Sustainability and Environment

professional RPAS drone operations
Sustainability and Environment

03 February 2021

Flying safely with liquid hydrogen

NLR will demonstrate drone flights fuelled by liquid hydrogen stored in tanks made entirely of composite material – a lightweight solution, with no risk of metal fatigue. With this, NLR is taking the next step towards safe, climate-neutral aviation, contributing to the ambitions of the Dutch ‘Duurzame Luchtvaartakkoord’ (Sustainable Aviation Accord) and the associated ‘Actieprogramma […]
Circular Economy in Aviation
Sustainability and Environment

07 September 2020

Challenge accepted: Circular Economy in Aviation

For those passionate about aviation, 2020 has been a roller-coaster of emotions. The year started off with seemingly unlimited opportunities for the aviation industry. But within few weeks, due to the spreading of COVID-19, airlines all over the world started to ground aircraft, until reaching a never-before standstill of flights in April and May. Airlines […]
Airplane spotting at Kaagbaan Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Airport Operations

24 July 2020

Blog: Towards a sustainable recovery in aviation

COVID-19 has caused a large negative impact in the aviation industry. In order to minimise the transmission of the virus between countries, borders were closed and transport movements decreased. Air traffic was considerably reduced, leaving the industry with the lowest numbers in operations of the last decade. Cargo and repatriation flights were the main operations […]
NLR hydrogen drone HYDRA on the runway of the Dronecentre
Sustainability and Environment

08 June 2020

Flying on hydrogen, first drone test flight on batteries (HYDRA II)

Less emission, longer endurance or heavier payloads. That’s why NLR invests in the development of hydrogen powered drones. HYDRA II is a VTOL drone with the goal of flying on hydrogen for 2 hours. At this moment we perform the first flight tests on batteries at NLR Drone Centre. Later this year this aircraft will […]
Aircraft vehicle flying through contrails
Sustainability and Environment

11 May 2020

Blog: Back to the future: towards sustainable aviation

A good two months ago, I read Delta’s announcement to mitigate all its CO2 emissions from March 2020. With such a statement from one of the world’s largest airlines, 2020 seemed to me to be a great year for sustainability in aviation. Back to the future: towards sustainable aviation How different are things now. While sceptics rightly […]
Sunset landscape with contrails
Sustainability and Environment

31 March 2020

Blog: Explaining aviation and nitrogen

Nitrogen is a complex subject that you’ve probably heard and read a lot about lately. Aviation plays a part in it and the experts at Royal NLR are working hard on the challenges this creates. We’re happy to share the knowledge we gain doing this, which is why we’ve answered various questions about this hot topic […]
Desert military vehicle aviation - USA Arizona
Sustainability and Environment

07 February 2020

Blog: A piece of cake?

Reducing emissions and curbing broader climate impact are currently hot topics in aviation, and rightly so. However, only considering flight emissions is like wanting to bake a cake, but only using one ingredient. Although essential, flight emissions do not cover the full life cycle of an aircraft. They are a limited amount of the overall […]
Sustainability and Environment

20 November 2019

Flying on hydrogen, towards zero-emission flight

First flight of Royal NLR’s hydrogen drone: HYDRA. Less emission, longer endurance or heavier payloads. That’s why NLR invests in the development of hydrogen powered drones. One of the main challenges of this activity is to adhere to our safety requirements. To this end NLR drafted an Explosion Safety Report, covering extensive safety analyses. This […]
First flight NLR hydrogen drone at NLR Drone Centre Marknesse
Sustainability and Environment

20 September 2019

Hydrogen-powered drone above The Netherlands

It has not previously been done in Dutch airspace: NLR is flying a hydrogen-powered drone (HYDRA). This is a step towards sustainable aviation. Additionally, market parties will be able to follow these footsteps quickly and fly hydrogen-powered drones safely in the Netherlands. At the testing centre in Marknesse, the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) has […]