Project Newborn to develop new hydrogen fuel cells for aviation

Global tech company Honeywell is leading a European Clean Aviation project consortium that is launched to develop a new generation of hydrogen fuel cells to be used in aircraft.

In Project Newborn, 18 partners from 10 European countries will collaborate to develop an aerospace-qualified megawatt-class fuel cell propulsion system powered by hydrogen.

Aero-Mag.com reports that green hydrogen, the term given to hydrogen produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity, is an extremely clean power source that can be used to propel future aircraft. That makes the technology appealing, as the aerospace sector works to reduce carbon emissions. The megawatt-class fuel cell propulsion system delivered by Newborn will give birth to future, sustainable aviation beyond a megawatt.

Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, the European Union’s research and innovation program for transforming aviation toward a sustainable and climate-neutral future, is considering part-funding Project Newborn. In the process that leads up to a funding decision, the Project Newborn project received the highest score by the selection committee.