In recent years, Hydrogen Fuel Cells have been making their way into ground-based transportation, showing potential for revolutionizing our skies next. Virginia Beach-based delivery service, DroneUp, is actively exploring this possibility. Known widely for its partnership with Walmart, DroneUp operates the largest commercial drone delivery service in the United States. They’ve recently expressed interest in testing the capability of hydrogen fuel cells in their drone technology, leveraging cells from Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), an early pioneer in the commercial use of hydrogen-powered drones.
This collaboration between DroneUp and the South Korean firm DMI was initiated in October 2022. Since then, both firms have devoted significant time and effort to optimizing fuel cell technology for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). As competition grows in the drone delivery sphere, rival companies such as Amazon Prime Air, Alphabet’s Wing, Flytrex, Matternet, and Zipline have not yet embraced testing of hydrogen fuel cells.
The urgent need for innovation and technological advancement is palpable in the rapidly evolving drone industry. Experimenting with hydrogen fuel cells addresses two key pain points – enhancement of flight time and reduction of carbon emissions. DMI’s hydrogen fuel cells can significantly prolong flight duration, offering between two to five hours of longevity compared to the roughly 20-minute lifespan of many battery-powered alternatives. This longer flight time has the potential to enable longer-range deliveries, a current limitation for Walmart’s drone service.
Hydrogen fuel cells provide remarkable energy storage due to their high energy density, making them superior to electric batteries. They also offer convenience in terms of time-saving, as they can be easily switched out, reducing the waiting time usually associated with battery charging. However, this advantage does come with a restriction – these fuel cells generate a low thrust-to-weight ratio because of their low power density. This means heavier drones may still be better suited to using conventional fuels.
As an environmentally friendly development, hydrogen fuel cells are zero-emission sources, reducing the carbon footprint significantly in comparison with standard internal combustion engines. Although electric batteries also emit no carbon, they decay at a faster rate and require replacing more frequently.
Several methods can produce hydrogen fuel, including steam reforming, electrolysis, solar power, and biological reactions. However, some of these procedures involve fossil fuels, which can negate some of the environmental benefits of hydrogen. Additionally, the main component in most electric batteries, lithium, contributes to air pollution due to the mining required for its procurement.
DroneUp is not the only drone company to invest in this emerging technology, despite the associated operational costs. Wingcopter, a German company, recently partnered with another firm to introduce green hydrogen to its fleet. An Israeli enterprise, Heven Drones, launched its own hydrogen-powered drone a few months back. Amazon Prime Air signed a green hydrogen supply agreement with Plug Power in 2022, though there have been no official announcements yet about incorporating this technology into their drones.
Although hydrogen fuel cells are not currently in widespread use among drone firms, it’s plausible they’ll become increasingly prevalent over time. Many predict a future where hydrogen and electric power coexist as zero-emission fuel sources, mirroring the possible trajectory of the trucking industry.
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