Steer Aviation team break new ground in sustainability space 

At Steer our Aviation team has long been a leading player in this crucial economic area, supporting both the private and public sector by providing independent advice. In recent years we have been supporting both policy and practical steps to make the sector more sustainable, bearing in mind the difficult challenge posed by the need to decarbonise the industry.

As part of this pioneering work the team have recently produced a study on the costs of implementing what is perhaps the “holy grail” of aviation decarbonisation, namely hydrogen-powered flight.

In a report commissioned by Transport & Environment and featured in a Financial Times article, the team found that the cost of developing hydrogen infrastructure to power aviation would be €299 billion between 2025 and 2050.

This significant sum would cover the cost of developing a hydrogen supply chain including production, distribution, and liquefaction (liquid hydrogen is required for reasons of on-board storage capacity but needs to be kept below -253°C). The implications of this for consumers is a potential 8% increase in flight costs compared with kerosene-fuelled flights (before any carbon pricing/taxation is applied).

Unlike sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), widely seen as the near-term solution with reduced lifecycle emissions, hydrogen-powered aircraft would emit no CO2 during flight and are therefore seen as robustly sustainable (so long as the hydrogen fuel itself is produced sustainably). However, major changes to aircraft technology, airport infrastructure and, above all, the availability and supply of “green” hydrogen are required to facilitate this.

This well received and market-leading paper follows hot on the heels of a similar study on the feasibility of hydrogen powered intra-European flights. This project, which was undertaken for the EU Commission, was the subject of a recent Voices of Steer piece by our Associate, Peter Wiener.

If you are interested in learning more about our pioneering work in Aviation contact Peter Wiener. To hear more about our growing sustainability offer contact Serbjeet Kohli.