Winners of UK £3 million zero emissions aviation competition announced

The UK Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, has announced the winners of the £3 million competition focused on supporting the transition to zero emissions aviation in UK airports.

These projects range from wireless charging for electric aircraft, swappable battery packs, and new fueling tanks. Each successful entry will receive a share of over £700,000 to bring their projects forward.

Shapp commented: “As the world reopens from the pandemic, it is essential that we are investing in greener aviation as part of our transport decarbonizing agenda. Funding these revolutionary projects will help to slash carbon, create jobs, and get us closer to our goals of operating zero emission flights.”

The competition winners

The 15 successful entries are:

• Cranfield University, Low Carbon Energy demand Scenarios for Aviation
• University of Warwick, Creation of Full Airport Energy Model/Understand infrastructure impacts of electric and hydrogen aircraft and support vehicles on airports
• Protium Green Solutions, Developing a Digital Twin for the Fast Refueling Process and Procedure for Gaseous Hydrogen Aircraft
• Cranfield University, Wireless opportunity charging of electric aircraft
• Hive Composites, Next-generation Thermoplastic Composite Pipe for Hydrogen Distribution in Airports
• Cranfield University, Hydrogen Safety in Aviation: an Immersive XR training scenario for airport personnel
• Stratospheric Platforms, Development of a safety zonal tool for the operation of liquid hydrogen powered aircrafts at airfields
• EGB Engineering Consultants, MEHSAD: Modelling of Electricity and Green Hydrogen Scenarios to meet future Airport Demand
• ZeroAvia, LHARE: Liquid Hydrogen Airport Refueling Ecosystem
• University of Strathclyde, Solutions Pathway Evolution Toolkit for Airside Infrastructure to Power Zero Emissions Flight
• Ultima Forma, Flexible electroformed twin-walled hydrogen fuel hoses
• University of Warwick, Evaluation of safety zones and mitigation measures for hydrogen refueling infrastructure at airports
• Ampaire, Modelling demands of electric aviation and airport infrastructure
• Queens University Belfast, UltraCompHy: Ultra-lightweight composite pressure vessels for safe and cost-effective hydrogen storage
• CDO2, SafeBatt: swappable aircraft battery packs for safe ground handling and charge

Although these projects do not explicitly relate to SAR/HEMS, the UK recently celebrated Air Ambulance Week, and the sector waits to see the tangible impact of sustainable/zero emissions aviation.