China's 50kg-class hydrogen-powered drone sets new domestic record with 30-hour continuous flight

[Caribbeans]

Photo: From WeChat account of Aviation Industry Corporation of China

China’s 50kg-class hydrogen-powered drone sets new domestic record with 30-hour continuous flight

GlobalTimes | Du Qiongfang | Apr 09, 2025

A 50-kilogram hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle developed by China recently completed a 30-hour continuous flight, setting a new domestic record for similar types of aircraft and reaching an internationally leading level in terms of endurance.

The drone, jointly developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group Co (CAIG) under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate, and Tsinghua University, achieved a breakthrough in the integrated design technology of flight, propulsion and control systems based on the output characteristics of hydrogen fuel cells, AVIC said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to AVIC’s release, during takeoff, the aircraft innovatively adopted an autonomous integrated vehicle-mounted release method with an unmanned system consisting of an unmanned ground vehicle and an unmanned aerial vehicle. This system successfully demonstrated and validated its operational capabilities under non-standard runway conditions.

...Industry insiders added that compared with traditional lithium battery-powered drones, hydrogen energy systems offer higher energy density, longer endurance and zero carbon emissions – perfectly aligning with the needs of green aviation development. The achievement of 30-hour continuous flight capability means that this drone can cover a wider operational range and perform more complex tasks, providing essential hardware support for the expansion of low-altitude economy application scenarios...more
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202504/1331772.shtml

Efficient Logistics using Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Drones

[NNadir]

1. Chinese hydrogen production, with exergy destruction, is responsible for 322 million tons of carbon dioxide.

In advertising hydrogen, to greenwash itself, the fossil fuel industry displays its contempt for environmental issues. The production of the videos featuring the expensive toys only makes it worse.

Subsidizing Grid-Based Electrolytic Hydrogen Will Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Coal Dominated Power Systems Liqun Peng, Yang Guo, Shangwei Liu, Gang He, and Denise L. Mauzerall Environmental Science & Technology 2024 58 (12), 5187-5195

The text is clear enough.

From the introductory text:

... Currently, nearly all hydrogen in China is either produced directly from fossil fuels (55% from coal gasification and 14% from steam methane reforming (SMR)) or as a byproduct of petroleum refining (28%), with only 1% coming from water electrolysis. (2) Producing 1 kg of coal- or SMR-based hydrogen emits roughly 19 and 10 kg of CO2, respectively. (3) In 2020, hydrogen production from fossil fuels in China emitted approximately 322Tg of CO2, equivalent to 25% of total CO2 emissions from industrial processes, a number expected to rise with increasing hydrogen demand. (4) Industrial processes include production of nonmetallic mineral products, chemical, and metal products, as well as production and consumption of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. (4)

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The bold, italics and underlining is mine.

EST: Chinese Hydrogen Production Is Making Climate Change Worse.