據Neftegaz.RU 4月1日報道，英國航空公司宣布自己將投資開發飛機氫發動機的英國初創公司ZeroAvia。

去年秋天，空中客車公司還推出了3款氫動力概念飛機，稱這些飛機將于2035年投入商用。

英國航空公司首席執行官Sean Doyle表示，創新的零排放技術正在快速發展，我們支持氫作為替代燃料，因為我們相信氫有潛力能夠在2050年之前在短途路線上實現真正的零排放。

圍繞著航空業零排放未來的可能性，我們有著巨大的能量和激情，雖然沒有單一的解決方案來應對這一挑戰，但必須承認有必要采取緊急行動以解決目前飛行對我們星球的影響，并在實現零排放的道路上取得進展。

ZeroAvia公司去年9月完成了世界上第一次商用級飛機的氫電試飛，該公司聲稱最快可在2024年實現氫電技術的商業化，其中20座飛機的飛行里程可達500英里。

此外，隨著3月31日宣布的新投資，該公司表示，預計將在5年內開始運營搭載50名或以上乘客的零排放商用飛機，作為其到2030年交付第一架100座單通道飛機目標的一部分。

“隨著航空業排隊準備轉向零排放，我們預計這項技術將被廣泛采用。非常感謝英國航空公司和我們的其他投資者，他們正在幫助我們加快進程，并最終幫助航空業采用零排放飛行。”ZeroAvia首席執行官Val Miftakhov說。

英國航空公司表示，對ZeroAvia的投資將支持該公司在2050年實現凈零碳排放的承諾，同時努力擴大可持續航空燃料的使用，開發更省油的飛機，并探索碳捕集技術的使用。

陳可可 摘譯自Neftegaz.RU

原文如下：

UK's British Airways invests $24.3 million in hydrogen aviation startup ZeroAvia

British Airways announced that it will invest in ZeroAvia, the UK startup developing hydrogen engines for aircraft.

Last autumn Airbus also unveiled 3 concept aircraft powered by hydrogen, saying these could be ready to enter commercial service by 2035.

British Airways CEO Sean Doyle said:Innovative zero emissions technology is advancing fast and we support the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source because we believe it has the potential to enable us to reach true zero emissions on short-haul routes by 2050. There is a huge amount of energy and excitement building around the possibilities of a zero emissions future for aviation and while there is no single solution to this challenge, we acknowledge the need for urgent action to tackle the impact flying currently has on our planet and are making progress on our journey to net zero.

ZeroAvia, which last September completed the world's 1st hydrogen-electric test flight of a commercial-grade aircraft, claims it could achieve commercialisation for its hydrogen-electric technology as soon as 2024, with flights of up to 500 miles in a 20-seater aircraft.

And, with the new investment announced on March 31, the firm said it expected to begin operating zero emissions commercial aircraft carrying 50 or more passengers in 5 years' time, as part of its aim to deliver its 1st 100-seater, single-aisle plane by 2030.

Val Miftakhov, CEO of ZeroAvia said:With the airline industry lining up and ready to shift to zero-emissions, we expect to see wide-scale adoption of this technology. We are extremely grateful to British Airways and our other investors, who are helping speed up our progress and ultimately the aviation industry's adoption of zero-emission flight.

British Airways said its investment in ZeroAvia would support the airline's commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, alongside its efforts to scale up the use of sustainable aviation fuels, develop more fuel-efficient aircraft, and explore the use of carbon capture technologies.