Airbus to take off with fuel cell auxiliary power

English fuel cell and hydrogen technology developer Intelligent Energy said it is providing aircraft maker Airbus with its multi-functional fuel cell auxiliary power unit for on-board power of future aircraft.

Intelligent Energy said the fuel cell technology is expected to help Airbus reduce emissions in the air and on the ground at airports and decrease fuel consumption, without providing specifics. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Loughborough, England-based Intelligent Energy’s fuel cell technology has already been deployed in hybrid London taxicabs and in distributed power work with Scottish and Southern Energy (see Scottish and Southern investing in fuel cell venture).

The news follows the August opening of the Aerotec Fuel Cell Test Centre in Hamburg, Germany, where Intelligent Energy’s fuel cell system for on-board power supply in commercial airliners was featured. The center tests fuel cell systems used in commercial aircraft.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus has been researching how hydrogen fuel cells can offer better aircraft power, including testing a hydrogen and oxygen-based fuel cell system on its A320 test aircraft.

And last year, Honeywell teamed with France's Airbus, New York's JetBlue Airways, and Connecticut-based International Aero Engines to look at second generation feedstocks such as algae (see Honeywell partners up to look at aircraft biofuels).

Intelligent Energy already supplies its fuel cell system to Boeing. In 2008, Boeing flew a small, manned airplane powered by hydrogen fuel cells, calling it a first for aviation history. Boeing worked with industry partners including Intelligent Energy and UQM Technologies, which makes electric motors (see Boeing tests fuel cell-powered plane).

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