Eta Space announced receipt of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) award to develop liquid hydrogen (LH₂) fueling infrastructure for future transportation systems. The low loss LH₂ servicing system being developed will be used to service heavy vehicles, small aircraft, ships, and trains. Eta Space is a leading provider of cryogenic fluid management (CFM) technology for space and energy applications.

H₂ is a clean fuel that produces only water as a byproduct. It can be burned in an internal combustion process or using fuel cells produces power to drive electric motors. However, H₂ gas requires bulky, high-pressure storage tanks that are unsuitable for many applications. Liquid H₂ has typically been challenging to store and transfer, the super cold fluid is stored -423°F, just 36°F above absolute zero temperature. The cold temperatures and the small size of a H₂ molecule led to losses such as leakage and boil-off. Eta Space engineers have developed systems that eliminate the losses typically present in cryogenic liquids and proved them in previous projects with NASA.

“Liquid H₂ is an obvious choice as a replacement for hydrocarbon fuels in a number of applications, but there are challenges with producing, storing, and transferring the fuel,” said Bill Notardonato, the Chief Executive of Eta Space. “We are using our past NASA experience with H₂ to help the clean energy transition here on Earth.”

After successfully demonstrating zero loss storage and transfer of liquid H₂ at scales needed for heavy duty trucks, Eta Space will work with manufacturers and energy companies to infuse this technology into the transportation market. If all goes according to plan, most of the products being shipped around the U.S. will use clean H₂ as a fuel by 2035, leaving the world a better place for future generations.