Bill Gates, Amazon and British Airways are backing a hydrogen plane startup

Bill Gates, Amazon and British Airways are backing a hydrogen plane startup

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/

ZeroAvia, a company developing hydrogen-electric technology to power aircraft has raised $21.4 million from investors including Amazon, Shell, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. It has also secured $16.3 million from the UK government and is partnering with British Airways to help the airline speed up the switch from fossil fuels to hydrogen to power its fleet.

Airlines are facing growing pressure to tackle a rapid rise in greenhouse gas emissions caused by the industry, which contributes to global warming and climate disasters. Hydrogen fuel is seen as critical to decarbonizing air transport, with the potential to reduce aviation's carbon emissions by up to 50%, according to Airbus, which is also exploring its potential.

ZeroAvia completed the world's first hydrogen-powered flight of commercial aircraft in September when a six-seat plane took off from its research and development facility in Cranfield, England, and flew for about 10 to 15 minutes before landing.

"ZeroAvia's zero-emission aviation powertrain has real potential to help decarbonize the aviation sector, and we hope this investment will further accelerate the pace of innovation to enable zero-emission air transport at scale," Amazon's vice president for worldwide sustainability Kara Hurst said in a statement.