Rolls-Royce, easyJet Successful Test Run for its Hydrogen-Powered Jet Engine—Towards Carbon Neutrality

Going carbon neutral while still aiming to center on delivering almost the same technology to current transportation systems is hard, but Rolls-Royce and easyJet seem to have already achieved it with their successful test. The companies' joint effort to develop a hydrogen-powered jet engine saw success on its run, with its multiple applications for the future.

Hydrogen fuel cells were a massive problem that researchers have not yet solved until now, with Rolls-Royce and easyJet engineers finally debuting the technology for all.

Rolls-Royce, easyJet Successfully Tests Hydrogen-Powered Engines

Rolls-Royce announced via a press release that its collaboration with easyJet has achieved a new milestone, in this world's first development of a hydrogen-powered jet engine. The companies have already demonstrated the new jet engines, seeing success when the team powered it up and exhibited its latest innovation.

The team used green hydrogen for its tests, utilizing a transformed Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine which accepts the new fuel cell to power its systems.

Its new hydrogen jet engine saw its tests conducted at the Ministry of Defence's outdoor facility in Boscombe Down, United Kingdom.

The Goal is to Become Carbon Neutral with Jet Engines

easyJet's David Morgan said that battery power would not be sufficient for its needs, especially for large commercial airplanes (via BBC News). The team's goal is to deliver a carbon-neutral jet engine that can fly massive aircraft and carry both load and passengers, something that needs more power like what traditional jet engines deliver.

Now, the collaboration found a way to do this, by utilizing hydrogen as its main fuel source that delivers zero emissions.

Rolls-Royce and easyJet's Hydrogen Focus

Rolls-Royce may be a brand the public hears and immediately associate with luxury cars, but the company is more than that, and the British corporation is set to deliver clean energy with its transportation developments as well. One of its most recent focuses on clean energy is an electric airplane that is regarded as the fastest in the world.

The company's Rolls-Royce Holdings, its aerospace division, has a massive focus on delivering these clean energy aircraft, for the future's use of battery-powered planes.

Its partner company, easyJet, is also centering on creating the world's first hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft, and the company has been developing this since 2016. The focus is to use jet fuel and eliminate its carbon emissions in total, with the company doing more now than what it initially set out to do when it first started.

Instead of a hydrogen hybrid, easyJet was able to co-develop a hydrogen-powered jet engine that has multiple applications for different aircraft needs, centering on its collaboration with Rolls-Royce.

The pair aims to deliver a zero emissions future, and this recent milestone is only a testament to the years of hard work and empathy for the environment.

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Written by Isaiah Richard