Well timed after Hamburg’s Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe in OCT24 which included a look at aviation and Airbus, Toulouse (Hamburg’s twin city from an Airbus perspective), hosted two parallel events that were clearly aerospace focused and contained hydrogen aspects. Green Aero Days, the first of these 100% B2B events, brought together the cream of sustainable light aviation.
Hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen combustion, electric, hybrid – all kinds of propulsion systems were either exhibited as real aircraft or models. What many of them have in common: in contrast to their larger counterparts of the established aircraft manufacturers, they are not an AI-designed vision of sometime-in-the-2030s, no – they have either already flown or have maiden flights planned for 2025. Along with the various pitches and panel discussions, where creators such as Toulouse’s Beyond Aero presented their experiences (in this case, a test flight series with an ultra-light aircraft which began in FEB24 – CFG reported), the evening event showcased many other of these hydrogen pioneers in the nearby Aeroscopia museum. Truly a big monument in the fascinating history of aviation since its beginnings.
No flights without ground infrastructure
Co-organized by Aerospace Valley, which, with its 852 members, is the leading European competitiveness cluster, the conference program followed a holistic approach to the subject matter. In other words, it focused on proactive solution-finding versus chicken-egg approaches. One panel named ‘Transforming airport infrastructures: how are they evolving to accommodate new aircraft?’, brought together first movers of both industry and infrastructure. CEO, Juriaan Kellermann presented FokkerNextGen’s 100-seater, based on the original Fokker 100, with a concrete plan to enter commercial service in 2035, fueled 100% by liquid hydrogen. From a groundwork perspective, CEO, Hugo Duchemin of consulting firm, COMWORXX, explained that a Berlin-based study has led to a European cooperation with Toulouse (France), Bodø (Norway), and Lelystad (Netherlands), with the objective of a trans-European demonstration flight of the smaller (4 seat) hydrogen aircraft, introducing standardized hydrogen refueling facilities. Stuttgart Airport CEO, Ulrich Heppe champions that idea on a larger scale, with the new Hydrogen Aviation Center at Stuttgart Airport. It is the base of start-up, H2FLY, which designed and built the fuel cell system for its parent company, Joby’s demonstrator. Joby recently performed a landmark test flight of 800 km, powered by liquid hydrogen. ENGIE Green, a division of the French energy giant, was represented by Innovation Project Manager, Guilhem Cuny, who explained its numerous solar energy projects at regional airports, exemplifying the reality of green airport infrastructures that can ultimately turn renewable energy into green hydrogen for land and air use.
Airline perspectives on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and business travel
Day 3 of the event concentrated on Aeromart: a global trade fair bringing together major players and start-ups from all over the world. This is genuinely the pure B2B version of the Paris Air Show – no flight shows, just business matchmaking. Industry leader, Airbus’ presentation of its sustainability roadmap was followed by a lively panel discussion titled ‘Decarbonizing Business Air Travel: On the Path to Zero Emissions?’ It turns out that Airbus’ capability and objective to make its commercial aircraft 100% SAF-compatible by 2030, does not at all mean that they will fly on SAF to that extent. Panelists representing Air France, easyJet, and Lufthansa, expressed their struggle with comparable problems: SAF availability and cost. Together with their major travel agents, American Express and BCD, also present as panelists, they leverage SAF cost against ESG accountability benefits for their corporate business travel customers, representing an increasing part of the solution.
Efforts are being made to offer more transparency in travel planning, enabling passengers to choose flights based on decarbonization criteria. However, even with a decent corporate travel strategy, it seems that the necessary ramp-up of SAF production is an unsolved problem with no short-term remedy.
Critical audience opinion considered
The panel positively opened up for audience participation, triggering further discussion. One attendee asked about Airbus’ and the airlines’ opinion on the engagement in green hydrogen production being a key feedstock for eSAF, and currently considered as the fuel that can be produced globally in larger quantities than crop-based SAF. The argument culminated in the assumption that aviation itself used to be a luxury segment of the travel industry, and its current mainstream market position is a result of competition, efficiency, and volume.
That being said, the same principles could be applied for the ramp-up of SAF with more sophisticated technology and strategic volume increase. Since green hydrogen is still a marginal product and fossil fuels benefit from major direct and indirect subsidies, it was voiced that aviation should join forces with global oil to speed up the transition to SAF production, even using their joint influence on policy makers. That particular aspect brought up the subject of the ‘Level Playing Field’; a term also used in the Lufthansa Cargo Sustainability Conference a few months ago. Air cargo customers are corporate by nature, and sensitive to sustainability leverage as long as there are rules that enforce fair global competition. In that same train of thought, audience participant, Fadimatou Noutchemo from Cameroon, herself an African and global thought leader and influencer, pointed out that Africa is often underestimated as industry participant, with urgent needs and economical challenges but standing in third or fourth place in the rankings of important markets. She also raised food for thought regarding the huge African land potential for solar energy and crop production, a major geopolitical opportunity to have Africa participate in this global search for solutions in sustainable aviation.
