planet, triggering extreme weather events, and threatening our food supply.
Switching to sustainable aviation fuels, like biofuel made from wastewater, would reduce carbon pollution by roughly 70% to 80%, according to MIT Technology Review. Zero pollution is possible with hydrogen or all-electric aircraft. Hydrogen could also revolutionize other transportation sectors, like shipping.
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Lower energy bills 💰 "These trials keep the UK on course to be a world leader in hydrogen propulsion," said Tim Johnson, director of communications, strategy and policy at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, in a release.
"We are at the cutting edge of innovation and are working hard with key industry partners across a range of sustainability projects," said Rebecca Borresen, director of safety and sustainability at Loganair. "This project aims to meet the ambition of delivering the world's first hydrogen-powered commercial flight before 2030."
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