Airbus is floating a new idea for hydrogen that it says could make electric aircraft much more efficient and therefore more viable. The company is looking at ways to use liquid hydrogen to cool superconducting components on the aircraft to greatly improve their ability to make power. “With the ASCEND demonstrator, we’ll pave the way for a real breakthrough in electric propulsion for future aircraft,” said spokesman Bour Schaeffer. “The importance of this work can’t be understated: cryogenic and superconducting technologies could be key enablers to enhancing the performance of low-emission technologies, which will be essential to achieving our ambitious decarbonisation targets.”
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/airbus-looks-at-superconducting-electric-airplanes