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A Swiss startup is developing a 1,850 km range hydrogen fuelled business jet that won't need runways as it can take off vertically. (www.hydrogeninsight.com)

submitted 10 months ago by Lugh to c/futurology

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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hydrogen will probably get cheaper in the coming years as it becomes more popular as an alternative renewable fuel. You can make it from water, but you need a lot of electricity. You could perhaps generate it at scale using excess electricity from the grid during times of low demand.

However, most hydrogen these days is made from natural gas so unless there's a supply chain change this jet will probably be worse for the environment than a regular one (since vertical takeoff/landing usually uses a heap of fuel).

[–] CanadaPlus 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Don't forget blue hydrogen. That would be a good medium-term option.

The runway thing is kind of a good point. If you can move a literal ton of hydrogen somewhere you can afford a bit of paving. It's has to be the hardest ordinary material to move around; it's so low-density and diffuses through everything.