John, I've already given you a link to a commercial hydrogen plane. It is happening, whether you believe it or not.
Of course it's happening, huge benefit IF the two major obstacles are sorted.
Looking around zeroavia, one of the links you provided, this was reported
"
The work at ZeroAvia and Airbus has aroused a lot of interest, but not everyone in the aviation industry is convinced hydrogen will play a major role in a transition towards low or zero carbon flight.
There is the question of whether hydrogen can be produced at scale and at a competitive price without itself having a large carbon footprint
The disadvantages start with the physics and chemistry. Hydrogen has higher energy by mass than jet fuel, but it has lower energy by volume. This lower energy density is because it is a gas at typical atmospheric pressure and temperature. The gas needs to be compressed or turned into a liquid by cooling it to extremely low temperatures (-253C) if it is to be stored in sufficient quantities. "Storage tanks for the compressed gas or liquid are complex and heavy," says Finlay Asher, a former aircraft engine designer at Rolls-Royce and founder of Green Sky Thinking, a platform exploring sustainable aviation.
And there are other challenges. The energy density of liquid hydrogen is only about a quarter of that of jet fuel. This means that for the same amount of energy it needs a storage tank four times the size. As a consequence, aircraft may either have to carry fewer passengers to make space for the storage tanks, or become significantly larger. The first option, which applies to Airbus's first two concept planes, would mean a reduction in ticket revenue, other things being equal. The second option, embodied in Airbus's third concept, requires a bigger airframe, which is subject to more drag. Further, an entire new infrastructure would need to be put in place to transport and store hydrogen at airports.
In addition, there is the question of whether hydrogen can be produced at scale and at a competitive price without itself having a large carbon footprint. The great majority of hydrogen used in industry today is created using fossil fuel methane, releasing carbon dioxide as a waste product. Hydrogen can be produced from water through a process called electrolysis, driven by renewable power, but this process is currently expensive and requires large amounts of energy. Only about 1% of hydrogen is produced this way at present."
Im certain on Dragons Den, they'd all be out on this one.
There are indeed small electric aircraft with a 30 minute range and all the disadvantages of the heavy batteries having to be lugged up into cruise altitude and then landed again.
Not absolutely true, BAE have an aircraft Zephyr S its solar powered and has been airborne for 26 days! Rolls Royce ACCEL is a 300mph, 200 mile range aircraft.
DHL have 12 of these on order, all electric!
At this point in time, electric planes will simply not happen unless the two major obstacles of energy density and battery cost are sorted.
Proof of the pudding etc etc
You see? It is easy to rubbish one side.
I'm not rubbishing any side here, I'm simply stating that Hydrogen has seemingly insurmountable problems.
I think the key words are 'At this point in time'.
And that is all I've been saying
The same was said about electric cars when they only had a range of 80 miles(ish), the same is still being said about the charging infrastructure at this time it is not ready for 2030, well of course it's not, 'cos obviously it's 2023.
And its developing fast, my local town Gainsborough, had 2 charge points 2 years ago, now we have 19.
Personally I don't think there is much of a future for hydrogen, but progress can be rapid when necessity and/or demand requires it, as demonstrated by the battery technology.
Necessity is the mother of invention. The problem is H2O the Hydrogen has a very strong link to the oxygen, it needs energy to break it, a lot of energy. A relatively small amount of energy is given off when the link is reformed either in a fuel cell or by burning it, about 1/3. Thats the major issue.
So I'm not ruling anything in and I'm not ruling anything out......at this point in time.
Me neither, never have, open minded but lots of people claim Hydrogen is the saviour, ICE engines are easily converted (they're not) and all in the garden is rosy.