£69m boost for Cranfield’s H2 aviation programme

The funding - the largest sum the university has ever received - will be used to create the Cranfield Hydrogen Integration Incubator (CH2i), a brand new facility that will aim to scale up hydrogen aviation. Cranfield has long been at the forefront of H2 aviation research, with hydrogen production, transport, storage and use all studied on the campus. CH2i will seek to connect the various strands across the campus, expanding existing facilities and supporting R&D across the whole supply chain.

“This game-changing investment builds on Cranfield’s expertise in hydrogen research and will help the aviation industry to make the leap to using hydrogen,” Professor Karen Holford, Cranfield’s chief executive and vice-chancellor said in a statement.

“CH2i will integrate with other large industry research areas at Cranfield including our novel hydrogen production programmes and our Aerospace Integration Research Centre and the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre. Working with research and industry partners nationally and internationally, we will unlock some of the most significant technical challenges around the future development and deployment of hydrogen in aviation. It’s a very exciting prospect for our researchers, partners and for the aviation industry. It will help to build the pathway to net zero emissions aviation.”