VOA · As It Is
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed5:122025-02-13public domain
As It Is is VOA Learning English's daily news magazine. Each report covers a current story in clear, learner-speed English with a controlled vocabulary — the closest thing to real news broadcasts that intermediate learners can fully digest, and ideal raw material for dictation.
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01European manufacturer Airbus has announced a delay in its development efforts of a hydrogen-powered aircraft.
02The company explained that progress on the project has been slower and more complex than expected.
03Airbus had set a goal to make a zero-emission airplane by 2035.
04The company has not announced a new target date for the plane's production.
05But the French Union, Force Ouvrière, said some of its aircraft workers were recently told the technology was running 5 to 10 years behind, Reuters news agency reported.
06The French news agency AFP reported Airbus also said it had reduced the program's budget by 25 percent, but was still examining ways to reduce emissions.
07Our ambition and roadmap towards decarbonizing remain unchanged, an Airbus spokesman told AFP.
08In September 2020, Airbus presented three hydrogen-fueled airplane designs, called Zero-E, as part of its efforts to decarbonize.
09Other airplane manufacturers, however, have centered more on renewable fuels or developing electric-powered planes for short-distance flights.
10Airbus noted it has no plans to completely stop developing hydrogen-powered aircraft technology.
11The company said it sees hydrogen as a revolutionary energy source for aviation.
12However, Airbus said in a statement to Reuters, it recognizes that developing systems to produce, transport, and store hydrogen represent a huge challenge, requiring global collaboration and investment.
13Hydrogen motors do not release gases that can warm the Earth's atmosphere.
14Instead, they release water.
15However, much of the hydrogen used for fuel is produced using natural gas or coal.
16Both of these production methods often release carbon dioxide gas, which can warm the atmosphere.
17Running renewable electricity through water can produce hydrogen without adding to carbon emissions.
18However, this process is generally more costly.
19As a gas at room temperature, hydrogen takes up a very large space.
20This makes it impossible to use as fuel.
21It first needs to be turned into a liquid to be transported or stored.
22And it needs to be cooled to minus 253 degrees Celsius to be liquefied.
23This cooling process requires its own source of energy.
24Liquefied hydrogen still takes up four times the space of jet fuel.
25The Airline Industry Trade Association, IATA, believes aviation will reach most of its reduction in emissions by using Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF.
26It believes other technologies, like hydrogen, will take longer to develop.
27SAF uses food and plant waste from cities, agricultural and forest wastes, and other non-petroleum sources.
28This fuel is then added to jet fuel, in mixtures of 10 to 50 percent, to become SAF.
29Airbus says it agrees that SAF can also play an important part in reducing emissions, particularly for medium and long-distance flights.
30I'm Andrew Smith.
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