I realise this news is
about aviation but I have decided to share it in order to raise awareness of
the increasing use of zero emission hydrogen technology which
is now going to be used on aircraft.
EasyJet
is a low-cost airline carrier based at London's Luton Airport in Britain. It
operates domestic and international scheduled services on over 700 routes in 32
countries. Their fleet size is 221 aircraft and they have 134 destinations. The
company was first founded in 1995.
EasyJet will be the
first airline company to operate hydrogen aircraft after they revealed their
plans in the following press release.
From EasyJet Media Centre
As
part of its strategy of reducing its passengers' carbon footprint easyJet,
Europe’s leading airline, has unveiled plans for a revolutionary zero emissions
hydrogen fuel system for its aircraft which could save around 50,000 tonnes of fuel and the associated CO2 emissions per
year.
easyJet
is committed to reducing its passengers' carbon footprint and has set new
targets for 2020 which will see a
reduction of 7% over the next five years compared to its emissions today,
which are 81.05 grams CO2 per passenger
kilometre.
This
follows a decrease of 28% over the last
15 years. easyJet invests in the latest technology, operates efficiently
and fills most of its seats which means that an easyJet passenger's carbon footprint is 22% less than a passenger on a
traditional airline, flying the same aircraft on the same route.
For
the hybrid plane concept the airline has taken inspiration from students at
Cranfield University, a global leader in education and research in technology
and management, who were asked to develop ideas for what air travel might look
like in twenty years’ time, as part of a competition to celebrate easyJet’s
20th birthday in November 2015.
easyJet
will now work with its industry partners and suppliers to apply the cutting
edge technology much sooner with a trial set to take place later this year.
The
hybrid plane concept utilises a hydrogen fuel cell stowed in the aircraft's
hold. This innovative zero-emissions
system allows energy to be captured as the aircraft brakes on landing and is
used to charge the system’s lightweight batteries when the aircraft is on the
ground (much like the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) found in
Formula 1 cars).
The
energy can then be used by the aircraft – for example when taxiing - without
needing to use their jet engines. Due to
the high frequency and short sector lengths of easyJet’s operations, around 4% of the airline’s total fuel consumed
annually is used when the airline’s aircraft are taxiing. easyJet’s aircraft average 20 minutes of taxi
time per flight – the equivalent of around four million miles a year – akin to
travelling to the moon and back eight times.
Each
aircraft would have motors in their main wheels and electronics and system
controllers would give pilots total control of the aircraft’s speed, direction
and braking during taxi operations. The system would therefore reduce, if not
remove altogether, the need for tugs to manoeuvre aircraft in and out of
stands, delivering more efficient turnaround times and increased on time performance.
The
only waste product is fresh clean water
which could be used to refill the aircraft’s water system throughout the
flight.
The
concept has been developed by easyJet’s award winning engineering director Ian
Davies and his team working with some of the ideas from students combined with
easyJet’s own conceptual thinking.
Head of Engineering,
easyJet, Ian Davies, commented:
“At
easyJet, we are continuing to apply the use of new digital and engineering
technologies across the airline.
“The
hybrid plane concept we are announcing today is both a vision of the future and
a challenge to our partners and suppliers to continue to push the boundaries
towards reducing our carbon emissions.
“It’s
also a great example of the benefits of our strategic relationship with
Cranfield University.”
Dr. Craig Lawson,
Lecturer, Centre for Aeronautics, Cranfield University, added:
“We
are delighted to be working on this project with easyJet on what is a
real-world example of how we can innovate together.
“Cranfield
is a specialist postgraduate university providing advanced, practical education
and research. We are recognised internationally as meeting the needs of
business, governments and wider society.
“Our
students have showcased some exciting ideas for the 2035 vision of the airline
industry through The Future of Flight competition, presenting environmental
solutions, operational improvements and ideas to enhance the customer
experience. We’re looking forward to developing this concept further.”
easyJet
and Cranfield University signed a three year strategic partnership agreement
last year to share innovation and knowledge.
As
part of easyJet’s 20th birthday activities, students at Cranfield University
were asked to compete in four categories; cabin design, aircraft design,
airport experience and in-flight experience.
Judges
at easyJet and Cranfield received a raft of pioneering advances from the
aerospace students. Further innovative
ideas included dynamic wings which change shape in flight, a super-efficient
'shark skin' coating to reduce surface drag and, in the cabin, ultra-light
weight seats carbon fibre seats incorporating wireless phone and tablet
charging panels.
easyJet operates a
fleet of over 240 Airbus A319s and A320s with an average age of just 6 years
old. The airline
will start taking delivery of A320neo aircraft from June 2017 and the new
planes will be around 13% - 15% more fuel efficient than the planes they are
replacing.
I'm
not really into airplanes but I do find it interesting how an airline company
like EasyJet has invested in the next level of technology to help combat
Climate Change.
Currently
with the bus services in London there will be a small increase of hydrogen
buses as TFL have invested in having two hydrogen single deck buses
manufactured by Van Hool. The only route which has hydrogen buses in London is Route RV1 which goes from Tower Gateway
to Covent Garden via the South Bank, including Waterloo.
So
good job for EasyJet and hopefully
in the near future we may see other airline companies taking an interest in
using hydrogen technology for their fleet of airplanes.
Here
is a related video of the Hydrogen bus on route RV1.
London Buses Route RV1
Operated by Tower
Transit (LI Garage)
Hydrogen powered VDL
SB200/Wright Pulsar
WSH62996 LJ13JWP
filmed on 23rd October
2015
If
you think we should be moving forward to having more hydrogen buses instead of
the 3 door, 2 staircase hybrid bus known as the Wrightbus New Routemaster, then feel free to post your view in the
comments section below.
Finally,
as always, you can follow me on Twitter,
Tumblr, Pinterest and Google Plus for
all the latest news and updates at: @CLondoner92
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