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New ‘world first’ for hydrogen aero engine
7/12/2022
News
Rolls-Royce and EasyJet claim to have set a new aviation milestone with the world’s first run of a modern aero engine on hydrogen.
The ground test was conducted on an early concept demonstrator using green hydrogen created by wind and tidal power. Marking ‘a major step towards proving that hydrogen could be a zero-carbon aviation fuel of the future and a key proof point in the decarbonisation strategies of both Rolls-Royce and EasyJet,’ the companies state they are already planning a second set of tests, with a longer-term ambition to carry out flight tests.
The test took place at an outdoor test facility at MoD (Ministry of Defence) Boscombe Down, UK, using a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine. Green hydrogen for the tests was supplied by EMEC (European Marine Energy Centre), generated using renewable energy at its hydrogen production and tidal test facility on Eday in the Orkney Islands, UK.
Commenting on the news, Grazia Vittadini, Chief Technology Officer, Rolls-Royce, said: ‘The success of this hydrogen test is an exciting milestone… We are pushing the boundaries to discover the zero carbon possibilities of hydrogen, which could help reshape the future of flight.’ Johan Lundgren, CEO of EasyJet, added that ‘hydrogen offers great possibilities for a range of aircraft’ and ‘will be a huge step forward in meeting the challenge of net zero by 2050’.
A second set of ground tests are planned using green hydrogen, with a longer-term ambition to carry out flight tests in the future
Photo: Rolls-Royce
