The problem with hydrogen is the volume, not the weight. It's 3x that of methane, which in turn is worse than aviation fuel. And that's in liquid form. Chilling hydrogen to near absolute zero to get it in liquid form requires some really heavy duty equipment. And keeping it there takes energy.
Most hydrogen trucks use compressed gas instead. At around 200 bars, the energy density by volume is about 18x that of diesel. So, you need a huge tank for the same amount of energy. And also 200 bar means it needs to be a really strong tank. Hydrogen trucks aren't really competitive with battery electric trucks for this reason.
You need a lot of infrastructure and you add a lot of weight and complexity to the trucks. The handful of hydrogen trucks driving around have in common that they are expensive, don't have a lot of range, and need to be supplied via an as of yet non existent distribution network for hydrogen. If you truck the stuff around, you need 18 trucks for every diesel truck to move the equivalent in energy.
All that volume is a show stopper on planes. We're talking about huge planes that are mostly hydrogen storage tanks with not a lot of room for useful load. Or alternatively really heavy tanks that can keep hydrogen at close to absolute zero. A more likely use for hydrogen in aviation is to use it to produce synthetic fuels that are more dense and easier to handle.
Huydrogen really sucks as a fuel. And it's not a particularly efficient battery either. Storing it is problematic. Transporting it is problematic. The vast majority of hydrogen today is produced and consumed in the same place for this reason. It's main role is as a raw material to produce other things (fertilizers, steel, etc.).
It might have its niche as season scale energy storage. It's pretty easy and cheap to store it in underground cavities, they are good enough for helium [1] which leaks even easier than hydrogen.
Most hydrogen trucks use compressed gas instead. At around 200 bars, the energy density by volume is about 18x that of diesel. So, you need a huge tank for the same amount of energy. And also 200 bar means it needs to be a really strong tank. Hydrogen trucks aren't really competitive with battery electric trucks for this reason.
You need a lot of infrastructure and you add a lot of weight and complexity to the trucks. The handful of hydrogen trucks driving around have in common that they are expensive, don't have a lot of range, and need to be supplied via an as of yet non existent distribution network for hydrogen. If you truck the stuff around, you need 18 trucks for every diesel truck to move the equivalent in energy.
All that volume is a show stopper on planes. We're talking about huge planes that are mostly hydrogen storage tanks with not a lot of room for useful load. Or alternatively really heavy tanks that can keep hydrogen at close to absolute zero. A more likely use for hydrogen in aviation is to use it to produce synthetic fuels that are more dense and easier to handle.
Huydrogen really sucks as a fuel. And it's not a particularly efficient battery either. Storing it is problematic. Transporting it is problematic. The vast majority of hydrogen today is produced and consumed in the same place for this reason. It's main role is as a raw material to produce other things (fertilizers, steel, etc.).