AMSL Aero en Stralis Aircraft Geregistreerd Vloeibare Waterstoftank maakt startbaan vrij voor emissieloze testvluchten

For further information and interview requests, contact:

AMSL Aero: amslaero@allisonworldwide.com   

Stralis Aircraft: ew@stralis.aero   

BOC Limited: chris.dolman@boc.com  

About AMSL Aero 
AMSL Aero is an Australian sustainable aviation development company founded in 2017. The company’s headquarters are in Bankstown, Sydney, Australia, with flight test facilities in regional New South Wales. AMSL Aero’s world-class team has international experience across all aspects of aerospace design, flight testing, manufacturing, certification, and aviation business professionals. AMSL Aero is backed by private investors including IP Group Australia, Telstra Super, Host Plus and StB Capital Partners, and the Australian Government. Further information about AMSL Aero – www.amslaero.com

Stralis Aircraft
Stralis was founded on a singular idea—to be the world’s leading emission-free aircraft company producing high-performance, low-operating cost, hydrogen-electric propulsion systems and aircraft. The propulsion system incorporates their proprietary high-temperature next-generation fuel cell system that is six times lighter than the current state of the art. Their hydrogen-electric aircraft will travel ten times further than battery-electric alternatives and will be 50% cheaper to operate than fossil fuel-powered aircraft. Stralis has letters of intent to buy the aircraft from 11 airlines across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the USA, and Europe.
www.stralis.aero/  

NASA has been using liquid hydrogen to power spacecraft for decades. Powering aircraft with liquid hydrogen is not a new concept either – the first successful flight took place in 1957. The interest in liquid hydrogen aviation surged during the Oil Crisis in 1973 when there were concerns oil would run out within decades. In the last five years, the aviation sector has turned to liquid hydrogen as a future fuel to reduce emissions, costs and noise.

Many hydrogen-electric aircraft are now in development across the world, both retrofit and clean sheet designs, ranging from two to 100 seats, with ranges up to 4,000 km. Australia is home to two of these clean-tech companies that are leading the way by developing hydrogen-electric aircraft: AMSL Aero  en Stralis Aircraft  en .

Both companies are part of the Hydrogen Flight Alliance, an organization in Australia dedicated to liquid hydrogen flight. BOC, a Linde company (also a member of the HFA), develops safe, sustainable and innovative solutions for customers in many specialty sectors, heavy industry and medical environments. BOC has been producing, storing, and transporting hydrogen in Australia for more than 80 years.

Why hydrogen?

Hydrogen has three times more energy per kilogram than kerosene-based jet fuel and 60 times more energy per kilogram than batteries. Aircraft can be refueled quickly with liquid hydrogen, and it can be produced on site from water and electricity rather than relying on oil shipped across the world. Liquid hydrogen is seriously cold (-253° C) and storing it requires specially insulated tanks so that it can be transported from the production facility to the aircraft without boiling away.

There are four hydrogen liquefaction plants in Australia but no vessels to transport the liquid hydrogen from the plant to an aircraft. The standard vessel is known as a Dewar – essentially a thermos flask – which has a vacuum to insulate the super cold liquid hydrogen from the outside environment. In order to conduct flight testing, it became imperative to get their hands on a Dewar to enable storage, transport and refueling of fuel. Working together, these companies identified a suitable product in the United States. With BOC leading, they have now registered a family of three Dewars, setting the foundation for their flight test programs and for any other Australian liquid hydrogen users.

Hydrogen is central to the Future Made in Australia vision and since the release of Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy in 2019, there have been over 80 announced renewable hydrogen projects and 15 projects that have passed final investment decision. The Government has invested more than $500 million to support development of hydrogen hubs in regional Australia and is developing an internationally consistent Guarantee of Origin scheme with industry, to inform customers about the emissions and other attributes of the hydrogen they buy.

The benefits

Australia’s climate goals and international industry commitments require the aviation sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This means that by the mid 2030’s, the sector needs to be actively deploying zero emission technologies and solutions. One solution that can genuinely reduce CO2 and non-CO2 emissions is hydrogen-electric propulsion [1] . The only emission released from a hydrogen fuel cell is water.

Globally, most domestic aviation services could be serviced by emerging battery electric (short range) and hydrogen-electric (medium range) technologies reducing an estimated 50% of global air travel CO2 emissions that come from flights under 2200km . Considering both emissions reduction and aircraft performance in terms of range and power, hydrogen-electric aircraft offer the greatest potential.

Hydrogen-electric propulsion systems are also simpler in comparison with existing aircraft engines. The onboard hydrogen powers a fuel cell that generates electricity to power the electric motor(s), that drives the propellor(s). They have fewer moving parts and operate at lower temperatures than turbine engines, with the potential to reduce engine maintenance costs by between 40-60%. This is similar to the maintenance cost reductions seen with electric cars.

Studies also conclude that hydrogen could be as safe or even safer than kerosene. Handling liquid hydrogen still presents unique challenges and hazards. Specialized equipment and procedures are required to address the risks of leakages, spills and fires [9]. These changes in airport operations are addressed in recent international guidance: IATA/ACI/Airbus Concept of Operations of Battery and Hydrogen Powered Aircraft at Aerodromes .

The Aviation Green Paper states, “Australia uses around 10 billion liters of jet fuel per year, which amounts to $8.3 billion spend – 90% of which goes offshore”.

Generating green hydrogen in Australia to fuel emission free aircraft could provide an opportunity to build sovereign resilience of the aviation fuel industry and the aviation sector more broadly. Australia has an abundance of natural resources to make low-emission hydrogen for domestic use and to supply the world, with the largest pipeline of hydrogen projects of any country and an estimated value over $225 billion (DCCEEW). Australia has the ambition to become a renewable energy superpower, and this will be the foundation for commercially viable local hydrogen production.

Australia is well placed and has a unique opportunity to be a leader in the development and production of hydrogen-electric propulsion technologies, aircraft and liquid hydrogen for aviation fuel.

AMSL Aero  is located at Bankstown Airport in Sydney.

Stralis Aircraft  is located in Brisbane, based at Aviation Australia at Brisbane Airport.

Stralis Aircraft, AMSL Aero and BOC are all founding members of the Hydrogen Flight Alliance (HFA) to advance hydrogen electric aircraft in Australia.

IATA anticipate “aviation could require in excess of 100 Mt of hydrogen by 2050 (about as much as the whole global hydrogen production today)” ( [2] p6).

HyResource  provides a snapshot map of Australia’s hydrogen projects and provides up to date information on hydrogen industry development in Australia. The latest 2024 National Hydrogen Strategy recognizes the role hydrogen will play in decarbonizing aviation, through fuel cell technology.

The Federal Governments Aviation White Paper  sets out a clear commitment to maximize aviation’s contribution to net zero emissions and to enable and support development of alternative low emissions aviation technologies.

Hydrogen is central to the Future Made in Australia vision and since the release of Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy in 2019, there have been over 80 announced renewable hydrogen projects and 15 projects that have passed final investment decision. The Government has invested more than $500 million to support development of hydrogen hubs in regional Australia and is developing an internationally consistent Guarantee of Origin scheme with industry, to inform customers about the emissions and other attributes of the hydrogen they buy.

Australia’s transport sector is the third largest source of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, amounting to 21% of national emissions in 2023. Since 2005, transport sector greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 19% and are currently projected to be the largest in Australia by 2030.

In 2023, domestic aviation emissions were 9 Mt CO2-e [i] . Domestic aviation emissions account for 9% of transport emissions. Although emissions from international aviation are not included in Australia’s domestic aviation emissions, international flights departing from Australia in 2019 produced 14 Mt CO₂-e. [ii]

AMSL Aero Vertiia Fact Sheet  

• Vertiia is a highly efficient long-range zero-emissions hybrid VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft due to its unique combination of aerodynamic efficiency and structural design  
• Vertiia takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter, and flies fast and efficiently like a fixed-wing aero plane. It is safer, quieter, and more efficient than a helicopter  
• Vertiia has the potential to operate with zero carbon emissions by using green hydrogen  
• The initial civil aircraft will be certified for piloted flights, with autonomy systems installed for future remote piloted applications  
• Vertiia will have a cost to operate in the longer term comparable with short-range (domestic) airliners but has the advantage of taking passengers from door to door due to not requiring a runway  
• Vertiia’s light air ambulance setup will seat a pilot, a paramedic and/or doctor and patient, or it can be configured to carry passengers (1 pilot + 4pax) or freight  
• Vertiia will cruise at 300km/h and its range will be up to 1,000km on hydrogen power  
• AMSL Aero holds international patents for Vertiia, protecting its core technological features, including its unique wing tilting mechanism, combined with its box wing design and flight control system  
• Vertiia is an eight electric motor tilting wing aircraft that can operate from a helipad or similar size landing site  
• Vertiia has the capability to connect regional hubs, and, due to the small number of seats, it can conduct on-demand (unscheduled) services to reduce excess capacity (empty seats)  

[1] https://zeroavia.com/

[2] https://www.iata.org/contentassets/8d19e716636a47c184e7221c77563c93/energy-and-new-fuels-infrastructure-net-zero-roadmap.pdf

[i] BITRE, Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics – Yearbook 2023, BITRE, Australian Government, 2023.

[ii] DITRDCA, Australia’s State Action Plan – International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly Resolution A37-19 on Climate Change, DITRDCA, Australian Government, 2022.