Highlighting Progress in Sustainable Fuels

Explorer, environmentalist, and veteran circumnavigator, Bertrand Piccard, announced that he is set to pilot the liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft Climate Impulse on a non-stop globe-circling flight in 2028. The flight will track along the equator and take about nine days to complete. Along the way, Piccard will speak with the public, schools, and governments while seeking to inspire and educate audiences about using the earth’s resources as efficiently and sustainably as possible.

The aircraft will be powered by liquid hydrogen that must maintained at -253 C0, requiring insulated tanks that the aircraft will be designed around.

The hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity to drive the electric engines providing thrust for the aircraft, which will cruise at an altitude of about 10,000’ MSL. The only waste product from the consumption of hydrogen is water, plus heat. Design and construction of the aircraft is projected to take about two years and testing will take an additional two years.

Piccard holds two previous world firsts in circling the earth: In 1999 he and copilot Brian Jones were the first to circle the earth in a hot air balloon. In 2016 the Swiss pilot did it again with copilot André Borschberg in the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft.

Climate Impulse is not the only aircraft maker testing hydrogen-based propulsion. In November 2023 ZeroAvia announced their 19-seat plane had completed a flight using hydrogen-electric engines. Following shortly after, Universal Hydrogen completed a flight in a 40-seat Dash-8 with hydrogen as the only fuel. In addition, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, and ZeroAvia are testing jet engines using only hydrogen for fuel.

FMI: www.climateimpulse.org