Boeing and Airbus: A Stark Contrast on Hydrogen

Boeing acknowledges hydrogen’s potential, while Airbus plans a hydrogen-fueled airliner by 2035.

Thom Patterson

Tuesday, July 05, 2022 at 02:19 PM ET

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Boeing has committed that its commercial airplanes will be capable of burning 100 percent SAF by 2030. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Boeing's latest sustainability report primarily focuses on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and improved operational efficiency as its strategy for reducing carbon emissions, committing to 100% SAF capability for its commercial airplanes by 2030.
Unlike Airbus, which is aggressively developing hydrogen fuel technologies for future aircraft, Boeing's report offers limited details on its specific vision or plans for using hydrogen as an alternative fuel.
While acknowledging past research and ongoing studies into hydrogen applications (such as cryogenic fuel tanks), Boeing expresses caution, stating it's not yet convinced hydrogen is "the answer" and views SAF as the more immediate and measurable solution.

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Boeing’s new sustainability report talks a lot about improved efficiency and the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), but—while Airbus is aggressively researching hydrogen fuel technologies—the Boeing report doesn’t include many details about its vision for using hydrogen as an alternative fuel.

The report stands in stark contrast to Airbus’s announcement last February—in partnership with GE Aviation and CFM International—to “flight test a direct combustion engine fueled by hydrogen in preparation for entry into service of a zero-emission aircraft by 2035.”