A non-stop world tour in eight days in a plane with green hydrogen as fuel: after Solar ImpulseBertrand Piccard launches Climate Impulsea new project to promote zero-emission technologies and “show that there are solutions”.
Designed in partnership with the Belgian chemist Syensqo, which split from Solvay in December, the plane will have a double fuselage with the cockpit installed in the middle and a 37 meter wingspan, half the size of Solar Impulse.
It is due to make its first flight in 2026 and complete its world tour two years later. It will then involve flying at nearly 200 km/h at an altitude of 3,000 meters for eight days in a row.
His predecessor, Solar Impulse 2powered by solar energy alone and therefore dependent on the weather, completed its world tour in 2016 after 17 stages. Climate Impulse It will operate with hydrogen produced from electricity of renewable origin, which will power electric motors.
“We live in an eco-depressed world, which does not see a future, it is time to show that there are solutions which exist today, which must recreate enthusiasm”, argues Bertrand Piccard.
The Swiss, who presents himself as an “explorer of progress and sustainability”, is working on Climate Impulse for three years.
“It’s about showing that with a fuel cell, electric motors and liquid hydrogen, we can fly a two-seater plane around the world and that, if that’s possible, it can be done anywhere “, he explains to AFP, recalling that “aviation has been a symbol of innovation since 1903”.
Several hydrogen aircraft projects, powering a fuel cell or burned directly in the engine, are currently in development in Europe, including the Dragonfly of the French start-up Blue Spirit Aero or the ZEROe of Airbus.
Airbus partner
Syensqo, from Solvay and which took over its activities in specialty chemicals, was already a partner of Solar Impulse.
The group works on “specialty materials, chemistry for decarbonization, for lightweighting and electrification” and a project like Climate Impulse constitutes an “extraordinary showcase” to push new innovations, affirms for his part Ilham Kadri, general director of Syensqo.
Among them, solid batteries — more energy dense and non-flammable —, composite thermoplastics — lighter than current composites and recyclable — or even the storage of cryogenic hydrogen (-253 ° C) on board the device.
“It’s a technological expedition, and what we want is to prove technologically that it’s feasible for aviation,” she enthuses.
Responsible for 2.5 to 3% of global CO emissions2the aviation sector is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Airbus, which plans to develop its hydrogen aircraft for 2035, provides technical support to Climate Impulse, as does aeronautical equipment manufacturer Daher, CapGemini, and Arianegroup, a specialist in the use of liquid hydrogen for rockets.
Climate Impulse will be built in Les Sables d’Olonne (Vendée) in particular by the former navigator and composites engineer Raphaël Dinelli.