Week of firsts for clean aviation, H2 still the only one that matters

The race between hydrogen, battery-electric and SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) as zero-carbon options for air transportation is heating up after advancements have been made on all three fronts this past week, but unfortunately only one will matter because the other two will fail to deliver due to either physics or economics – as we point out in our Aviation Forecast to 2060. First up is French startup VoltAero which recently achieved a significant milestone by conducting a test flight of its Cassio S hybrid-electric propulsion testbed using a type of SAF. The testbed aircraft, a modified Cessna 337 Skymaster, was powered by a bioethanol fuel produced by France’s TotalEnergies, using waste from the wine-making industry. VoltAero’s upcoming Cassio 330 production…