【全球动态】绿色企业家将推出英国首个氢动力航空公司

因此，Ecojet计划以一架煤油动力的19座涡轮螺旋桨飞机开始服务，并首先获得民航局和机场机位的许可。然后，这些飞机将被改装后的使用氢发电的发动机所取代。

在第二阶段，该航空公司将推出一款70座的飞机，其航程更远，并连接欧洲的零碳排放目的地。

文斯告诉《卫报》，他对这种方法并不完全满意，但他也相信升级回收和改造飞机是这个项目的核心。目前，这一企业（ Eco jet ）将着眼于建设基础设施，并在可用时转向更环保的选择。

文斯从不乘坐飞机去旅行，但在Ecojet推出后，他将选择去乘坐飞机。

“如何创造可持续的航空旅行的问题已经困扰了这一绿色运动几十年;到目前为止，Ecojet是解决方案中最重要的一步，”文斯在新闻稿中说。

如果有人能破解这个谜题，那我们可以放心地赌文斯也能破解。毕竟，他已经展示了如何 从天空中收获钻石 。

（注：”从天空中收获钻石“指的是戴尔·文斯的创意，他提出在实验室里用天空中自由流动的碳来制造钻石，以此来减少碳排放。戴尔·文斯建立了世界上第一个“天空矿”---位于英国斯特劳德的一个独特的实验室，它从大气中捕获碳，并将其转化为真正的钻石。）

Green entrepreneur to launch UK’s first hydrogen-powered airline

In sharp contradiction to its mission, it will begin with kerosene-powered flights first.

Dale Vince, the founder of UK-based Ecotricity, has set his eyes on a new green project, powering flights with renewable energy. His venture, dubbed Ecojet, will use hydrogen-electric aircraft to make flying with carbon emissions a reality, a  press release  said.

The aviation industry is responsible for three percent of global carbon emissions. While this might sound like a small number, the emissions are created by a significantly smaller number of users. Moreover, the impact of these emissions is three times as much due to the altitude at which these emissions are released.

As countries look to electrify their transportation, aviation remains outside this transition due to a lack of technology sufficiently advanced enough to make this change. In such a scenario, announcing a new airline powered by renewable energy is eye-grabbing.

How Ecojet plans to transform aviation?

Ecojet’s approach to decarbonizing the aviation industry skips over the proposed  battery-based electric flights  and aims at powering them using hydrogen-electric powertrains. Instead of returning to the drawing board and designing a whole new aircraft, Ecojet plans to retrofit existing wings with new engines simply.

This move alone is estimated to save 90,000 tonnes of carbon per year and will give a new lease of life to existing planes that are still very much fly-worthy. Since the aviation sector’s emissions are not related to flights alone, Vince’s Ecojet will also take additional steps, such as eliminating single-use plastic and using environment-friendly uniforms for their staff.

A flyer will also notice that meals on Ecojet do not use farmed meat but are sourced from plants instead. Such add-ons typically increase the airfare for travelers already feeling the pinch of higher airfares. However, Ecojet also wants to be competitive on price, Vince told  The Guardian .

When will services begin?

Ecojet plans to commence flights between Edinburgh and Southampton in early 2024. Hydrogen-electric powertrains are still a few years away from flying people on commercial flights, and current regulation in the UK does not allow that either.

So, Ecojet plans to begin its services with a kerosene-powered 19-seater turboprop aircraft and first secure its license from the Civil Aviation Authority and airport slots. Those will then replace the aircraft with retrofitted engines that use hydrogen to generate electricity.

In the second phase, the airline will introduce a 70-seater aircraft with a more extended range and connect destinations in Europe with zero-carbon emissions.

Vince told The Guardian that he wasn’t entirely happy with this approach but also believes that upcycling and retrofitting planes is at the heart of this project. For now, the venture will look to build its infrastructure and switch to greener options when they become available.

Vince does not take flights to travel but will take them when Ecojet is launched.

"The question of how to create sustainable air travel has plagued the green movement for decades; Ecojet is by far the most significant step towards a solution to date," Vince said in the press release.

If someone could crack this puzzle, one could safely bet on Vince to do so. After all, he has shown how to  harvest diamonds from the sky .