Hydrogen aviation could reduce our carbon footprint

One company in Southern California is on a mission to make hydrogen aviation a viable option to reduce carbon emissions in air travel and make your next flight climate friendly. 

Universal Hydrogen in Hawthorne, Calif. sees hydrogen as the solution to cleaner air travel.

In early March, the company successfully completed their first flight of their hydrogen powered aircraft. They equipped the airplane, dubbed “Lightning McClean”, with the largest hydrogen fuel cell ever to power an aircraft.

According to a 2018 report from the Environmental Protection Agency, aviation accounts for 3% of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.

The hydrogen powered aircraft only emits water vapor and zero carbon emissions.

I talked to Loris Gliner, who’s the Director of Powertrain & Flight Test at Universal Hydrogen, about their aircraft and the importance of hydrogen aviation.

“Decarbonizing aviation is the industry is the biggest challenge the industry is facing. It’s really an existential one. We believe that hydrogen is the best way to do that for aviation,” said Gliner.

Watch the video above to learn more about hydrogen aviation and how it could open the possibilities to sustainable travel.

Universal Hydrogen says the inherent properties of hydrogen make it easier and safer in case of leak because it doesn’t pool like jet fuel, it rises.

Therefore, the collateral damage would be much lower than jet fuel in case of a fire.

The aerospace company plans to roll out their hydrogen-powered planes by 2025. 

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