Lightning McClean is the name of one of the first airplanes to ever experience hydrogen-powered flight. The plane is owned by L.A. startup Universal Hydrogen, and the company is testing the groundbreaking technology at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Kern County. According to Loris Griner, director of powertrain engineering and flight tests for Universal Hydrogen, hydrogen-powered flight has the potential to change the aerospace industry and benefit the environment at the same time. 23ABC's Corey O'Leary spoke with Griner to learn more.
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00:00 And how about this?
00:00 A company based in Kern County
00:02 is testing groundbreaking technology
00:04 that has the potential to change the aerospace industry
00:07 and at the same time benefit the environment.
00:10 23 ABC's Corey O'Leary has more on their efforts
00:13 and their plans to change aviation.
00:16 - Lightning McLean.
00:17 That's the name of the airplane behind me.
00:19 And it's one of the first planes
00:20 to ever experience hydrogen powered flight.
00:23 It's owned by a startup in LA named Universal Hydrogen,
00:27 but it's tested right here in Kern County
00:29 at Mojave Air and Space Port.
00:32 - The mission of Universal Hydrogen
00:34 is to make carbon-free aviation a reality.
00:37 So we're tackling that challenge
00:39 by developing a hydrogen retrofit kit
00:42 and modular fueling solution.
00:44 - The retrofit kit is a fuel cell electric power train
00:47 that is made to replace engines
00:49 on existing regional aircrafts,
00:51 converting them to hydrogen power.
00:52 - Our aircraft, what we do with this hydrogen
00:55 is we react it with oxygen to generate electricity.
00:59 And then we use that electricity in an electric motor
01:02 to then spin a propeller
01:03 and generate thrust for the aircraft.
01:06 - This engine doesn't produce any carbon emissions.
01:08 Greiner says one barrier to adopting hydrogen power
01:11 in the past has been the price of hydrogen.
01:14 - But with the advance of renewable energy,
01:16 and now we can get cheap, clean energy.
01:20 - The second is infrastructure.
01:21 That's why Universal Hydrogen is also building modules
01:24 that can store hydrogen
01:25 and be transported using existing infrastructure.
01:29 Then they can be loaded onto planes that can use that fuel.
01:32 - So the analogy we can like to use,
01:34 it's a bit like an espresso capsule for hydrogen aviation.
01:38 - Lightning McLean has now gone on several test flights
01:40 and is fitted with one hydrogen engine
01:42 and one traditional engine.
01:43 - And we did the longest flight on hydrogen,
01:46 which was more than an hour flight time.
01:49 - During test flights, they've been able to lower the power
01:51 of the traditional engine and fly solely on hydrogen power.
01:55 - And we did the longest flight on hydrogen,
01:57 which was more than an hour.
01:59 - Timothy Reed, general manager
02:00 of the Mojave Air and Spaceport,
02:02 says that he is excited for the potential
02:04 that Universal Hydrogen will bring to the facility.
02:07 - I'm thrilled that Universal Hydrogen's here.
02:09 And honestly, we have other entities
02:11 that are interested in testing hydrogen aircraft
02:13 as well at Mojave.
02:14 Mojave Air and Spaceport really focuses on testing
02:17 and coming up with solutions to the existing problems
02:20 that exist in the aviation industry.
02:22 We're perfectly situated to perform these types of tests.
02:26 - While Universal Hydrogen's first goal
02:27 is to sell retrofit kits to convert regional airplanes,
02:31 they hope to show that hydrogen-powered planes
02:33 are a viable idea and work with manufacturers
02:36 to develop larger commercial hydrogen-powered planes.
02:39 - We hope to partner with the OEMs like Airbus,
02:42 which has been very vocal about working on hydrogen,
02:44 and Boeing to make the next generation of single L,
02:48 which is gonna come middle of the next decade,
02:50 around 2035, to be hydrogen-powered.
02:53 - Updates about Universal Hydrogen's progress.
02:55 You can head to our website, turned23.com.
02:59 In Mojave, Corey O'Leary, 23 ABC News, connecting you.