The aviation industry makes claims of commitment to decarbonization. There remains a “huge amount of work” needed in order to do so, said Robert Boyd, regional lead of aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s global sustainability policy and partnerships and an expert in sustainable aviation fuel.
Air travel is set to triple by 2050. Airlines must replace old fleets, airports need to improve air traffic management structures and the industry must invest in sustainable aviation fuel.
Work must be done in order to drive down the prices of sustainable aviation fuel, including more research and development, and technological development on feedstock.
Sustainable aviation fuel must also be available to develop countries to make an impact beyond the largest aviation hubs.
“The good news is that there are several pillars of action that the aviation industry has at its disposal, and these are working to essentially execute the decarbonization challenge over the next 28 years,” Boyd said.
His comments come as the United Nations Climate Change Conference enters its second week in Egypt. Industries that are big emitters, such as aviation, are in the hot seat to go green.
The aviation industry is responsible for 2.5 percent of global emissions.
“In a decarbonizing world, if all sectors are not doing it at the same pace, then the relative scale of emissions for aviation or shipping makes it hard to decarbonize,” Boyd said.
“So, it is absolutely critical to decarbonize. There is a clear plan to achieve net zero by 2050. And that can be done through various pillars.
Boyd said the obvious route is to design new aircraft, which can be 20 to 25 percent more fuel efficient than the previous aircraft. An estimated 25 tons of carbon dioxide can be saved per day by using the best-in-class modern fleet. Therefore the most efficient fleets must be used.
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