The Allure of Hydrogen

As an aviation buff, every time I see an article promising emissions-free flight, I get excited, and the recent announcement of plans for hydrogen-powered airliners by the mid-2030's is no exception. Who wouldn't want to visit distant friends and relatives without the guilt of all the carbon that jet engines put into the atmosphere? Three things sober me up quickly:

1. The mid-2030's are a long way off.
2. Aviation only accounts for 10% of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.
3. As with batteries, hydrogen is only as clean as the electricity used to store the energy.

The third point is something the fossil fuel industry seems to want to gloss over. According to one energy company's educational web site, 95% of hydrogen is produced by burning fossil fuel or wood. Unless this changes, spending billions of dollars on hydrogen burning airliners does essentially nothing to change the planet. Some see this as an attempt by the fossil fuel industry to continue to profit while it can.

​Greg Williams