Beginning Steps of the Electrification of Commercial Passenger Aircraft Transport

In a last couple of years, an electrification of land vehicles is developing very fast. Most car producers are already having one or more hybrid car models and/or car models that run solemnly on batteries. First hydrogen cars for a commercial use are also in a development. On other hand, such progress is not seen in an aircraft industry. There are some electric and hybrid propulsion ultralight aircraft already available on the market. The first prototype ultralight passenger aircraft powered by a fuel cell was developed recently by German company DLR. Nevertheless, no larger aircraft were yet developed. The authors would like to presents benefits, limitations and challenges regarding the development of a small (19 and 70 seater) aircraft. Three types of aircraft will be discussed: hybrid aircraft with a smaller battery that is charged during decent, hybrid aircraft with a larger battery that can be charged on ground and electric aircraft powered by fuel cells using hydrogen as a fuel. First, above aircraft types will be shortly presented and compared with a classical aircraft according to their technical characteristics, costs and an environmental impact. Next the necessary ground infrastructure needed for each type of aircraft will be defined. Three different scenarios for hydrogen delivery to the airport will be discussed. Finally, the authors will suggest the most feasible transport services and strategies towards implementation of hybrid and hydrogen aircraft in European airspace. The study is done within the European project MAHEPA in cooperation with Pipistrel (ultralight electric and hybrid aircraft producer), DLR (first prototype of passenger hydrogen aircraft), Politecnico di Milano and University of Maribor.

• Record URL:
  https://aetransport.org/past-etc-papers/conference-papers-2019
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract used by permission of Association for European Transport.
• Corporate Authors:

  Association for European Transport (AET)

  1 Vernon Mews, Vernon Street, West Kensington
  London W14 0RL,    
• Authors:
  • Brdnik, Anita Prapotnik
  • Kamnik, Rok
  • Marksel, Maršenka
  • Božičnik, Stanislav
• Conference:
  • European Transport Conference 2019
  • Location: Dublin , Ireland
  • Date: 2019-10-9 to 2019-10-11
• Publication Date: 2019

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: European Transport Conference 2019

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Civil aircraft; Electric batteries; Electric vehicles; Environmental impacts; Fuel cells; Hybrid vehicles; Hydrogen; Implementation; Infrastructure; Passenger aircraft
• Geographic Terms: Europe
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Environment; Passenger Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01749304
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 2020 11:08AM