Brussels, 30/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The CRYOPLANE research project shows that use of liquid hydrogen to replace kerosene for fuelling planes is technically feasible and would greatly reduce the environmental impact of aviation without affecting safety. The 26 month project funded by the Commission is led by Airbus and brings together 35 partners from industry, research centres and academic institutions across 11 EU countries including the Commission's Joint Research Centre. The results were presented in Ispra on 27/28 May and include: the identification of overall aircraft configurations meeting the requirements of efficient and safe operation in all categories, from business jets to long-range aircraft; confirmation that hydrogen engines can be as efficient as kerosene ones in terms of energy consumption with benefits including substantial reduction in emissions. Further research now needs to be carried out to design fuel storage and engine feeding systems for different types of aircraft and also research into safety and navigability. IN a press release the Commission indicates that it may be possible to change over to hydrogen from 2015 onwards. One of the great problems with air transport (which is growing by 3 to 4% a year) is pollution (producing around 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions). The cost of hydrogen fuel is higher than the fossil fuel kerosene, but it can be produced by water electrolysis. Its primary combustion product is water. Liquid hydrogen has a higher energy content than kerosene (2.8 times greater for the same weight), making it possible to reduce take-off weight or carry higher payloads.