Leading hydrogen jet engine developer Rolls-Royce says H2-powered planes won't happen for 20 years
CEO warns that SAFs will dominate decarbonisation efforts, as it ditches electric plane division
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Erginbilgic’s comments come as the company announced plans to ditch its electric flight division, which aimed to develop technology for small urban and regional electrical planes capable of vertical take-off, or with very short runway requirements.
The division will be better served by another company, as Rolls-Royce is no longer prepared to allocate resources to it, the CEO said.
In fact, Erginbilgic, who is behind a major overhaul at Rolls-Royce as part of an effort to turn the struggling company around, is doubling down on the company’s core business in civil aviation — combustion engines.
Drop-in substitutes for aviation-grade kerosene such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) will in fact dominate decarbonisation in the sector for the next 20 years, he said, adding that they would be the sole pathway for decarbonising large aircraft.
However, there may well be a role for hydrogen in SAF production, as some producers use extra H2 in the Fischer-Tropsch method of production to increase yield.
And e-fuels made using renewable hydrogen and sustainable sources of carbon have also been touted as possible aviation fuel drop-ins.
Jet ambitions
And the company is also currently developing a new ultra-efficient type of engine, called the Ultrafan, which can be fitted to both wide- and narrow-bodied aircraft.
The Ultrafan can reduce emissions through efficiency — and the CEO yesterday said he aimed to bring the new engine to technical completion within four years.