This aviation startup is soaring ahead with hydrogen-powered planes

Last month, a navy blue, six-seater aircraft took off at Cranfield Airport in England. Usually, a 15-minute, 20-mile flight wouldn’t be noteworthy – but this was the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell-powered flight for a commercial-size aircraft.

The plane’s powertrain – the mechanism which drives the plane, including fuel tanks and engine – was built by ZeroAvia, a US and UK-based company developing hydrogen-electric engines. Using liquid hydrogen to feed fuel cells, the technology eliminates carbon emissions during the flight.

A conventional flight today produces half the CO2 generated by flights in 1990, largely thanks to an increase in fuel efficiency. However, due to record traffic growth, driven by increasing passenger numbers and trade volume, the aviation industry is creating more emissions than ever before – accounting for 2% of global manmade carbon emissions. This percentage is set to increase says Bobby Sethi, a senior lecturer in aviation at Cranfield University: other industries, like road transport, are “decarbonizing at a faster rate” he says, while aviation is lagging behind.

We've come a long way in aviation since Orville Wright took the historic first-ever flight in 1903. He and his brother Wilbur made four flights that day, the longest of which took less than a minute and covered a distance of just 852 feet (260 meters). It wasn't until 1905 that the Wright brothers successfully tried and tested a plane that was viable for transport purposes. Click through to see the planes that have transformed air travel.

The Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" accomplished a lot in its 10-year lifespan. The two-seat biplane was bulk-bought by the US military during World War I and used to train more than 90% of pilots. After the war, its low price helped it find a commercial market, and it became the signature plane of the "barnstorming" era when pilots took to performing dangerous aviation stunts for large crowds. In this picture, stuntwoman Gladys Roy walks on the plane's wings blindfolded.

Possibly the world's most famous plane, the Spirit of St. Louis -- a Ryan NYP monoplane -- made history in 1927 for making the first non-stop solo transatlantic flight. The pilot, Charles Lindbergh, helped design the plane. He was most concerned about making it lightweight, opting for a single-engine design and a wicker chair to lighten the load. The flight from New York to Paris made Lindbergh an instant celebrity and began a cultural obsession with aviation.

The Boeing S-307 Stratoliner heralded an aviation revolution in 1938, for something we now take for granted: a pressurized cabin. The first commercial aircraft equipped with this innovation, the Stratoliner could soar above turbulent weather at an altitude of 20,000 feet. One of the 10 aircraft made was famously bought by multimillionaire Howard Hughes, who converted it into a luxury flying penthouse.

An advanced version of the earlier B-29 (which became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in combat in 1945), the B-50 military bomber had a piston-powered engine -- it was one of the last of its kind because soon after that, aviation transitioned into the jet age. Its big moment came in 1949 when war veteran James Gallagher flew the "Lucky Lady II" on the first non-stop flight around the world. The plane was refueled mid-air four times, and the journey took 94 hours.

Nicknamed the "Jumbo Jet," the Boeing 747-400 changed the face of commercial travel and tourism. Launched in 1969, it more than doubled the seating capacity of commercial aircraft, ushering in an era of mass market air travel. The double-decker plane carried 416 passengers, a record it held for 37 years.

Concorde became the most famous supersonic passenger jet, but the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 got there first in 1975, four months ahead of its French competitor. Unfortunately, the Soviet plane suffered many technical failures, including two fatal crashes, over its short lifespan. It only completed 55 return flights before it was relegated to cargo in 1978. The government-funded program was discontinued just five years later.

Flying at twice the speed of sound, Concorde took its inaugural flight with passengers in 1976. A flight from London to New York took just three and half hours, but the noise and supersonic boom created by the aircraft meant it could only be used on very limited routes. Ultimately, the cost grounded these record-breaking planes in 2003.