Gloucestershire Airport to take part in trial of green hydrogen refuelling

Project Heart is an initiative to find a greener way of flying - as shown in this computer image of what a refuelling site could look like

An airport will take part in a trial to build a green hydrogen refuelling facility to cut carbon emissions.

Gloucestershire Airport will join the Project Heart initiative to create, store and distribute green fuel.

The trial will create fuel for small aircraft with a range of 500 miles, but it is hoped the fuel will eventually be used for larger passenger planes.

The facility is expected to start producing hydrogen in the summer of 2024.

One of the biggest contributors to global warming is air traffic and this is one of a number of projects taking place across the UK to find a greener way of flying and cutting carbon emissions.

Project Heart is a collaboration between Protium, a green hydrogen energy services company, Haskel, who manufacture hydrogen compression systems and Nel Hydrogen, a hydrogen generation and distribution specialist.

Gloucestershire Airport and Kemble Airfields will take part in a hydrogen refuelling project

The project's initial focus lies in regional airports such as Gloucestershire and Kemble Airfields, where it is developing a refuelling solution catering to aircraft carrying nine to 19 passengers.

Jake Martin, Haskel's hydrogen business development manager, said Gloucester has been "leading the charge" in hydrogen for aviation.

"We are developing hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for future fuel cell electric propulsion aircraft. So this is aircraft that will utilise fuel cells that are driven by the hydrogen molecule," he said.

"Heart will determine the optimal methods for safely commercially producing hydrogen, storing it and distributing it at the airport.

"This is an electrolysis process, where we essentially get water and then we crack the molecule to give us hydrogen and oxygen.

"We then generate hydrogen at the site, store it and then it's going to be utilised in a fuel cell, essentially pushing the hydrogen and oxygen together, creating energy, which will then power electric motors on the plane. "