Rolls-Royce and European airline EasyJet stated that they have successfully tested a hydrogen jet engine, which might one day be used to completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from flying. Today, Rolls-Royce and easyJet announced that their first run of a modern aircraft engine on hydrogen had achieved a new aviation record.
An early concept demonstrator with green hydrogen produced by wind and tidal power was used for the ground test.It is an important proof point in the decarbonization strategies of both Rolls-Royce and easyJet and represents a significant step toward demonstrating that hydrogen may one day be a zero-carbon aviation fuel. In order to demonstrate that hydrogen can safely and effectively supply power to civil aircraft engines, both businesses have planned a second set of tests, with the longer-term goal of conducting flight tests.
Using a Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine that had been modified, the test was conducted outdoors at the Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down, UK, test facility. EMEC (European Marine Energy Centre) provided the tests with green hydrogen, which was produced at their hydrogen production and tidal test facility on Eday in the Orkney Islands, UK, using renewable energy.
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Grant Shapps, said: “The UK is leading the global shift to guilt-free flying, and today’s test by Rolls-Royce and easyJet is an exciting demonstration of how business innovation can transform the way we live our lives.
EasyJet and Rolls-Royce have both committed to lowering their greenhouse gas emissions and are looking into green hydrogen as a means of achieving these objectives. Green hydrogen, on the other hand, is currently unavailable and prohibitively expensive to produce. The Biden administration is one example of a government that has begun to significantly invest in expanding its production.
Even though renewable energy is used to make green hydrogen, most hydrogen is still made with gas today. When it comes to using hydrogen as a clean fuel, this is the tricky part because it is only as clean as the energy source it is made from. The production of hydrogen using gas results in the release of greenhouse-warming carbon dioxide emissions.
According to a 2020 report from the European Union, hydrogen-powered passenger planes that can travel up to 1,864 miles (3,000 kilometers) could be on the market by 2035. Thankfully, easyJet primarily operates as a short-haul airline. More than 400 airlines use Rolls-Royce engines, a leading supplier of engines for business aviation. At least Boeing and Airbus, two more of those customers, are researching hydrogen as a clean aviation fuel.
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