NASA is funding research looking into the possibility of developing all-electric airplanes that don’t produce greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists at the University of Illinois are leading the project and exploring the potential of using liquid hydrogen fuel cells as an environmentally-friendly source of power. If it’s a success, the change could bring the technology to larger planes for the first time, which would revolutionize the commercial aviation industry.
The development program, “Center for Cryogenic High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft” is being called CHEETA for short and NASA is kicking in $6-million over the next three years. Aerospace engineerPhillip Ansellexplains, “Essentially, the program focuses on the development of a fully electric aircraft platform that uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen as an energy storage method.”
Source:Daily Mail