Innovators gear up work on ‘green’ hydrogen plane with plans for nonstop 9-day trip around Earth

When aviation pioneer Bertrand Piccard a decade ago spearheaded a much-hyped flight around the world in a plane powered by sunlight, it raised awareness about climate change but held little promise of revolutionizing air travel. Now, the 66-year-old Swiss adventurer behind Solar Impulse is aiming higher, in hopes of heading toward greener commercial flight than that of fossil fuel-powered planes today — this time using super-cold liquid hydrogen. From a workshop on France's Atlantic coast, Piccard and partners are ramping up Climate Impulse, a project started last February to fly a two-seater plane around the globe nonstop over nine days fueled by what's known as green hydrogen. That's hydrogen split out of water molecules using renewable electricity through a process called electrolysis. The Climate Impulse team, whose backers include Airbus and a science incubator called Syensqo (pronounced “science-co”) born from Belgian pharmaceuticals company Solvay, presented its first-year progress to reporters Thursday in Les Sables d’Olonne, an oceanside town better known as host to the Vendee Globe round-the-world sailing race. When will Climate Impulse get off the ground? First test flights are planned next year, but the grueling round-the-world trip is set for 2028. Made with lightweight composites, the plane is dependent on several untested innovations and is far from a sure bet.<br/>