Airbus pioneers a superconducting powertrain cooled by liquid hydrogen
&gt;&quot;Liquid H2&#x27;s key drawcard to aircraft designers is its impressive energy density by weight, but Airbus believes there are serious opportunities to be explored in another of its properties: temperature. To keep it liquid,
it needs to be stored cryogenically at -253.15 °C (-423.7 °F), and Airbus figures that if you&#x27;ve got a monster cold source like that on board your aircraft, you might as well make use of it.<p>The theory is that the<p><i>liquid hydrogen can supercool the entire electric powertrain down to superconducting temperatures, at which point resistance virtually disappears from the system, and efficiency skyrockets.</i><p>A powertrain designed to take full advantage of this effect, reasons Airbus, could get the same job done at less than half the weight, half the electrical losses and reduced voltages.<p>So it&#x27;s building one. The Ascend system will be a ground-based proof of concept developed over the next three years.<p><i>It&#x27;ll be a 500-kW (670-hp) powertrain</i><p>, with cables, controllers, electronics and motors that are cryogenically cooled by liquid hydrogen pumped around in a circuit from the fuel tanks.&quot;<p>PDS: Seems like this could have electric antigravity (&quot;electrogravitic&quot;) applications -- but as of this point in time, the theory of exactly how to do that seems lacking...<p>Still, the immense power (500-kW) and superconductivity aspect of things, seems to be there -- perhaps what&#x27;s needed is for someone or some group to do some electric anti-gravity experimentation with this infrastructure...<p>Can they get weight loss electrically -- even as little as an ounce -- using all of that electricity and superconducting apparatus -- in some new, novel fashion?<p>?