Environmentalists and engineers know that hydrogen would make a better jet fuel than the standard aviation kerosene. In its liquid form, hydrogen packs more energy per pound than any other non-nuclear fuel and, burning, produces a plume of H2O. But there are major drawbacks, including cost. Extracting hydrogen from water or natural gas and cooling it to -423 degrees F make the fuel many times more expensive than kerosene, which goes for about $1 per gal.
Now interest in the novel fuel has been rekindled by news that the Soviets have conducted a successful test flight of a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger...
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