Hydrogen Infrastructure Challenges Rival Aircraft Tech Hurdles

Experts believe “clean” production and distribution rank as the biggest challenges to the adoption of hydrogen power by the aviation industry.

An 850,000-gallon liquid hydrogen storage sphere used to provide liquid hydrogen for rockets resides at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. (Photo: NASA)

By Gregory Polek • Senior Editor

May 4, 2022

Of all the various renewable energy sources under development, hydrogen represents the so-called “holy grail” in the effort to eliminate carbon emissions from future aircraft, say many scientists. But while the technology exists today to build a hydrogen-powered aircraft, prompting several startup enterprises to develop fuel-cell-based vehicles for the burgeoning advanced air mobility industry, for example, scaling the production and distribution of hydrogen for the wider air transport market presents its own set of challenges.

While several companies continue work to advance fuel cell technology using hydrogen gas for generally small aircraft, the application of liquid hydrogen, or LH₂, appears to carry the most promise for larger airliners due to its superior energy density and versatility. The use of liquid hydrogen stored in a cryogenic tank onboard to power turbine engines presents the most feasible means to introducing a passenger-carrying aircraft to the market, according to experts in the field.

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