Universal Hydrogen, the ambitious startup aiming to decarbonize air travel, has announced its shutdown after exhausting its $100 million in investor funding. The Los Angeles-based company, known for its hydrogen-powered aircraft, informed shareholders last week of its closure, as first reported by the Seattle Times. The company had financial backing from major players including GE Aviation, American Airlines, and the venture capital arms of Airbus, JetBlue, and Toyota.
Mark Cousin, chairman and CEO of Universal Hydrogen, cited the inability to attract new investors or additional funds from existing ones as the primary reason for the shutdown. “We were unable to secure sufficient equity or debt financing to continue operations and similarly were unable to secure an actionable offer for a sale of the business or similar strategic exit transaction,” Cousin explained in a letter dated June 27 to shareholders. He expressed hope that the company’s efforts might be revived by another entity in the future.
Universal Hydrogen had been pursuing a dual approach to sustainable aviation: retrofitting existing planes with hydrogen fuel-cell systems and electric motors, and developing hydrogen storage containers that could be transported by truck or train directly to aircraft. Paul Eremenko, co-founder and former CEO, highlighted this integrated model as a solution to the “chicken-and-egg problem” of hydrogen planes and infrastructure.
The company’s prototype, a retrofitted Dash 8 aircraft, featured a 1.2-megawatt fuel cell and an 800-kilowatt electric motor, alongside one conventional oil-burning engine. This prototype successfully completed a series of test flights from central Washington to Mojave, California, marking a significant milestone in the journey towards reducing aviation emissions.
Despite the potential of hydrogen to cut down CO2 emissions without producing harmful nitrogen oxides or fine particulate matter, Universal Hydrogen faced several obstacles. The scarcity of green hydrogen supplies, logistical challenges in hydrogen delivery, and the spatial inefficiency of hydrogen storage on aircraft were significant barriers. The company also struggled to secure further investment needed to advance its technology and infrastructure.
Universal Hydrogen’s closure marks a setback in the broader effort to decarbonize aviation, which accounts for over 2% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, or 4% when including non-CO2 factors. Current solutions to reduce aviation emissions include fuel-efficient jet engines, electrifying ground operations, and sustainable aviation fuels, though these still emit CO2. Hydrogen, by contrast, does not emit CO2 when used in fuel cells, making it a highly attractive alternative for aviation.
Despite Universal Hydrogen’s failure, other companies continue to explore hydrogen aviation. California-based ZeroAvia has developed and flown a hydrogen-fuel-cell plane and secured $116 million in Series C funding. Retrofitting aircraft with hydrogen fuel cells could significantly reduce life-cycle emissions, especially if the hydrogen is produced using renewable energy.
Universal Hydrogen’s operations in Toulouse, France, where it was working on retrofitting a larger regional plane, the ATR 72, will also be liquidated. Although the current fuel cell technology is not yet powerful enough for long-distance flights, it holds promise for short-haul flights and could lay the groundwork for broader applications in the future.
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