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Airbus Shows Three Zero-Emission Concepts Including Blended-Wing Body Design

We're so heavily fixed on cars (and motorcycles, to a certain degree) here that we may forget at times there are other forms of transportation that require massive changes to reduce their carbon footprint - or eliminate it altogether.
Airbus ZEROe concept aircraft 7 photos
Photo: Airbus
Arbus ZEROe concept hydrogen-powered aircraftArbus ZEROe concept hydrogen-powered aircraftArbus ZEROe concept hydrogen-powered aircraftArbus ZEROe concept hydrogen-powered aircraftArbus ZEROe concept hydrogen-powered aircraftArbus ZEROe concept hydrogen-powered aircraft
One of them is the aviation industry. If the automotive one seems to have settled on battery power at the expense of hydrogen, things are a little more delicate when it comes to aircraft. Given the current technology, the sheer weight of the batteries makes them a tough match for things that need to defy gravity to achieve their goal, which means the answer might lie somewhere else.

Airbus, the French aircraft maker best known for the A380 model - the largest airliner ever in service - seems to think that hydrogen would be the perfect solution as it just released three zero-emission concept aircraft that, according to the company, could enter service by 2035.

Since this is a field where the form is definitely dictated by function, aircraft design can be pretty straight-forward with very few elements to play with to provide a certain visual identity. Still, Airbus managed to pull something out of its hat with one of the three new concepts.

Instead of relying on the usual layout of an airliner, the French opted for a blended-wing body design. The unusual aspect of this particular model isn't just a gimmick, allowing the aircraft to carry up to 200 passengers - the largest capacity of the three - on a transcontinental journey of over 2,000 nautical miles (2,300 miles or 3,700 km).

Even though all three concepts use liquid hydrogen as fuel, they employ two different means of propulsion. The blended-wing body design and the larger of the remaining two have turbofan engines, whereas the smaller model (in terms of capacity and range) uses a turboprop configuration powered by modified gas-turbine engines.

Using hydrogen for air travel actually makes a lot of sense since it eliminates the infrastructure issue that cars would have. In fact, they could even have hydrogen production facilities on-site, thus eliminating the cost and environmental impact of transporting the fuel to its destination.

“This is a historic moment for the commercial aviation sector as a whole and we intend to play a leading role in the most important transition this industry has ever seen. The concepts we unveil today offer the world a glimpse of our ambition to drive a bold vision for the future of zero-emission flight,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO. “I strongly believe that the use of hydrogen - both in synthetic fuels and as a primary power source for commercial aircraft - has the potential to significantly reduce aviation's climate impact.”
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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