In a windswept corner of a military site on Salisbury Plain a small aircraft jet engine is undergoing tests that could one day lead to huge changes within the aviation industry.
The engine itself is almost completely conventional. It is a Rolls-Royce AE-2100A gas turbine, a design used widely on regional aeroplanes around the world.
What is wholly unusual about it is the fuel being used. This is the first time a modern aircraft engine has ever been run on hydrogen.
Devoid of bodywork, with its intricate wiring and pipework exposed, it sits securely fastened to a sturdy test rig, while engineers cluster around an array of screens in the control room, a safe distance away.
The tests are being carried out by Rolls-Royce, after development work in Derby and in partnership with the airline easyJet.
https://www.rolls-royce.com/innovation/net-zero/decarbonising-complex-critical-systems/hydrogen.aspx
The immediate aim is to show that it is possible to run and control a jet engine using hydrogen fuel, rather than conventional aviation fuels. In the longer term, the plan is for hydrogen power to play a major role in allowing the aviation industry to continue growing, while cutting climate change emissions dramatically.
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