Fuel Cell Hybrid-Electric Aircraft: Design, Operational, and Environmental Impact

To reduce the environmental footprint of the aviation industry, aircraft with new propulsion systems are increasingly under consideration. In this paper, the potential of a fuel cell hybrid-electric aircraft (FCHEA) powered by hydrogen and kerosene is assessed. First, the methodology for the conceptual design of a single-aisle short-range FCHEA is developed and presented. Then, the environmental impact of this aircraft on its design mission is determined by means of a 1D-climate model and the climate metric Sustained Global Temperature Potential with a time horizon of 100 years (SGTP₁₀₀ ). To complete the picture, the fleet adoption of the FCHEA concept is determined with the help of a fleet system dynamics model taking future air traffic development, fleet age, and production capacities into account. This makes it possible to analyze the potential of FCHEA to improve aviation’s environmental footprint considering the operational environment in the global aviation market. The results show that for a single FCHEA powered by liquid hydrogen produced via electrolysis with renewable energies, climate impact reductions of 15.2 − 17.8% can be achieved. The fleet uptake of the FCHEA made full use of the available production capacities, but still was able to serve only 15.8% of total available seat kilometers.