Hydrogen-Electric Propulsion for a Clean Aviation Future

Speakers: Sergey Kiselev, Head of Europe and CCO (based in the UK), ZeroAvia

How the combination of water and sunlight or wind, alongside cutting-edge innovation, can fuel our future air travel and save the industry from an existential crisis.

A quarter of the world's carbon emissions are predicted to come from the aviation sector in 2050. Alarmingly, more than half of aviation’s climate impact is from non-carbon emissions amplifying the sector's impact. Alternatives to combustion engines are critical if demand growth is to go in tandem with reduced climate impact, but electrification is challenging compared to road transport due to the weight limitations and lifecycles of batteries.

ZeroAvia is therefore developing hydrogen-electric engines as the most practical, economical, and furthest reaching solution for reducing aviation’s climate change and clean air impacts. Hydrogen-electric engines use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity, which powers electric motors to turn the aircraft’s propulsors. As well as the environmental benefits, the falling cost of hydrogen fuel and lower maintenance costs will allow airlines significant operating cost reduction.

In this lecture, Sergey Kiselev will address some of the key engineering challenges that ZeroAvia is addressing to unlock this vital technology to power commercial green flights by 2025.