Ricardo: UK Consortium to Deliver World’s First Truly Green Passenger Carrying Airline Services Using Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology
30.3.2021 02:01:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) - the UK SME leading the Project Fresson consortium - announces it will exploit recent advances in hydrogen fuel cell technology to develop a commercially viable, retrofit powertrain solution for the nine-passenger Britten-Norman Islander aircraft.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005667/en/
Project Frisson to deliver world's first green passenger aircraft service (Graphic: Business Wire)
Following a rigorous assessment of hydrogen technology innovators, CAeS is delighted to welcome Ricardo UK Ltd and Innovatus Technologies Ltd to the Fresson consortium. Ricardo UK Ltd brings expertise in fuel cell system development and Innovatus Technologies Ltd brings their innovative Scottish Hydrogen Fuel Tank (SHyFT) technology.
Steve Dyke, Managing Director Ricardo Automotive and Industrial EMEA Division said: “We are proud to join the Cranfield Aerospace Solutions consortium to play our part in helping to reduce the carbon footprint for commercial air passengers. We are already working on hydrogen and fuel cell technology, providing clean efficient solutions which reduce carbon and noxious emissions across a wide range of sectors. Our work for the Fresson consortium will enable us to consolidate and grow our hydrogen fuel cell and propulsion capability, so that Ricardo can achieve its ambition of becoming a world-leader in hydrogen and fuel cell services and solutions and help accelerate net zero transportation.”
Innovatus Technologies Ltd leads the field in next generation ultralightweight hydrogen tank design exploiting patented cellular core composite techniques. This is critical to the successful integration and exploitation of hydrogen fuel cell power systems in applications across aerospace, automotive, industrial, and marine sectors.
Ruan Swart, Chief Executive Officer Innovatus Technologies Ltd said: ““We are proud in being selected to join the Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, ‘Project Fresson’, consortium. Our unique and innovative SHyFT solution is game-changing in bringing zero carbon fuel cell energy to commercial reality in the transport sector. Project Fresson showcases important Scottish innovation and next generation hydrogen tank manufacturing in the UK.”
Project Fresson will deliver an emissions-free (zero CO2), hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered flying demonstrator by September 2022. Having completed a comprehensive evaluation of technologies and configurations for sustainable aircraft propulsion, the Fresson team concluded that hydrogen fuel cell technology is the optimum solution to meet environmental, regulatory and operational requirements for this size of aircraft, enabling zero carbon emissions and reducing operating costs. This has presented the Fresson consortium, which includes Britten-Norman and Cranfield University, with an opportunity to deliver an enhanced technology programme that surpasses the original demonstrator concept.
Paul Hutton, Chief Executive Officer, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions said: “This is incredibly important for the Project Fresson Team but also for everyone else around the world interested in zero emissions flight. This project can deliver the world’s first truly “green” passenger carrying airline services. The whole team is proud of what Project Fresson has achieved so far and excited about what is to come. I am very thankful for the support of the ATI and our investors for making this ground-breaking work a reality.”
Jenny Kavanagh, Chief Strategy Officer, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions added: “Covid-19 has caused the biggest crisis in aviation’s history. It’s important that, as the sector builds back better, it does so with sustainability at its heart. Project Fresson is more than just a technology demonstrator; it has one focus above all others: real operational and commercial viability.”
Project Fresson is supported by the ATI Programme, a joint Government and industry investment to maintain and grow the UK’s competitive position in civil aerospace design and manufacture. The programme, delivered through a partnership between the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK, addresses technology, capability and supply chain challenges.
As a result of these changes, there is now no longer a need for the Rolls-Royce element of the aircraft programme. It is therefore Rolls-Royce’s intention to withdraw from Project Fresson and the consortium is going through the necessary steps for this to happen. We thank Rolls-Royce for its contribution to Project Fresson and wish its team well. Rolls-Royce will continue to actively research the use of hydrogen in aviation and this decision in no way reflects its overall view of hydrogen as a potential technology.
Ends
Notes to editors
- To follow the progress of Project Fresson, visit the microsite: www.projectfresson.uk or follow on Twitter @projectfresson.
- Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) is an aerospace market leader in rapid prototyping of new aerospace concepts, modifications to existing aerospace platforms and integration of cutting-edge technologies to meet the most challenging issues facing the industry today. CAeS is the wholly owned commercial arm of Cranfield University. Visit: www.cranfieldaerospace.com
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005667/en/
Contact information
Media contacts
For Cranfield Aerospace Solutions:
Telephone: +44 (0) 1234 754046
Email: enquiries@cranfieldaerospace.com
For Ricardo
Kathryn Bellamy
Communications Manager
Ricardo Automotive & Industrial EMEA Division, and Performance Products Division
Email: kathryn.bellamy@ricardo.com
Telephone: +44(0)7921 941824
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Loomis Sayles Growth Equity Strategies Team Celebrates Twenty-Year Milestones7.7.2026 17:36:00 EEST | Press release
Loomis, Sayles & Company, the century-old investment manager with nearly $418 billion in assets under management, proudly celebrates the 20-year anniversaries of the Loomis Sayles Large Cap Growth and the Loomis Sayles All Cap Growth strategies, as well as a differentiated approach to growth equity investing under the leadership of Aziz V. Hamzaogullari, CFA, the founder, chief investment officer and portfolio manager of the Loomis Sayles Growth Equity Strategies (GES) Team. Aziz is also an executive vice president and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707992418/en/ Celebrating 20 Years of The Power of Active Management Done Right GES is a cohesive team with 20 years of alpha generation and a long-term, private equity approach to investing. Under Aziz Hamzaogullari’s leadership since 2010, assets under management for GES have grown from $1.9 billion to $98.2 billion
Integral Ad Science Appoints Lidiane Jones Chief Executive Officer7.7.2026 16:35:00 EEST | Press release
Integral Ad Science (IAS), one of the world's most trusted media quality companies, today announced the appointment of Lidiane Jones as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Jones succeeds Lisa Utzschneider, who led IAS for more than seven years and will remain with the company as Special Advisor to the Board through the end of 2026 to support a seamless transition. Utzschneider will also serve as a Special Advisor to Novacap and their portfolio companies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707780892/en/ Lidiane Jones: Integral Ad Science CEO, Photo Credit: Pamela Hanson The appointment reflects IAS's long-term strategic vision for the future of digital advertising. As AI transforms how media is planned, bought, measured, and optimized, advertisers increasingly need trusted intelligence to make real-time decisions. Jones's deep expertise across product, technology, and AI uniquely positions IAS to bu
Andersen Global Adds Collaborating Firm Abcoo Law Firm7.7.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Andersen Global strengthens its presence in Türkiye with collaborating firm Abcoo Law Firm, enhancing the organization’s existing platform in the country with the addition of legal capabilities. Founded in 2014, Abcoo advises local and international clients across a broad range of legal services, with experience in corporate and M&A, real estate and construction, dispute resolution, employment, compliance, banking and finance, competition and intellectual property law. The firm is consistently recognized as a top tier and leading firm by international publications, including The Legal 500. Abcoo supports organizations across a wide range of industries, including real estate and construction, retail, textile, cosmetics, automotive, logistics, chemicals, IT, energy, healthcare, manufacturing and financial services, providing strategic legal guidance and commercially focused solutions. “Our focus has always been on understanding each client’s objectives and providing practical, commercial
Altasciences and Evidence Matters Advance AI-Driven Drug Development With Nonclinical Automation Breakthrough7.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Altasciences, a fully integrated early-phase drug development organization, and Evidence Matters, a pioneer in clinical trial data science, are pleased to announce a successful proof-of-concept (POC) of RegulatoryFlow (“RegFlow”), following the announcement of the companies’ strategic collaboration in August 2025. The POC demonstrated the extension of AI-driven efficiencies from clinical reporting into nonclinical workflows, marking a significant step forward in accelerating drug development timelines. Building on proven results in clinical reporting, where the collaboration has achieved up to first-draft clinical study reports (CSRs), the teams have now successfully applied similar AI capabilities to nonclinical data through high-quality parsing of raw and SEND datasets in a proof-of-concept. This advancement aligns with the Altasciences Acceleration Platform, designed to fast-track drug development across the early-phase development continuum. “This milestone reflects the power of in
Gurobi Launches Intelligence Hub to Deliver AI-Guided Workflows Across the Optimization Lifecycle7.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Gurobi Optimization, LLC, the leader in decision intelligence technology, today announced the launch of the Gurobi Intelligence Hub, the new home for Gurobi’s AI-powered optimization agents. The Intelligence Hub is designed to help users build, understand, troubleshoot, and interact with optimization models more effectively. Together, the Hub’s specialized agents leverage generative AI to guide users through workflows across the optimization lifecycle, creating new opportunities to make optimization more accessible, intuitive, and valuable for a broader range of users. The Modeler combines guided workflows with Gurobi’s optimization expertise to help users move from business problem to production-quality optimization model. Through an iterative process that helps refine requirements, validate assumptions, and develop acceptance tests, the Modeler gives users confidence that their model accurately reflects the intended business problem.The Explainer helps users interpret model instances
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom