Multinational aerospace corporation Airbus and global chemical company Linde have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on creating hydrogen infrastructure for airports globally.
The MoU comes after a cooperation agreement that was signed in Singapore earlier this year and that includes collaboration on supply chains for hydrogen worldwide, from production to storage, including the incorporation of refueling into ground handling activities.
“We are pleased to expand our successful collaboration with Airbus to a global scope,” said Philippe Peccard, Vice President of Clean Energy, Linde. “By harnessing both companies’ competencies we are well positioned to collaborate with airports and government authorities in the development of viable concepts for sustainable airport hubs based on hydrogen.”
Both Linde and Airbus will start pilot projects at a few airports starting at the beginning of 2023. The two companies will also analyze the potential of Power-to-Liquid fuels, which are sustainable fuels made from a synthetically-produced liquid hydrocarbon via renewable energy.
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“We are advancing well with hydrogen as an important technology pathway to achieve our ambition of bringing a zero-emission commercial aircraft to market by 2035,” said Airbus CTO Sabine Klauke. “Building the infrastructure is just as crucial. That’s why we are working closely with partners like Linde, who have decades of experience and expertise worldwide in the storage and distribution of hydrogen.”
Using hydrogen as an energy source has the potential to decrease air emissions but could also help decarbonize on-ground air transport operations. Airbus set up the “Hydrogen Hub at Airports” program in 2020 to advance research on low CO2 airport operations and infrastructure requirements across the full range of activities.
The companies have signed agreements with airports and partners in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Italy, and France.
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In 2020, Airbus unveiled its plan to launch the first hydrogen-fueled commercial aircraft – or the so-called ZEROe project – by 2035. The development of hydrogen technology is now underway on a global scale.
Earlier this month, ZeroAvia and Otto Aviation made a deal to collaborate on a hydrogen-electric powertrain to power Otto’s Celera aircraft.
