ZeroAvia, a hydrogen-powered aircraft startup, has just added its sponsor list.
The company has completed a Series A funding round in which investors including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund have pledged a total of $ 21.4 million, Bloomberg reported. In addition, the UK government has invested $ 16.6 million – all the money the company says will go towards finally making hydrogen fuel cells a viable replacement for fossil fuels.
In addition to improving fuel systems, the company’s goal with the money is to develop a hydrogen-electric 19-seat passenger plane, according to Bloomberg.
It’s possible – a ZeroAvia fuel cell powers the aircraft during a successful test flight in September. ZeroAvia hopes to sell these fuel cells to other airlines in 2023, while continuing to make them more powerful.
It will be many years before hydrogen aircraft completely replace fuel ones. “This test flight in September is nothing more than an air loop around the airport, and ZeroAvia does not expect to reach 1,000 miles – still not enough to cross the Atlantic Ocean – until 2030,” Bloomberg reported.
But as hydrogen fuel improves, it can do the world a lot. The aviation industry emitted over a billion tons of carbon in 2019, according to Bloomberg. This is a major source of pollution that hydrogen energy can help eliminate.