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Airbus, Boeing diverge on technology for next new airplane
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By Scott Hamilton
Introduction
Feb. 1, 2021, © Leeham News: Airbus and Boeing are diverging on paths for a sustainable, reduced emissions strategy for the next new airplanes.
The stakes are high: billions of dollars in sales, dramatic shifts protecting the environment and which company will be dominate for decades to come.
Source: Boeing
Airbus committed to bringing to market a zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered aircraft by the middle of the next decade. A dramatic shift in supporting infrastructure is needed to support innovating new technology.
Boeing is taking a more conservative approach, but one that won’t require costly changes to the infrastructure or major changes to airplane design. Instead, Boeing is betting on delivering airliners by 2030 that can use 100% sustainable fuels.
Summary
- Boeing believes hydrogen technology is farther away than Airbus thinks.
- Airbus wants a hydrogen-fueled airplane in service by 2035.
- Boeing committed to a 100% sustainably-fueled airplane by 2030.
- Who’s right is a multi-billion dollar bet.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 22. Hydrogen fuel cells
By Bjorn Fehrm
January 29, 2021, ©. Leeham News: Over the last weeks, we looked at Center of Gravity (CG) problems with rear fuselage liquid hydrogen tanks as used in Airbus’ ZEROe turbofan airliner concept. We can conclude that the CG shift is manageable for a short-range aircraft (range below 2,000nm).
Now we spend the next Corners diving into hydrogen fuel cell technology and how it can benefit a hydrogen-fueled airliner.
Figure 1, The principle of a hydrogen fuel cell. Source: Airbus.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 21. Hydrogen airliner weight shift
By Bjorn Fehrm
January 22, 2021, ©. Leeham News: In last week’s Corner, we looked at how the hydrogen consumed in the rear fuselage tanks changes the airliner’s Center of Gravity (CG).
Now we discuss how this change of Center of Gravity, limiting the aircraft’s load flexibility, can be mitigated with different concepts.
Figure 1. Airbus ZEROe turbofan airliner. Source: Airbus.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 20. Hydrogen airliner weight shift
By Bjorn Fehrm
January 15, 2021, ©. Leeham News: In last week’s Corner, we looked at how hydrogen consumed in the rear fuselage tanks of Airbus’ ZEROe concept affect the airliner’s efficiency.
Now we look at other aspects of the rear placement of the tanks.
Figure 1. Airbus ZEROe turbofan airliner. Source: Airbus.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 19. Hydrogen airliner weight shift
By Bjorn Fehrm
January 8, 2021, ©. Leeham News: In our Corner before Christmas we discussed the hydrogen tank placement at the rear of the aircraft for Airbus’ ZEROe concept turbofan aircraft.
We now calculate how the weight transfer when emptying the tanks in the rear affects the ZEROe’s efficiency.
Figure 1. Airbus ZEROe hydrogen turbofan airliner. Source: Airbus.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 17. Hydrogen airliner program
By Bjorn Fehrm
December 11, 2020, ©. Leeham News: We use this Corner to define the time table for our hydrogen airliner program and for what areas we need to conduct risk-reducing research before we embark on an actual design.
As we said in last week’s Corner, we aim to develop a hydrogen airliner for the heart of the domestic market after the COVID-19 Pandemic. It’s a 160 to 180 seat single-aisle turbofan driven airliner, using liquid hydrogen as the fuel.
Figure 1. Airbus ZEROe hydrogen-fueled airliner concepts. Source: Airbus.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of Hydrogen. Part 16. A Hydrogen airliner
December 4, 2020, ©. Leeham News: To dig a level deeper into the challenges of hydrogen airliners, as a next step we design such a plane (on a high level), now that we have covered the basics.
It will make us traverse the fundamental design tradeoffs of such a design. Reflecting on what we discussed in Part 3, “The Application Space for a Hydrogen Airliner,” we focus on the single-aisle short-haul domestic market, Figure 1.
Figure 1. CO2 emissions per aircraft type and range flown. Source: EU Hydrogen Powered Aviation report.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of Hydrogen. Part 15. Hydrogen cost
By Bjorn Fehrm
November 13, 2020, ©. Leeham News: In our series on hydrogen as an energy store for airliners, we now look at the cost of hydrogen.
The current cost-efficient production is predominantly by reforming natural gas, meaning it’s a process that involves carbons. Hydrogen as an energy transporter then makes no sense as the point is to de-carbonize our energy supply.
Figure 1. Cost of Hydrogen by 2040 as projected by the EU study. Source: EU.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of Hydrogen. Part 14. Supply of Hydrogen
By Bjorn Fehrm
November 6, 2020, ©. Leeham News: In our series on Hydrogen as an energy store for airliners we now look at how to create a supply industry for hydrogen.
The problem of a sizable and competitive hydrogen supply industry is a chicken or egg problem. To achieve a competitive and functioning hydrogen transport system we need an adequate hydrogen infrastructure and to get an adequate hydrogen industry we need large-scale consumers.
Figure 1. The CO2 problem and the main contributors. Source: Wikipedia.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of Hydrogen. Part 13. The supply of Hydrogen
October 30, 2020, ©. Leeham News: In our series on Hydrogen as an energy store for airliners we now address the problem of liquid hydrogen supply for air transport.
Before we go into the ecosystem and its costs, let’s start with a more principle discussion. Is continuing today’s consumption pattern a valid alternative?
Figure 1. World energy consumption by type and development. Source: Wikipedia.