In a bid to cut carbon emissions and find greener ways of travelling by air, Gloucestershire Airport will take part in a trial that will provide environmentally-friendly fuel for zero-carbon planes.
The green hydrogen refuelling trial will see the Staverton-based airport create green fuel, initially for small aircraft with a range of 500 miles, but if the trial proves successful, organisers hope it will be extended to larger passenger planes, too.
The trial has been organised by the Project Heart initiative, which is a collaboration between three national hydrogen energy businesses — Protium, Haskel and Nel Hydrogen.
Jake Martin, hydrogen business development manager at Haskel, said: 'We are developing hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for future fuel cell electric propulsion aircraft. So this is aircraft that will utilise fuel cells that are driven by the hydrogen molecule.
'Project Heart will determine the optimal methods for safely commercially producing hydrogen, storing it and distributing it at the airport. This is an electrolysis process, where we essentially get water and then we crack the molecule to give us hydrogen and oxygen.
'We then generate hydrogen at the site, store it and then it's going to be utilised in a fuel cell, essentially pushing the hydrogen and oxygen together, creating energy, which will then power electric motors on the plane. '
Gloucestershire Airport is expected to start producing green fuel in the summer of 2024.
