ImpactAlpha, April 26 – Universal Hydrogen is developing hydrogen-based powertrains to retrofit commercial aircraft. “Hydrogen is today the only viable fuel for getting to true zero emissions in commercial aviation,” said Universal Hydrogen’s Paul Eremenko. The Los Angeles-based company’s goal is to “de-risk” the greener fuel source to spur commercial developers like Airbus and Boeing to build hydrogen-powered planes within the next decade.
Venture capital firm Playground Global led the $20.5 million Series A round. Airbus Ventures, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures and others participated.
California-based ZeroAvia, is building similar hydrogen-based aircraft technology to Universal Hydrogen (see, “ZeroAvia aims to decarbonize air travel with hydrogen-powered engines“). Both companies are focused on decarbonizing regional flights of 500-700 miles within three to five years, and longer-haul flights in a decade.
