Originally Posted by
horizon flyer
This is the future in 30 years so will Dubai still be needed?
https://www.reactionengines.co.uk/sa...t-applications
London to Sydney direct in 4.5 hours cruise at marc 5.3 running on liquid hydrogen.
The future is always here today but generally takes 20 years to arrive.
There is one big problem with hydrogen - energy density, although it is somewhat better pound for pound than conventional liquid fuels, liquid hydrogen is very light, it needs 5 times the volume, not only that it needs to be contained in very heavy cylinders at 5000psi and more. There is plenty of experience of supersonic and hypersonic flight and we know it can be achieved but at massive cost, the laws of physics are not going to change, hypersonic flight at safety standards and cost the paying public will accept is a pipe dream.
Hydrogen is a very elegant solution to energy in the future but as a transport fuel it has a lot of problems, it is far more efficient to to use the solar power to charge batteries rather than produce hydrogen, only to convert it back into electricity to
owner a vehicle. Or in the case of aviation convert it into a liquid fuel that can be contained at ambient temperature and pressure, it can be done but not efficiently .