Hydrogen Central

Aviation Goes Green: Iberia, Air Nostrum and Vueling Test Flights with Hydrogen and Electric Planes

hydrogen planes flights

Aviation goes green: Iberia, Air Nostrum and Vueling test flights with hydrogen and electric planes.

The Government prepares an aerospace PERTE . This is intended to finance R & D & I activities that generate a knock-on effect on the entire value chain, from manufacturers to airlines. The latter have been preparing all year round to launch projects or simply adapting to a more sustainable aviation in the future with hydrogen flights .

The most ambitious project is that of the consortium formed by Volotea, Air Nostrum and Dante Aeronautical that presented in March to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) a plan for the electrification of the fleet in the context of the Support Program for Sustainable Transport and Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan Digital.

The project proposes the reconversion and electrification of fleets of aircraft in service to transform them into 100% electric.

The scope includes the design, engineering and implementation of the necessary modifications for the adaptation of conventional small capacity aircraft (between 9 and 19 passengers) and the investment in the development of technologies for propulsion with alternative energies with the aim of minimizing emissions in flight.

The certification of the first aircraft is scheduled for 2024 . This milestone will be followed by a period of industrialization and commissioning that will culminate with versions of several fully operational aircraft in 2026.

Hydrogen flights

On the other hand, hydrogen is one of the great bets of the Government’s energy policy , and also of aviation so noted in recent years due to the pollution caused by its operations.

In this sense, in November Repsol and Iberia carried out the first flight with biofuel produced in Spain from waste. Specifically, the biojet used belongs to the batch produced last August at the Petronor refinery, which is located near Bilbao and belongs to the Repsol Group.

What is achieved with this type of flight? This flight has managed to reduce the emission of 1.4 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, thanks to the improvement in consumption efficiency provided by the plane, together with the use of sustainable biofuel. In addition, a zero-emission electrically powered aviation fuel delivery vehicle has been used for refueling.

Days later, Vueling also carried out a flight with sustainable aviation fuel in collaboration with Repsol. A pilot test with the goal of operating 10% of flights with sustainable fuel by 2030 .

In addition, it should be noted that on July 14, the European Commission presented the Fit for 55 package of measures, which includes the RefuelEU Aviation initiative, whose objective is to boost the supply and demand of sustainable aviation fuels in the European Union, reaching a 2% use in 2025, 5% in 2030 and 63% in 2050. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.

In this way, the environmental footprint of aviation is reduced, while contributing to the achievement of the climate objectives of the European Union.

READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central

Aviation dresses in green: Iberia, Air Nostrum and Vueling test flights with hydrogen and electric planes. December 26, 2021

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