Background: Aircraft thrust is traditionally come from a combustion engine (internal combustion or gas turbine) coupled to either a propeller or a nozzle to produce thrust. These systems deliver high performance but also have high emissions and low fuel efficiency. Some proposals have used fuel cells as propulsion devices by using the electricity a fuel cell produces to power an electric motor linked to a propeller. This system lowers emissions and increases fuel efficiencies but increases weight due to the substantial electric motors required for primary propulsive power.
