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Airplanes and airports aren’t exactly the first things that spring to mind when you think of the word ‘eco-friendly’, but living on an island means that for almost all of us, planes are still the fastest and cheapest way to travel abroad. But what if flying became ever so slightly less terrible for the planet?
This week, Gatwick Airport announced it has partnered up with Airbus, budget airline easyJet and Air Products to form the ‘London Gatwick Hydrogen Hub’. The group will work to explore how hydrogen – a clean, low-carbon, renewable energy source – could be introduced at the airport, which is the UK’s second busiest.
As part of the project, airplane manufacturer Airbus is developing new hydrogen powered aircraft, and is apparently aiming for them to be ready for commercial flights by 2035. Meanwhile, Air Products, one of the world’s largest hydrogen producers, will be the ones supplying the fuel for these new aircrafts.
The project will be an important first step towards possible zero-carbon flights from Gatwick. The airport was apparently chosen over others because the early hydrogen-powered aircraft will initially only be doing short to medium haul flight routes, and Gatwick is the UK’s leading hub for these.
Hydrogen won’t just be used as fuel for airplanes, though. The new project will also be seeing if liquid hydrogen can be supplied and stored at Gatwick, as well as examining other ‘shorter-term opportunities’ for using the renewable energy source.
Steve Wingate, Gatwick Airport’s CEO, said: ‘We still have a long way to go and a lot of hard work to do, but today’s exciting partnership is an important early step toward reaching our net zero ambitions.’
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