The first hydrogen-powered planes are taking flight::undefined
I understand the advantages of hydrogen since burning it doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses, but being around that much hydrogen makes me uneasy from everything I’ve read about how explody it is. I am sure the engineers responsible know what they’re doing though
Who got scammed into making that
Hydrogen makes sense for planes in theory. It’s an alternative for batteries, which are very heavy and thus not practical for long flights.
Is hydrogen more energy dense than other net zero fuels such as methenol?
It depends on whether you mean by weight or by volume.
By weight, hydrogen has an almost unbeatable energy density. It’s much higher than methanol or even gasoline.
By volume, hydrogen has a horrible energy density, several orders of magnitude lower than any modern type of battery, for example.
So if you have infinite space, hydrogen is great. But a plane does not have infinite space. So you try to compress the hydrogen or cool it down to increase the energy density. However, this will still come out at much worse than gasoline or jet fuel.
Yeah, I was thinking volume. Wasn’t aware that energy density was also calculated by weight. It makes me wonder tho, is this more “hydrogen economy” hype, or is it worth it
The big issue for aircraft is weight more so than weight. You can add a section and stretch an airplane without too much issue. Whereas the ability to lift is limited by weight and engine power.
