ZEROAVIA SELECTED AS WINNER OF THE US PATENT for Humanity Green Energy Award
ZeroAvia today announced that it has been selected as a winner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patents for Humanity Green Energy Program 2024, and the only winner in the Hydrogen category. The award recognizes innovations that address climate change through game-changing green energy technologies that are the subject of or pending a U.S utility patent.
ZeroAvia was recognized for the totality of its patent applications covering key inventions that unlock hydrogen and electric propulsion for aircraft, enabling the use of green hydrogen as a fuel for truly clean commercial aviation. Patents include an invention that enables more efficient cooling of fuel cells without increasing drag – a longstanding challenge to their practical use to power aircraft – and an invention of novel coatings which enable high temperature PEM fuel cells that promise much higher power density.
ZeroAvia is advancing technologies that can produce, store and use clean hydrogen efficiently, with the potential to reduce aviation greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90 percent. The company has filed 217 patent applications to date, with 31 already granted. In addition to the impact on emissions, the development of these patents into commercially-applied technologies will lead to improved energy security, reduced air travel costs to help combat inflation, better customer and community experience thanks to cleaner air and lower noise, and the creation of thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs.
ZeroAvia has already extensively tested a prototype of its first 600kW hydrogen-electric powertrain, the ZA600, with the zero-emission engine now in the certification process with regulators. The intellectual property accrued by ZeroAvia as part of its full powertrain development has also created valuable hydrogen and electric propulsion component product lines which the company is now offering to other clean aviation innovators.
The company has also performed advanced ground tests in the US and UK for the key building block technologies for the ZA2000 system, a 2-MW system, including cryogenic tanks for liquid hydrogen storage and proprietary high-temperature PEM fuel cell and advanced electric propulsion systems. The ZA2000 will support up to 80 seat regional turboprop aircraft such as the ATR72 or the Dash 8 400.
Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO, ZeroAvia said: “This award recognizes the power and breadth of our proprietary technology. We have been clear from the beginning that the right approach to disrupting the aviation industry and providing meaningful impact on emissions, required first principles thinking to determine optimal solutions, followed by deep vertical integration that enables an unparalleled IP portfolio.”
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Image source: zeroavia.com