Mitigating the Climate Impact of Aviation: What Does Hydrogen Hold in Prospect?

Abstract

This article discusses the impacts of aviation on global climate change, and shows attempts by the aviation industry to mitigate those impacts by means of alternative fuels. Special respect in this paper is given to the use of hydrogen as aviation fuel. Examples of practical and theoretical research projects on the application of hydrogen are presented and the current outlook towards an introduction of hydrogen into practice is presented. From a technological point of view, hydrogen as an aircraft fuel is feasible. However, in the current attempts by the aviation industry to improve environmental friendliness, hydrogen is not included as a measure within the foreseeable timeframe due to large financial and technical efforts.