On February 7, 2023, Universal Hydrogen received a Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental category from the Federal Aviation Administration. This will allow their DeHavilland Dash 8-300 to begin test flights. Universal boasts their craft will be the largest hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft ever to fly. Up to now, it’s been performing taxi tests and motor runups, getting ready for the big day. On a Mission Universal Hydrogen’s web site opens with this statement: “Our mission is to put aviation on a trajectory to meet Paris Agreement emissions targets by making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality.” The coming flight tests are a major step toward fulfillment of that mission. Inclusion of the large hydrogen-carrying modules reduces passenger carrying capacity to 40 seats. But, the modules allow easy loading and unloading and “eliminate the need for costly new infrastructure, with any airport capable of handling cargo being hydrogen-ready.” Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen, explains, “We are simultaneously …
Renewable Biomethane – an Economic Alternative?
Compressed natural gas (CNG) has several things going for it. It is cheaper than gasoline or diesel fuel, has lower emissions, and for a conventional piston-engined airplane, is the equivalent of over 130 octane, far more powerful than 100-octane low lead (100LL) and cleaner burning. CNG Fuels in England CNG filling stations are growing across the country as fleet owners take advantage of the economics of converting their vehicles, but are still few and far between in the west, with the exception of California. There are under 900 stations throughout America. Alluring as CNG might be for drivers, pilots used to paying $5.50 per gallon for avgas should be charmed by CNG’s price of $1.00 per gallon equivalent. That is with conventional, fossil-based CNG, basically a storable version of natural gas. That leads to its less-desirable characteristics. First, it pollutes, too, and is a source of greenhouse gases. Second, natural gas has a hard time overcoming its association with fracking, …