Life cycle assessment of hydrogen fuel in aviation

Abstract

The aviation sector emits 2% of the global emissions caused by transportation. This is a problem for our global climate and has also shown to be an issue for the public after the Swedish boycott of airtravel, inspired by Greta Thunberg in 2019. Because of this, aviation will require to modernize and implement new technology that will cut these emissions. The Life Cycle Assessment executed in this thesis gives positive results regarding the environmental impacts that would be prevented by a hydrogen-electric aircraft. The assessment considers the life cycle of a hydrogen-electric aircraft that uses a solid oxide fuel cell for propulsion. This aircraft is compared to the traditional kerosene-fueled aircraft. The results show that a hydrogen-electric aircraft prevents over half the Global Warming Potential caused by the use of traditional aircraft with kerosene propulsion as long as the fuel is defined as green hydrogen, i.e. produced with no CO2 emissions.