Innovation AND Zero Emissions Flight

Ilham Kadri: Hello everyone today I'm thrilled to be joined by my guest, the Visionary Explorer and pilot, Bertrand Piccard, founder of the Climate Impulse Project.

Together we will take you behind the scenes of this incredible endeavor. The first nonstop flight around the world powered entirely by hydrogen with zero emission. He likes to call it the ultimate flight. We’ll talk about what's been achieved so far, what's coming next, and how Syensqo’s Teams together with our partners at Climate Impulse, UM6P, and we were there with, we just came back from Morocco, and the OCP group are helping to make it all possible. Launched in 2024 and moving forward at an incredible pace, Climate Impulse is an ambitious four year mission to design, build, test, a groundbreaking aircraft, hydrogen powered, never done before. A plane that will fly around the world nonstop for nine days and nine nights with zero emissions. But it's not just about aviation and an aviation project. I like to describe it as a human scientific and environmental adventure. The first of its kind, a global flight is powered only by clean energy. They said it's impossible.

I know Bertrand always says, I will make the impossible possible. Proving that innovation and sustainability can quite literally take us anywhere is the ultimate test of what we can achieve when technology and human ingenuity, determination and courage come together to serve a clean future for the planet, our home Mother Earth. We're now in the second year of development and what the journey has been so far. The aircraft is taking shape in France. New technologies are coming to life and together we are overcoming challenges that once seemed impossible. And speaking of overcoming the impossible, Bertrand, you've spent your life, I would say exploring from flying around the world in a solar powered plane, the solar impulse back in 2016. And we were with you actually the former, Solvay, to launch in Climate Impulse. So tell us, where does that spirit of exploration come from? What drives you to keep pushing boundaries like this? And what role has Syensqo played in helping you achieve your ambitions over the past years? 

Bertrand Piccard: Well, I have to say that I have no credit for this. When I was a child, the people coming at home who were friends of my father and my grandfather were astronauts, divers, scientists, noble prizes, environmentalists. And I thought it was normal to explore, to achieve the impossible, to change the paradigms. 

Ilham Kadri: It was your routine in a way. Bertrand. 

Bertrand Piccard: Exploration as a way to live. Yeah. They have to admit that when I became a teenager, I was a bit depressed to see that it was not like this in the rest of the world. And this is when I understood how fortunate I have been to be inspired by these fantastic giants of science and exploration, and I felt a bit like a responsibility to continue. If you are inspired and you don't continue. It's wasted. 

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. 

Bertrand Piccard: And I did not want to waste this experience. And I remember very well when I decided to have this type of life of an explorer, it was in July 69. My father had just embarked in a submarine to dive in the Gulf Stream for a month, a submarine that he had built himself. And I was invited to witness the liftoff of Apollo 11 in Cape Kennedy. And I thought, wow, that's the type of life I want. 

Ilham Kadri: Wow. 

Bertrand Piccard: And now to come to the second part of your question, thanks to Solvay before, and thanks to Syensqo now this dream of being an explorer becomes possible because if you dream and you achieve nothing, well you're not an explorer, you're a dreamer. And when you find partners who are able to make an introductory speech as you have done, you think, wow, I'm so lucky to have people like this who support me, who make the dream possible and climb the impulse would be nothing else than a drawing on a piece of paper if you are not here with your team.

Ilham Kadri: And I, and I love it because I think you came from a family of explorers. Your grandfather, August was actually a good friend of our founder, Ernest Solvay absolutely. And your father was also an explorer. He went to the sea and now you are back to the sky. But what is amazing, I've heard you often say that exploration is not about conquering new territories, but also about improving our quality of life. And you are very vocal about that and protecting our planet, right? And it's right. And at Syensqo, we couldn't agree more. And that's why we are partnering once again with you for this daring and caring new mission.

So now, as you can see, it's hard to believe it's already been nearly two years since Syensqo officially joined this incredible adventure. Since then, our scientists, and we call ourselves explorers. We like that. Since the merger from Solvay, scientists, engineers as Syensqo have been working hand in hand with your team, developing cutting edge materials, composites and specialty polymers to make these aircraft lights strong and efficient. And you can really see it's coming to life. Every component of the plane tells a story of innovation, creativity, disruption, and teamwork. And in fact, let me introduce everyone to one of the people driving this innovation forward, our very own Amandine Cuincia who leads research and innovation for climate at Syensqo. She truly humble, embodies the pioneering spirit that defines this project. Let's hear more from her. 

Amandine: We've come to rely on aviation as a safe need of movement. At the same time, I'm conscious about climate change and our impacts. If we want to limit global warming, energy transition is vital to create a sustainable future for our children. As a scientist, I feel that responsibility to face that challenge. Head on. At Syensqo. We have a century of collaboration with explorers. Today, we continue to make history with the first nonstop around the world, flights in a hydrogen aircraft.

Ilham Kadri: I love it. This was just a glimpse of a full episode about climate in person Amen's journey. Uh, featured actually in humanizing energy series presented by the word Energy Council, with contents produced for us by BBC. If you haven't seen it yet, I really encourage you to watch the full episode on our YouTube channel and on our Syensqo websites, and it beautifully captures Amanda's passion, her expertise, and the groundbreaker role Syensqo plays as the main technological partner of climate impulse because at its core climate [00:08:00] impulse is a deeply human adventure. Like any great adventure, it's full of challenges, of breakthroughs, of successes, and maybe failures, but more, more importantly, the determination to keep pushing forward. Like we love doing at Syensqo listening to our customers and their challenges to co-create, co-innovate with them, love their problems. That's what we do with Climate Impulse and we are up for the challenge and we are ready with solutions. So let's start with one of probably the biggest challenges in sustainability and sustainable aviation, right?

Um, the weight, for example. So to make these flights possible, the aircraft has to be incredibly light, meaning a structure cannot be made of metal, and yet strong enough to endure nine days of nonstop flights facing high winds and turbulences. Tell us a little more about this challenge. 

Bertrand Piccard: Well, everything is a challenge because it has never been made. If you would use the technologies that exist everywhere, you would have the type of airplane that exists everywhere. And we want to make an airplane that still doesn't exist and we have to make it existing. So it has to be light, it has to be stiff, it has to be efficient, it needs to consume really very little energy.

And additionally, the energy is hydrogen and not kerosene. And it has to fly, not just across an ocean, but all the way around the world. Not a few hours, but nine days with two people on board. So you understand that you have the challenge, you have the goal, and then you need to solve all the problems. And what is absolutely incredible with Syensqo is that you are everywhere.

Syensqo is everywhere in the beginning without knowing exactly what you are doing. I thought, okay, it would be carbon fiber. But it's not only carbon fiber. It's all the additive. It's all the composite. It's the membrane of the fuel cells. It's the electrolyte of the batteries.

Ilham Kadri: The coating.

Bertrand Piccard: The coating of the plane.You, you are absolutely everywhere with a fantastic team. 

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. And, and this is what is amazing. I mean, you, you heard the challenge and here is the solution. Our teams at Syensqo are incredibly proud to contribute to this adventure, developing those advanced composite materials. Some of them do exist and others less and, and specialty resins that are lighter and stronger than metal. And these materials form the entire airframe of the climate imp impulse aircraft from the cockpit to the wings, to the pots. Everything is made out of composite, and that's what makes the aircraft lighter.

They help the plane to stay remarkably light without ever compromising on safety and performance. And as we work towards this ambition around the world, flights about 45,000 kilometers nonstop. Every kilo, every gram, I should say, matters. The team's goal is to reduce the aircraft's total weight of six tons by around 10% or 600 kilometers.

And that might sound small, but this reduction alone could extend the plane's range by as much as 3,500 kilometers. A huge leap in endurance for hydrogen powered aircraft never done before. And in fact, let's take a quick look at some of Syensqo incredible explorers. Our team that’s behind our composite innovations.

Speaker: The first time an airplane took to the sky, the challenge was set go farther or faster, or both. Since then, it's been a lifetime of problem solving and learning how materials can truly make the impossible possible. And now with part of something really bold, the climate impulse project in order to complete its flight, the aircraft must be highly efficient, which means cutting edge lightweighting. That's where our composite solutions come in. Our materials are as strong as metal, but significantly lighter with the same strength and better performance in extreme conditions. Today, the entire airframe of climate impulse is being made with Syensqo’s composite materials. If we can reduce the total aircraft weight by nearly 600 kilos, we can gain over three and half thousand kilometers of additional range. That's the power of composites and the opportunities we offer. 

Ilham Kadri: Inspiring, isn't it? 

Bertrand Piccard: Yes. And it reminds me so many memories of the previous project. Solar Impulse, when it was Solvay helping us as a partner for light materials and composites.

And can you imagine it's, it's 20 years ago and the world of aviation was laughing saying, huh, guys, we're working with aluminum. We're not working with composite. Composite, that's for ships. And we developed together completely new ways to use composites in aeronautics. Solar impulse was 10 times lighter than the best glider proportionally of course to the size.

And since then you have the aeronautical industry who has taken it seriously. And I think we have participated together like this to make the airplanes lighter. And if you have an airplane crossing the Atlantic with 300 passengers who is 20% lighter over the lifetime, it's 1 million tons of CO2 that is less in the atmosphere. So it's, it's incredible. And not only it's cleaner, but it uses less fuel and it is cheaper to use. So these composite materials, they, have a role in absolutely everything. 

Ilham Kadri: And I love what you say, because at the end of the day, composite material is also our specialty polymers because our role as a company is to replace metallic objects, with less weight and our polymers or composers.

And if it's mobile, it consumes less fuel. It emits less CO2, we are synonymous to sustainability. That's the value proposition. So a perfect demonstration here on how our teams are innovating together, even from across the globe. And now another major challenge I would say, and I'm not sure we found yet a solution, is how to store liquid hydrogen. We're talking about keeping hydrogen here as an astonishing minus 250 degrees C, Celsius, obviously, safely for nine continuous days. I know that hydrogen is the first element, it’s a small molecule. It likes leaking right and left. That must be one of the toughest parts of the mission, right?

Bertrand Piccard: Yes. This is why there will be several flight missions progressively. We'll start with test flights and that will be batteries and electric motor. And then we'll make longer emissions to fly to Morocco, for example.  

Ilham Kadri: I love it. 

Bertrand Piccard: And they will be small hydrogen tanks, so it'll be like a way to learn how to build the big ones and then we'll have the big tanks. And the challenge is absolutely enormous because now if you make a liquid hydrogen tank, the ratio of the weight of the content compared to the tank is one to 10. 10 times more for the tank than for the fuel. And we want to bring it one to one, one and a half tons of hydrogen, one and a half tons of tank. So this is what Syensqo is working on. It's a big challenge. 

Ilham Kadri: It's huge one, 

Bertrand Piccard: It's absolutely incredible, but it is profoundly useful. Can you imagine when we make the demonstration, when you have composite materials for the first time for liquid hydrogen tanks and airplanes? Constructors will say, wow, we have the solution. Now we can use it also for us. 

Ilham Kadri: Absolutely. And not only for aviation, we can go beyond, right. For industrial use….

Bertrand Piccard: boats, for trains, for big trucks.  

Ilham Kadri: Absolutely. So, you know, this is the biggest challenge today, but I, I have every faith of our, of, you know, in our scientists and our partner, um, and indeed storing safely the liquid hydrogen at minus 250 degrees C for a flight, like this could last up to nine days. So to tackle this, our teams are exploring the use of science called Advanced Epoxy Resin and Composite materials designed to deliver exceptional toughness. Fire resistance is important and durability even in the extreme cryogenic environments. These materials can withstand intense stress, temperature fluctuations, and fatigue, all while keeping the structure incredibly light.

So the goal is to design a fully composite cryogenic tank, one that's both strong and lightweight. And if successful, it could reach a gravimetric index of around 50%, meaning the tank could carry almost as much hydrogen as its own weight. That level of efficiency would be a real game changer, maximizing the aircraft's energy to waste ratio and extending its range.

And of course, insulation is critical. The tank must maintain cryogenic temperatures using vacuum and multi-layer insulation technologies. So our advanced composes could also play a key role here combining thermal efficiency with structural strengths to maintain stability. These extreme conditions, and if we succeed and we will, I'm sure these innovations won't just power one aircraft, they'll open new possibilities for sustainable aviation, proving this advanced material can truly help us fly towards a cleaner future. Now, once the hydrogen is safely stored right, and it's done, the next challenge is how to turn it into power. How do you generate and manage clean energy throughout such a long flight? How does the aircraft actually stay powered?

Bertrand Piccard: So you have to understand that the liquid hydrogen is always evaporating a little bit. That's called the boil off. So it comes from liquid to gas and the gas goes in the fuel cell and is magically transformed into water and electricity and the electricity runs the electric mortar.

Ilham Kadri: Absolutely. 

Bertrand Piccard: But you need to cool down the fuel cell because the fuel cell becomes very hot. So what is the world today giving as solutions? Heat exchanger a radiator in the front of the plane to take the external air. Cool down the fuel cell. It makes resistance, it makes drag, it reduces the range by five to, yeah, five to 6,000 kilometers because of additional resistance and we cannot succeed. So we need to turn this into efficiency. So you take the heat, but this is done for trucks, but it's not done for airplanes. So we have to invent completely the system. You turn the heat of the fuel cell into a gas, changing the phase from a liquid. It runs a turbine producing electricity.

And with a wasted heat, you produce 10% more electricity than what you had without the turbine. And you use the wasted heat to increase the efficiency of the yield. And this is what I love. Because to all the world, we can say, look, each energy, each calorie that is wasted, can be turned into energy. And at the end you have data centers that are using energy producing heat, and you use this heat to heat a city to heat the water for inhabitants. And this is the way our world should work. That means do more with less. And this project is a project also of efficiency, achieving more by consuming less. And you use everything in order to get energy for free.

Ilham Kadri: It's amazing. I mean, you are describing the hydrogen economy will come to that, now, let's turn our attention away from technology to a moment and talk about the people, the human adventure. Nine days in a tiny cockpit, Bertrand, you and your partner and co-pilot Rafael will be up there the entire time. How do you prepare yourself physically and also mentally? You know, to spend nine days in a cockpit like this and to prepare for something like this, 

Bertrand Piccard: If you believe it's going to be long and difficult, you are going to be right. It's going to be long and difficult. I envision it exactly the opposite. I think it's too short. It's far too short. Can you imagine? In nine days only, we have to speak to all the universities of the world, all the schools of the world, all the governments, all the heads of states, all the leaders of big corporations, and give them the message. Stop to be depressed because there are no solutions and no future. It's the opposite. There are thousands of solutions. There's a fantastic future, but it depends from the decisions that you are taking. Now, if you implement the solutions, you'll have a beautiful quality of life. If you continue to destroy the planet and humankind, the quality of life will be disaster. So nine days to motivate the entire world to change the mindset. It's really short, I tell you. 

Ilham Kadri: But there are few years, you know, in building, of course the plane and finding solutions. And what I love in this one is that we talked about the technology and you are almost embarking the whole hydrogen economy into the aircraft. Okay, the green hydrogen will be embarked as green hydrogen, but actually it was produced out of water, green energy, you know, through electrolyzers where Syensqo has materials and then you embark it into your tanks and then you produce out of the green hydrogen through the fuel cells, your electricity and you release some water, right? So this, and you store the green hydrogen, as we say. This is the whole green hydrogen economy. Just amazing. 

Bertrand Piccard: Absolutely. And you are able to understand that. But there is a really curious factor. There are people today who are taking their time to write, to tell that it's impossible and that it's useless. It's absolutely incredible, and it's really dangerous to do that because afterward they look completely stupid. Can you imagine that? There were scientists who were proving that the airplane heavier than air would never fly. And there's a quote from the mayor of Dayton in the Wright Brothers Museum who says, speaking of the Wright brothers, I hope these two young guys will find a serious job instead of losing their time with useless toys, useless toys.

Speaking of the first airplane in the history of humankind. Now everybody's laughing, looking at this code, saying, wow, this guy is really not a visionary. And then you have people saying there will never, never be a smartphone in the pocket of everyone because smartphone, you know, in 1980 it was a suitcase. It was $15,000. Nobody thought it had a future. It was a niche. Now we all have one in the pocket. Photovoltaic 25 years ago, it was 40 times more expensive per kilowatt hour. Now it's the cheapest source of energy. So it's clear that if we unlock the potential of hydrogen, if we make desirable the use of a hydrogen industry, we will also, like in all the other examples I gave you, we will reach the critical mass where you have enough offer and enough demand to drop the price. And then it'll be available for everyone and it'll be obvious. So that's the fate of pioneers here. It's like if we are crazy, because we think of changing the industry, but when it'll be done, people will say, ah, yes. It was maybe easy because we have it now available and everybody will do it and forget maybe how difficult it was in the beginning.

Ilham Kadri: And that's the beauty of pioneers and the duty, I would say of pioneers like you and Syensqo. Yeah, I mean we are a scientific company and all of our people and explorers, but in a way this is, you know, the normal story of any innovation. I mean, look at the EVs and the cars. Half of the cost was a battery just a few years ago, now is just cheap. And you know, some people build this very efficiently. 

Bertrand Piccard: This is why the people who believe that something is impossible should not disturb the one who are trying to make it 

Ilham Kadri: You, you will prove them wrong and we will prove them wrong with you. And it's a powerful reminder that innovation is about people and people and people just as much as technology because human endurance is what makes these scientific challenges achievable.

So now I want to come back to our partnership with Morocco's University Mohammed's Polytechnique, because it's not just collaboration on material, it's also about how we are bringing artificial intelligence into Climate Impulse. Just a few days ago, I mean, actually we came back from Morocco yesterday, we announced the opening of our new Syensqo AI lab on the UM6P campus in Morocco.

An exciting milestone there. We are combining our strength in AI for science. Materials for energy and biotech to accelerate the breakthroughs this project needs. Together with the university, we are developing an intelligent decision support system that will help the pilots navigate the most energy efficient flight paths by integrating aerodynamics, flight dynamics and real time weather data.

This system will allow the aircraft to find and ride rising air currents capture wind energy, naturally reduce hydrogen consumption, extending its range and efficiency throughout the journey. It will also assist pilots in detecting turbulences and making the right decisions in real time, adapting to changing fly flying conditions.

This is about smart aviation, not just for climate impulse, but for the future of sustainable flights. And the perfect example I would say of how human ingenuity, again and digital intelligence can work hand in hand, allowing us to model, predict, and innovate faster than ever before. One last question from me. You often say that climate impulse is not just about technology, it's about restoring hope and inspiring action. And I know you are a terrific speaker with the youth. Can you share what does this mean to you personally? 

Bertrand Piccard: It breaks my heart to see how many people believe that there are no solutions, no future, that it's dangerous to be, to give birth to babies, that it's useless to go to school because, uh. Nothing good is going to happen in the future.

And it's just not true. It's not true. There have been so many periods in history where the population thought it was the end. There were big wars, there were EPIs, and each time, humankind found solutions to, to survive and to continue the evolution. And today we're in one of these moments, we're in the moment where we have to change the paradigm.

We have to show the solutions. We have to implement the solutions, and we have to transform the status quo into an adventure and change the people who are depressed into explorers and pioneers. And when you show something that is considered to be completely impossible, like flying around the world nonstop, zero emission into something that works. I think it can be the flagship of the pioneering spirit in the population and wake up this little flame that everybody has inside himself. Little fire that is sometimes buried and extinguished and we have to reignite it. Say, hey guys, we can do so much better. And I think this is the exploration spirit. To take the status quo, to turn it upside down and show that we can do much better than what we think. And climate impulse in a way, it's just this demonstration that we want to show. 

Ilham Kadri: Dream big. If your dreams are not scary, they are not big enough. I love it. And these projects prove that when science, courage, ingenuity, and audacity come together, there is no limit to what we can achieve.

So let's keep it up, let's redefine innovation and let's be the impulse. Thank you very much. 

Bertrand Piccard: Thank you Ilham. And thank you to you.