An Arab researcher, during her studies for a PhD at the University of Cambridge in Britain, came up with a technique described as revolutionary to store hydrogen in a stable manner without pressure.
The Arab researcher, Enas Abu Hamed, was able to reach a discovery believed to change the future of air travel.
"PowerH2Go" is seeking to patent its technology for storing hydrogen gas in a safe manner (avoids the possibility of it exploding), and cheap, which facilitates its use as a commercial clean fuel, according to the BBC.
Hydrogen storage so far requires very large and strong tanks that can withstand pressure of up to 10,000 psi, which is hundreds of times more pressure than you would in a car tire.
The university joined Enas with Lock Spring, a specialist in material properties and its scientific and engineering applications, in an effort to find commercial applications for innovation, thus generating "PowerH2Go".
"The pressure used is similar to what you get in the coffee machine," says Arab researcher Enas Abu Hamid.
Abu Hamid and Spreen, who currently heads the technology division, built a partnership with Canadian ballard company that specializes in making hydrogen fuel cells a year ago, to build a pilot plane whose engine relies on hydrogen stored in a safe way.
Finally, after months of cooperation and communication by phone calls and emails, Spring and the company's product development officer, Peter Italiano, traveled to Boston to attend the first experience of flying with new fuel.
The aluminum reactor used in this method weighs less than the weight of a small bag of sugar, and its small gas cylinder contains a complex network of aluminum tubes that are made using three-dimensional (3D) printing.
The hydrogen remains in a stable and solid (frozen) state inside the cylinder until a "liquid" is pumped through the microscopic tubes that heat it up and release the hydrogen gas into a cell that generates electricity to move the plane.
Until recently, the high cost of producing hydrogen gas was a major obstacle to using fuel in a commercially acceptable manner.
Currently, most countries apply strict safety rules for flying planes over densely populated areas, as a collision or technical failure may cause such aircraft, which use Li-on batteries, which are highly flammable, to crash. Hence, falling or crashing upon landing may cause explosions.
But Enas Abu Hamed indicates that even if the droning plane that uses hydrogen fuel crashes, the hydrogen will remain stable in its solid form inside its reactor and will not result in any explosion.
Enas describes hydrogen as a "happy gas" and wants to move in the space in which it is placed, which makes it highly explosive, but at the same time it has great investment prospects for its uses.
Enas speaks enthusiastically about the prospects for her innovation, "If drones can stay longer in the sky, they can be used to send medicines, do an aerial survey of disaster areas and send information about them."
"My dream is not only to build drones, but we may be able to get rid of carbon waste from aviation in the next 20 or 30 years, which is very important to the climate of our planet," she says.