“While the Covid crisis has compelled us to make many changes across the business, one thing that hasn’t changed is our commitment to minimising the impact we have on the environment,” commented Andrew Parker, Qantas Group Executive, Government, Industry and Sustainability. “Even though we have been flying a lot less, we’ve actually seen the same proportion of customers choosing to offset their domestic travel during the pandemic – showing this issue remains top of people’s minds.

“Airlines globally have a responsibility to cut emissions and combat climate change, particularly once travel demand starts to return. The Qantas Group has set some ambitious targets to be net carbon neutral by 2050 and while offsetting emissions is a big part of that in the next few years, longer term initiatives like building a sustainable aviation fuel sector in Australia, are key.”

The airline group claims to operate one of the industry’s largest carbon offset programmes, with around 10% of customers booking flights on its website opting to offset the emissions from their flights. In turn, both Qantas and low-cost subsidiary Jetstar match every dollar spent by customers.

“We think the programme can grow and we have a lot of corporates, not just individuals, signing up for it,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told a recent Eurocontrol Aviation StraightTalk interview (see video below). “Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is going to take a while to get established and make it economic.”

He said Qantas would be working on a plan with BP to create a local SAF industry to help it meet the 2050 target. “BP think it’s a great opportunity. In Australia we have a massive land mass and our airline, pre-Covid, was spending $4 billion a year on fuel. There’s potential for an industry here in Australia that we’re excited about developing.”

Commenting on the tie-up with Qantas, BP’s EVP, Regions, Cities & Solutions, William Lin, said: “At BP, we’re focusing on working with corporates in key industrial sectors that currently have significant carbon emissions to manage and need to decarbonise – sectors such as aviation.

“By bringing our complementary capabilities together, we can help each other, and our customers, move at a faster pace on the energy transition journey. We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with Qantas on plans to reach net-zero while continuing to deepen our existing relationship.”

Frédéric Baudry, President, BP Australia and SVP Fuels & Low Carbon Solutions, Asia Pacific, said: “This is another move towards our ambition to be a net-zero company by 2050 or sooner and help the world to get to net-zero. We believe the planet needs everyone working together on this vital cause, and that supporting companies to transition to a more sustainable future means we can all get there faster.

“Forming strong strategic partnerships with leading companies like Qantas is an important way to achieve our shared goals and we are proud that BP is working to provide decarbonisation solutions for customers in Australia.”

Photo: BP

Excerpt of interview with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce talking about sustainability and SAF:

Dr Liu said the UN agency could play a central role in bringing states, manufacturers, airlines, airports and stakeholders together in the post-Covid transition towards a decarbonised future.

“A global policy under ICAO is crucial because this is the only way to ensure the success of this global transition that needs to take place, while leaving no country behind and avoiding distortion of competition,” she told the session, ‘Building a Path to Net-Zero Aviation’, moderated by LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren.

“The disruptions to the way of life of billions around the world will bring fundamental and widespread changes to who aviation serves, and how, once the pandemic is behind us. The aviation sector will need to rapidly adapt, to access green funding for investments in technology, operations and fuels, in order to meet the growing calls for a sustainable flying future.”

She said individuals too will play an increasingly important role in sustainability, choosing to fly with airlines and on aircraft with lower emissions.

Added the UK government’s Grant Shapps: “Absolutely fundamental to our ‘build back better’ plan is to decarbonise aviation, making planes cleaner and greener so the sector can grow in a sustainable and resilient way. It’s a process that started well before coronavirus but I consider it to be more important than ever that as we come out of it, we pursue it even more actively. Our single overriding goal is to make net-zero a possibility in aviation and to do so well before 2050.”

He said governments working alone could not tackle the issue and close collaboration with industry and also at a global level was needed, pointing to the setting up in the UK of the Jet Zero Council and the UK working through ICAO to set global net-zero, long-term goals and standards for aviation emissions.

“We want to use COP26 to help accelerate the transition to cleaner aviation,” he said. “We’re going to be working with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and other states to develop new policy tools that will help the deployment of SAF. For the summit itself, we’re seeking to arrange the provision of SAF for delegates’ flights at key UK airports and we’re going to encourage other countries across the world to do the same.

“The world is coming together around this policy discussion but only the power of government as a convener can bring it altogether and ‘grease the wheels’ to accelerate the process.”

Grazia Vittadini of Airbus said multilateralism and cross-industry unity was the common denominator in stimulating a sustainable and long-term recovery of the sector. “We clearly have the right level of ambition and science-driven targets,” she said. “Now we need to progress on the regulatory framework of policy support as well as robust and safe technology pathways to get us there.”

Schiphol’s Dick Benschop said that up until now there had been a scatter-gun approach to aviation sustainability policy that had been ineffective.

“We need to focus on three areas: carbon pricing schemes that encourage the right incentives, tackling the issue of SAF mandates and how to support R&D into new propulsion areas such as electric and hydrogen. Ticket taxes aren’t helpful as they add cost but don’t drive sustainability. Sustainability will have its costs but enormous benefits as well and we need policies that drive investments.”

He said there was cause for optimism, with policies taking shape in Europe such as the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative that he expected will introduce a SAF blending mandate. “This would be an enormous step forward,” he believes.

Other positive developments he saw included a coming together by the sector towards a commitment to net-zero aviation in 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement and the big oil companies making serious investment decisions on sustainable fuels.

Vittadini saw similar signs of optimism and said it was a false choice as to whether the aviation sector should first focus on recovering profitability post-Covid or remain committed to net-zero.

“At Airbus, we have accelerated our carbon-neutral ambition into a tangible plan to bring a zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035, which is the most direct contribution we can bring as a manufacturer,” she said.

“The pandemic has increased global understanding of how dependent we are on our environment. It’s become quite clear that any industry recovery and profit in the years to come will depend on ambitious climate protection plans in parallel.

“Another key implication for the industry, especially in Europe, is finding a balanced way forward for alternative fuel propulsion solutions and I see three priorities.”

First, she said, was the need to boost production and uptake of SAF through dedicated policy measures. “More specifically, I believe this policy should include prioritisation of sustainable fuels for aviation, investing in high-impact feedstock and conversion technologies, and cost-effective financing. SAF provides a short and long term solution to decarbonising the sector, while technology in parallel continues to evolve to achieve even more fuel-efficient aircraft than today.”

Another step would be to implement a “green stimulus” for airlines to enable them to retire old and less environmentally-friendly aircraft, she said.

“Replacing a single aircraft can save more than 4,500 tonnes of CO2 per year, with the saving rising to 37,000 tonnes if you consider long-range aircraft. Creating the right conditions, the right financing framework to allow airlines to modernise their fleet towards more fuel-efficient aircraft is a win-win and would help support the European green agenda.

“Lastly, we need to catalyse an industry collaboration like we have never seen before in recent history, joining forces with all stakeholders across the industry, the political arena and research institutions. It’s important to note that as with every new technology and innovation rollout, the global transition to zero-emission flight requires a total rethink of many elements of our intricate aviation ecosystem.

“Hydrogen will need a technical redesign of current aircraft. Engineers will need to take the technologies developed in automotive and space to bring the weight and the cost down, and making the technology safe and compatible with commercial aircraft operations. We’re going to need to mobilise changes to airport infrastructure and we’ve started working with several airports, including Schiphol, on the concept of an airport hydrogen hub. Of course, we’re going to need the cooperation of aviation authorities to certify future hydrogen-powered aircraft to airworthiness safety standards, not to mention government collaboration as a critical piece of the puzzle. We do welcome the R&D funding support we are receiving from the EU and countries including France, Germany, Spain and the UK.”

Established in 2019, the Clean Skies for Tomorrow (CST) coalition brings together around 80 aviation and fuel industry companies and other stakeholders, including international organisations and associations, think tanks, NGOs and academia, to facilitate the transition to net-zero flying by mid-century.

In their foreword to the ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuels as a Pathway to Net-Zero Aviation’ report, Christoph Wolff, Head, Shaping the Future of Mobility, at WEF and Daniel Riefer, Platform Fellow WEF and Associate Partner at McKinsey, said that with electric flight and hydrogen-powered propulsion still years away from application at scale, SAF is a necessary step in aviation’s decarbonisation pathway.

“The CST coalition is working to address the chicken-and-egg scenario whereby producers and consumers of SAF are both either unwilling or unable to carry the initial cost burden of investing in new technologies to reach a scale where they are more cost competitive with existing fossil fuel-derived options,” they write. “The aim is to break this impasse and advance the commercial scale of viable production of sustainable low-carbon aviation fuels (bio and synthetic) for broad adoption in the industry by 2030. This report, developed in close consultation with the CST coalition, serves to provide a fact base on which swift and bold actions should be taken by public and private sector leaders alike.”

In 2019, says the report, fewer than 200,000 tonnes of SAF were produced globally, amounting to less than 0.1% of the roughly 300 million tonnes of jet fuel used by commercial airlines. If all SAF projects that have been publicly announced are completed, capacity will scale to at least 4 million tonnes in the next few years, reaching volumes just over 1% of expected global jet fuel demand in 2030. However, it says, a transition to SAF is in reach and from a feedstock perspective, enough raw material is available to fuel all aviation by 2030.

To scale production and make SAF economically viable and scale production, the authors say several advances will be required: technological challenges must be overcome; a supportive regulatory framework needs to be installed to stimulate demand from corporate and private customers; and innovative solutions to finance the transition have to be implemented. “The CST coalition is debating how to meet these challenges and help aviation earn its right to keep growing,” says the report.

It concludes: “Producing sustainable aviation fuel will almost certainly continue to be more expensive than refining fossil jet fuel but the costs of exceeding the 1.5 or 2.0-degree targets of the Paris Agreement are incalculably greater.”

Top photo and video: World Economic Forum

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has partnered with Respira for its Greenliner carbon offset programme and will initially purchase 80,000 tonnes of CO2 offsets in a Tanzanian forestry project. The Makame Savannah REDD project, developed by Carbon Tanzania, employs a community-based model to curb deforestation and promote better management of local natural resources across over 100,000 hectares in the southern extension of the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem.

The scheme is verified and certified by Verra under its Verified Carbon Standard to ensure the carbon offsets are quantifiable, additional and fully sustainable. The scheme’s first offset vintages were certified in early November 2020. The Tanzanian project also conforms to Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, which protect endangered species and local communities.

“Respira offers a fresh approach to the carbon market by aligning the interests of project developers, buyers and capital providers,” said Ana Haurie, CEO of Respira. “In this way, we create win-win outcomes for all stakeholders. It is a privilege to work with Etihad, which has shown real commitment to its sustainability goals through what is a challenging period for the airline industry.”

To support Etihad and Abu Dhabi’s long-term sustainability objectives, Respira will establish operations at the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the emirate’s international financial centre, in order to bring its offset expertise to the Middle East, said the company.

Commented Tony Douglas, Etihad Aviation Group CEO: “It’s encouraging to end a difficult year with such a positive move for the sustainable future of aviation. While the year brought many challenges, sustainability has remained at the top of our agenda, and the work hasn’t stopped. Expect to see more ground-breaking initiatives in 2021.”

Added Dr Alejandro Rios-Galvan, Chairman of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC) at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, who advises the airline on a range of sustainability issues: “This is a great start for Etihad’s zero-carbon journey using a well-respected offset standard that is fully compliant with the best sustainability practices out there. We look forward to continue supporting Etihad on their long-term sustainability strategy.”

The airline said the Greenliner offset programme would complement its ongoing work to develop and test SAFs, with a goal of making them commercially viable for widespread adoption by the industry.

Etihad recently raised $600 million in the world’s first ‘transition sukuk’, a financial instrument enabling organisations to raise funds from investors in accordance with Islamic finance principles. Transition finance supports companies to make progress towards commitments to cut carbon in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement. The proceeds will be used by the airline for energy-efficient aircraft and research and development into SAF.

According to HSBC, which acted with Standard Chartered Bank as joint global coordinators and joint sustainability structuring agents on the deal, the sukuk also includes a commitment from the airline to pay a penalty in the form of carbon offsets if it fails to meet its short-term target to reduce the carbon intensity of its passenger fleet. Etihad has pledged to reduce its passenger fleet’s emissions intensity by 20% by 2025 from a 2017 baseline.

“Many industries, including airlines, need to undertake complex and gradual transformations to reduce their carbon emissions – and the financial sector has a responsibility to help them,” explained Ali Taufeeq, Director, Middle East Debt Capital Markets, HSBC. “The transition sukuk issuance by Etihad was a natural step in this direction and we are pleased to assist them in accelerating investment in more environmentally-friendly solutions.”

The bank said it is expecting the sustainable finance market to gain further traction over the next few years as more issuers look to source capital more sustainably. It has set up a dedicated environmental, social and governance (ESG) Solutions Unit with an ambition to provide between $750 billion and $1 trillion in sustainable financing and investment by 2030. Transition finance is any form of financial support that helps high-carbon companies start to implement long-term changes to become greener, says HSBC, and bridges the gap between traditional and sustainable financing as businesses begin the journey to net zero.

The Etihad transition sukuk follows the first aviation financing linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals it raised in December 2019.

“By issuing a sustainability-linked sukuk, Etihad is voluntarily adding to its existing commitments under CORSIA and also committing to reduce its carbon intensity,” said Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group.

Meanwhile, Sir Tim Clark, President of rival Emirates, said his airline remained dedicated to sustainability and reducing its environmental impact.

“We are watching developments in sustainable aviation fuel very closely and we look forward to a time when it can be produced at scale and in a cost competitive manner. Our latest A380 delivery flight was partially powered by SAF and this is a positive step towards reducing our overall emissions,” he commented.

The SAF for the delivery flight was produced in Finland by Neste from used cooking oil. Emirates said it continued to support a number of SAF initiatives and is part of the Steering Committee of the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition, established by the World Economic Forum to promote the development of SAF. Along with Etihad, it recently supported a series of webinars (Sustainable Aviation Fuels Initiative for the United Arab Emirates) on the future of SAF in the UAE hosted by Khalifa University. A third of Emirates’ crew transportation buses in Dubai currently are powered by biofuels, with one of its contractors, Al Wegdaniyah, adopting biofuel supplied by Neutral Fuels.

“As the leader of one of the world’s largest airlines, I recognise our responsibility in contributing to fight climate change, as well as our responsibility to solve it,” said United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. “These game-changing technologies will significantly reduce our emissions and measurably reduce the speed of climate change – because buying carbon offsets alone is not enough. Perhaps most importantly, we’re not just doing it to meet our own sustainability goal, we’re doing it to drive the positive change our industry requires so that every airline can eventually join us and do the same.”

DAC technology, says the airline, is one of the few proven ways to physically correct for aircraft emissions and can scale to capture millions, and potentially billions, of tonnes of CO2 per year. The first 1PointFive plant is expected to capture and permanently sequester one million tonnes of CO2 each year (currently, the world’s largest DAC facilities have the capacity to capture several thousand tonnes of CO2 per year), the equivalent work of 40 million trees, claims the company, yet covering a land area around 3,000 times smaller.

The captured CO2 will then be stored deep underground in geological formations by Occidental and the process certified by independent third parties. Occidental has been permanently storing CO2 for more than 40 years, with nearly 20 million tonnes sequestered in its operations annually. The company has two US EPA-approved monitoring, reporting and verification plans to validate the integrity, transparency and permanence of the entire sequestration process. Its contribution to the venture includes engineering, project development and other technology performance assistance that will provide support for the development and financing of the DAC plant.

The exact location for the plant has not yet been revealed except that it is in the Texas Permian Basin, with a land footprint of around 100 acres (40 hectares). 1PointFive announced in August that the plant was in the design and development phase with the final front-end engineering design slated to begin in the first quarter of 2021 and construction expected to start in 2022. The company says the venture with Carbon Engineering has been enabled by market policies such as the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Federal 45Q tax credit.

“Assessments by major organisations such as the IPCC and the National Academy of Sciences are increasingly clear that to avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change, we will need to remove billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere,” said 1PointFive CEO Jim McDermott. “A global DAC industry will be key to achieving this. It will also bring significant economic benefits, leading to the development of new industries and thousands of jobs.”

United believes sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with up to 80% less lifecycle carbon emissions than conventional fuel, remains the fastest and most effective way to reduce its emissions. It holds more than 50% of all publicly announced future SAF purchase commitments among airlines globally. Last year, United renewed its contract with World Energy, agreeing to purchase up to 10 million gallons of “cost-competitive” SAF.

The airline has longest history of using SAF in the US and has been powering every flight departing its Los Angeles hub since 2016, carrying 26 million passengers on 215,000 flights powered by a SAF blend. In 2019 it committed $40 million towards an investment initiative focused on accelerating the development of SAF and other decarbonisation technologies. Earlier this month, the Carbon Disclosure Project named United as the only airline globally to its 2020 ‘A List’ for the airline’s actions to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks and help develop the low-carbon economy, marking the seventh consecutive year that United had the highest CDP score among US carriers.

“When I became United Airlines’ new CEO at the beginning of the pandemic, I did so with a grand vision for our company: to make sustainability the new standard in flight,” said Kirby in an open letter on LinkedIn. “I realise it’s an ambitious vision for someone in an industry that depends on burning fossil fuels to operate. As the leader of one of the world’s largest airlines, I recognise our responsibility in contributing to climate change as well as our responsibility to solve it. It’s no longer enough for us to connect the world without making sure it has a future.”

Kirby said traditional carbon offsets did almost nothing to tackle the emissions from flying. “And, more importantly, they simply don’t meet the scale of this global challenge,” he added. “Carbon emissions have increased 4,000 times since the industrial revolution. It’s just not realistic to think we can plant enough trees to start bending that curve today.

“We’re embracing a new goal to be 100% green by 2050 by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions 100%. And we’ll get there not with flashy, empty gestures, but by taking the harder, better path of actually reducing the emissions from flying. I believe the world and the airline industry has to be bolder.” 

The policies for aviation are set out in the Committee’s advice to government on the nation’s Sixth Carbon Budget – the legal limit for UK net GHG emissions over the 2033-37 period. This will necessitate a requirement for an overall 78% reduction in UK emissions by 2035 relative to 1990, equivalent to a 63% reduction from 2019, which it says would place the UK on a path to net zero by 2050 at the latest.

On aviation, the Committee’s report acknowledges the UK industry’s commitment through its Sustainable Aviation coalition to the net-zero goal for 2050 although this is not yet a policy goal for the government, which is due to consult in 2021 on its intended Aviation Decarbonisation Strategy.

“Higher-level strategic gaps include the lack of formal inclusion of international emissions in UK carbon budgets and the net zero target, and the need for a sector emissions trajectory to inform demand management and airport capacity policies,” points out the Committee. “Further research is also needed on non-CO2 effects and potential mitigation options.”

UK government policy has been not to include emissions from international flights in the carbon budgets pending developments with UN negotiations on ICAO’s CORSIA scheme but the Committee is strongly recommending a change. The Chairman of the CCC, Lord Deben, told journalists ahead of the publication of the report that the UN structure demanded international emissions from aviation and shipping be excluded from Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.

“What the Committee is saying very clearly is that the UK government must take up the cudgels in order to include the emissions from these two sectors. If you don’t include them, then you are falsifying the fact when it comes to net zero, so we need to make that change,” he said. “We’ve really got to get aviation and shipping into the system, and pretty quickly.”

Existing UK aviation policy has been focused on establishing the Jet Zero Council with an ambition for zero-emissions commercial flight, match-funding for aircraft technology development and traded certificate price support for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). Investments have also been made in a grant-funding competition for SAF production and the FlyZero aircraft technology initiative. There are also plans for a SAF clearing house to enable the UK to certify new fuels and a consultation on a SAF blending mandate for a potential start in 2025.

However, the RTFO inclusion is unlikely to drive significant development of renewable jet fuels and there is a lack of larger-scale deployment support and policy framework for these fuels, says the Committee. It advises the government to set out a policy package for supporting the near-term deployment of SAF facilities in the UK that may involve capital or loan guarantee support, and to transition to a more bespoke policy than the RTFO. A SAF blending mandate could ultimately provide more certainty to SAF plant investors than the RTFO, it believes. SAF facilities should have to install carbon capture and storage (CCS) or be built CCS-ready in order to maximise GHG savings, it adds, and SAF must meet strict sustainability standards.

The report says carbon pricing will be required to incentivise the transition to net zero although there are issues around equitable distribution of costs. Aviation fuel faces no taxes and international flights beyond EU borders are outside the scope of the EU ETS, so do not face a carbon price, it points out. The Committee noted that the recent citizens’ UK Climate Assembly favoured a frequent flyer levy to address fairness concerns.

The Committee proposes that in the long term, an economy-wide emissions trading scheme with a cap set to zero emissions would be a plausible way of balancing emissions and pricing carbon for sectors like aviation, so providing financial support for GHG emissions removals from, for example, woodland or peatland restoration, or engineered removals such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

Given expected developments in efficiency and SAF deployment, the Committee advises the government to implement a demand management policy to constrain UK aviation growth to 25% by 2050 from 2018 levels for the sector to contribute to the UK net zero goal. If efficiency and SAF develop quicker, it may be possible for demand growth to rise above 25%, provided that additional non-CO2 effects are acceptable or can be mitigated, it says.

“The government should assess its airport capacity strategy in the context of net zero and any lasting impacts on demand from Covid-19. Investments will need to be demonstrated to make economic sense in a net zero world and the transition towards it,” says the report.

“Unless faster than expected progress is made on aircraft technology and SAF deployment, such that the sector is outperforming its trajectory to net zero, current planned additional airport capacity would require capacity restrictions placed on other airports. Going forwards, there should be no net expansion of UK airport capacity unless the sector is assessed as being on track to sufficiently outperform a net emissions trajectory that is compatible with achieving net zero alongside the rest of the economy, and is able to accommodate the additional demand and still stay on track.”

Baroness Brown, Deputy Chair of the Committee, told journalists: “There is a limit on the aviation emissions we can afford so if it is crucial for our economy to have, say, more capacity in the airport system in London then that would mean reducing capacity elsewhere – it’s about no net increase in the capacity. We do assume there can be some growth in aviation and we’ve looked very carefully at the conclusions of the Climate Assembly and the assumptions we have made are closely aligned with it on issues like aviation.

“The aviation industry is hugely important to this country and we consider there will be some very important advances in technology and synthetic fuels, and we are keen that the government supports their development. As you go forward in time, the benefits from improving aircraft efficiency will also start to outweigh the costs of reducing aviation emissions. It’s not a gloomy story about aviation – there are opportunities but not for rampant growth in terms of flying, and certainly not in the short term until we have the solutions in place.”

On aviation’s non-CO2 effects, the report recommends work should be supported to reduce the scientific uncertainties and fund research into mitigation options. As a minimum goal, there should be no additional non-CO2 warming from aviation after 2050 and possibly earlier with a policy intervention.

“Alongside efforts at ICAO, the Aviation Decarbonisation Strategy and the package of domestic policies, plus parallel progress on a mechanism for deploying GHG removals in the UK, should put UK aviation emissions on track to contribute fully to meeting the Sixth Carbon Budget and the net zero target,” concludes the report.

Responding, Sustainable Aviation’s Programme Director, Andy Jefferson, commented: “We were the first national aviation group in the world to pledge to achieve net zero by 2050 in February of this year, and our members are fully committed to decarbonising aviation in line with global targets. 

“We are currently assessing potential interim targets for 2030, and plan to announce this during 2021 once we have clarity on a range of dependent factors. This includes the trajectory of the post-pandemic recovery, the next phase of the EU Emissions Trading System and the global CORSIA scheme. 

“We have a clear Road-Map for how to achieve net zero in aviation through SAF, new cleaner aircraft and modernisation of airspace. The right action from government now on SAF in particular will have a marked effect on our ability to set and achieve ambitious interim targets for decarbonisation.”

Cait Hewitt, Deputy Director of UK environmental group the Aviation Environment Federation, said: “The CCC’s advice is clear: the government needs to call time on airport expansion. Zero-carbon aviation is currently an aspiration, not a reality, and while it’s right to pursue new technologies for cutting emissions, we can’t rely on these coming through fast enough to decarbonise the sector without also reducing aviation demand.

“Our analysis shows that current and planned UK airport expansions could increase aviation CO2 emissions by nearly 9 Mt a year in 2050 compared to a situation with no expansion.

“The aviation sector has taken a huge hit from the Covid pandemic but jobs per passenger had already been falling for many years. The government now needs to sharpen its focus on how to build the zero-carbon industries – and jobs – of the future.”

Photo: Heathrow Airport

“The European aviation sector believes that its recovery is fully compatible with, and should be accompanied by, broader efforts to reduce its environmental footprint, provided the right policies are in place,” say the authors of the ‘Aviation round table report on the recovery of European aviation’. “Therefore, the sector is committed to continue its efforts to reduce its negative environmental impacts, both locally and globally.”

However, they say, a bold strategy is firstly required for a sustainable recovery of the European aviation sector and to restore public confidence in air travel through effective coordination of travel restrictions and requirements by EU member states. The EU and member states should put in place a targeted European Aviation Relief Programme until the recovery of air traffic, advises the report, which the sector does not expect before 2024 or 2025. Support measures should aim to stabilise the sector and help prevent widescale loss of employment and air connectivity, it adds.

“The European aviation sector believes that its recovery is fully compatible with, and should be accompanied by, broader efforts to reduce its environmental footprint, provided the right policies are in place,” says the associations’ declaration. “Therefore, the sector is committed to continue its efforts to reduce its negative environmental impacts, both locally and globally. The latter implies in particular for all stakeholders and all policymakers to work together to achieve net zero CO2 emissions from all flights within and departing from the EU by 2050.”

The pact between the sector, stakeholders and government should chart a path towards the 2050 carbon neutral target with the aim of achieving significant emission reductions by 2030, in line with EU Climate Action objectives, states the document, and also consider the feasibility of making 2019 the peak year for CO2 emissions from European aviation, “while enabling the sector to continue delivering its social and economic benefits.”

The signatories say the pact should specify the supporting policy framework and financial mechanisms needed at EU level to achieve the goals. This includes an urgent need for a comprehensive EU legislative framework to promote the uptake and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) as well as the establishment of a green incentive scheme for fleet renewal coupled with retirement, and an increase in public co-funding for civil aviation research and innovation in fields such as electric propulsion and hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Recognition should also be given to the revision of the Single European Sky and the continuation of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) alongside the global CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme for international aviation.

A comprehensive SAF framework with a dedicated stable set of policy measures and public investment plans to boost European production and uptake would help accelerate aviation decarbonisation and contribute towards achieving the EU’s 2030 climate goals, say the report’s authors. Particular attention should also be given to the medium- and long-term potential for synthetic fuels to be scaled up.

Subject to meeting strict sustainability criteria, they say measures should include:

• Public investment (including possible ownership) in SAF production facilities enabling the necessary de-risking required to debt finance projects as well as the execution of offtake contracts with aircraft operators;
• Support to private investment in SAF production, for example through grants and/or loan guarantees;
• Support to R&D in new SAF feedstock and production pathways.

The industry also advocates a progressive EU-wide blending mandate that would enable the European aviation sector to gradually increase the use of SAF, based on strict sustainability criteria, without compromising its competitiveness.

The report estimates around 780 aircraft in European in-service fleets could be “early retired” and replaced by more modern and efficient aircraft, which it says has the potential to save up to 50 million tonnes of CO2 up until 2030. Fleet renewal coupled with retirement could be maintained through the implementation of a corresponding temporary and airline/aircraft operator non-market distorting co-financing EU incentive scheme, it recommends.

“Such a scheme could be a win-win for all stakeholders in the aviation ecosystem as it will help the aviation sector to recover from the Covid-19 crisis. Most importantly, it would have important environmental benefits in the short term.”

On market-based measures, the report says policymakers should ensure the continuation of aviation’s inclusion in the EU ETS and reforms to the scheme should be done in a complementary way to CORSIA, while avoiding distortion of competition for European aviation. It also calls for revenues collected through ETS allowances be ring-fenced and reinvested into aviation decarbonisation, for example through R&D funding or financial incentives to the deployment of SAF. By 2050, to achieve the net zero target, the report envisages any residual aviation emissions being removed from the atmosphere through offsetting involving natural carbon sinks, for example forests, or dedicated technologies such as carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS).

The report also recommends industry and governments should work together to facilitate multimodal choices of passengers to support the most efficient journeys across an integrated transport system and include multimodal ticketing and distribution. It also has proposals on the local impacts of aviation such as noise and air quality.

The drafters of the report included ACI Europe (airports), A4E (airlines), ERA (regional airlines), ASD (aerospace), CANSO (air traffic management), ECA (pilots) and ETF (transport trade unions).

One of the 20 signatories to the report is campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E), a longstanding critic of efforts so far to decarbonise aviation.

“We haven’t always been best friends with the aviation sector but we have signed this joint roundtable report,” said William Todts, President of T&E, during a session at this week’s virtual ACI Europe Congress and Assembly. “It wasn’t an easy decision but I genuinely believe there is a big opportunity to build back better. The airline industry is in a big crisis. It will ask and get additional support and we can use this as an opportunity to do much better.

“But we need to be clear what a sustainable recovery is and what it is not. It is not a return to 2019 with similar levels of growth, add a bit of biofuels and CORSIA, and it’s done. We’re looking for the type of change that’s taking place in the automotive industry where they are completely changing their factories, retraining their people and investing billions of euros. That’s what we are going to have to see in the aviation industry but I’m really hopeful that the sustainability pact that we are jointly calling for will create a framework and set ambitious goals. We all need to work together.

“There are three elements that are very important. Firstly, it is essential we scale up clean new fuels and we need to focus on those fuels that are sustainable and scalable. First generation biofuels are not sustainable and the problem with advanced biofuels is they are not scalable, so we need to focus on those we can scale up, such as e-fuels. This will save us a lot of trouble down the road. Secondly, we need a lot more innovation in this sector. It’s exciting that Airbus are promising us hydrogen aircraft by 2035 but we don’t have any means to hold them accountable. That’s not the way it works in the automotive sector – targets are set and binding. Thirdly, we will need to have a discussion about tax. It’s going to be hard to have untaxed fossil kerosene in a net-zero world.

“There has been a lot of fighting between civil society and the aviation industry but we now have an opportunity for the industry to emerge very differently from this crisis. It’s going to be a big change.”

The European Commission’s Executive Vice President, Margrethe Vestager, said the report provided important food for thought both for immediate issues and forward-looking challenges.

Added Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean: “I welcome this report from the aviation sector and civil society on what is needed to rebuild passengers’ trust, and for the recovery of this hard-hit sector, which remains critical for global supply chains and people’s mobility. It offers a vision of how to make the sector stronger, more sustainable and more forward-looking than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. I applaud the commitment to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, and the proposal to create a pact for social sustainability. This is fully in line with our ambitions for the future growth of the EU.”

In the UK, meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week unveiled a 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution to help achieve the government’s net-zero emissions by 2050 pledge. One of the 10 actions is to support difficult to decarbonise industries such as aviation through research projects for zero-emission planes. The government recently set up a Jet Zero Council with high-level representatives from the sector.

Ahead of the government announcement, the industry coalition group Sustainable Aviation had called for support in three areas it considered critical to achieving net zero flight: the delivery of a UK SAF industry; making electric, hybrid and hydrogen powered aircraft a reality through the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute; and the completion of airspace modernisation. Targeted loan guarantees and the provision of capital grants would be critical, they said, to delivering first-of-a-kind SAF plants that could lead to up to 14 UK plants generating sustainable fuel from household and industrial waste by the middle 2030s.

Welcoming the government plan, the Chair of Sustainable Aviation, Adam Morton, said: “It is particularly encouraging that Jet Zero is identified as one of the priority areas. Through this investment and the work of the newly formed Jet Zero Council, UK aviation has the potential to lead the world in developing and deploying cutting edge technologies such as sustainable aviation fuel.

“SAF technology is available now, can be used in existing engines and aircraft, and its production overlaps strongly with the regions that have been earmarked for hydrogen and CCUS projects. However, follow-up action is needed urgently to stimulate the required private sector investment and remove obstacles to deployment. Over the longer term, these synthetic fuels will be joined by electric and hydrogen propulsion as part of a package to deliver net zero flight.”

Following its flight from Cranfield University’s airfield, ZeroAvia is now planning the next and final stage of its six-seat development programme with a 250-mile zero-emission flight out of an airfield in Orkney, Scotland before the end of this year.

The programme in the UK is part-funded through the UK government’s Aerospace Technology Institute, which is supporting the HyFlyer project that aims to decarbonise medium-range small passenger aircraft by demonstrating powertrain technology to replace conventional piston engine in propeller aircraft. As well as Protium, other partners in the project include the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and Intelligent Energy. The latter is optimising its high-power fuel cell technology for application in aviation while EMEC, producers of green hydrogen from renewable energy, is supplying the hydrogen required for flight testing and developing a mobile refuelling platform compatible with the plane.

ZeroAvia has joined the UK’s Jet Zero Council, a government and industry partnership launched by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this summer to drive net-zero ambitions for the UK aviation and aerospace sector. Along with government ministers, the Council is made up of representatives from the aviation industry, investor groups and an NGO, and will be chaired by the UK’s Transport Secretary and Business Secretary. The full list of Council members has now been published by the government.

The principal aims of the body are to:

• Develop and industrialise zero-emission aviation and aerospace technologies;
• Establish UK production facilities for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and commercialising the industry by driving down production costs; and
• Develop a coordinated approach to the policy and regulatory framework needed to deliver net zero aviation by 2050.

“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges faced by modern society, and we know we need to go further and faster if we are to make businesses sustainable long into the future,” said Aviation Minister Robert Courts. “That’s why we’re bringing together government, business and investors to reduce emissions in the aviation sector. Through innovative technologies such as sustainable fuels, hybrid and eventually electric planes, we will build a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future for all.”

Sustainable Aviation (SA), which committed in February to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, believes a UK SAF industry could add £2.9 billion ($3.7bn) annually to the economy, create 20,000 jobs in SAF production and export services, and deliver savings of 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2038. The industry group is calling for £500 million ($640m) in government funding, made up of £429 million in government-backed loan guarantees for the initial first-of-its-kind SAF production facilities, £50 million in grants and development support for new SAF technologies, and £21 million to establish a UK clearing house to enable SAF testing and approval.

The SA-commissioned research undertaken by energy consultancy E4tech showed 14 SAF production facilities could be built in seven industrial clusters situated in Teesside, Humberside, North West England, South Wales, Southampton, St Fergus and Grangemouth, Scotland. Humberside is the intended location for the Altalto waste-to-jet-fuel facility proposed by Velocys and backed by British Airways and Shell, which is expected to be the first in the UK to produce SAF.

“The research shows that it is possible to deliver on the government’s Jet Zero ambition and transform aviation using readily available feedstocks, innovative technology and existing aircraft,” commented Henrik Wareborn, CEO of Velocys. “With Altalto, the Humber could fuel this transformation, cutting carbon and creating jobs in the process. As a key cluster for the development of this new domestic industry, the region has a fantastic opportunity to establish itself as the global hub for fuelling future air travel.”

Added Adam Morton, Chair of Sustainable Aviation: “Sustainable aviation fuels will be essential for the global aviation industry in a net zero world and the UK has a golden opportunity to become a world-leader by commercialising this technology at an early stage.

“There are enormous benefits in terms of jobs and growth across these clusters. By backing SAF in this way, the government can kickstart a green recovery and create high-quality and futureproof jobs for thousands of people. All of this can be delivered at the same time as slashing carbon emissions.”

Speaking at a cross-party parliamentary debate he called to discuss the work of the Jet Zero Council, Andrew Selous MP said: “We should harness our huge strength in aviation technology and engineering to find new solutions to allow us to fly without wrecking the planet.

“We also need to ensure that the United Kingdom is at the forefront of sustainable aviation, so that the high-skilled, high-wage jobs of the future are provided here. We cannot leave this to chance, as has unfortunately happened with other technologies in the past.”

Responded Aviation Minister Robert Courts: “Britain has always led the way on aviation, and we will continue to do so. There is a huge prize in sight: developing the sector that meets the challenges of the future, and we will be front and centre, capturing those first mover advantages.”

Commenting after the debate, Morton said: “The support from a broad range of MPs from right across the political landscape is testament to this crucial issue. It’s so important to see this coalition come together to back early stage sustainable aviation fuel facilities.”

The next meeting of the Jet Zero Council is due to take place at the end of this month, which Sustainable Aviation said would be an opportunity for government and industry to discuss and make progress on accelerating the development of early-stage SAF facilities.

The only environmental group represented on the Council is the Aviation Environment Federation. Its Director, Tim Johnson, said: “Some government support and incentive for sustainable aviation fuel R&D is reasonable, and happens already, but that helps to accelerate bringing a product to market. But once at market, the question is scaling up and getting it into the fleet. The quid pro quo must therefore be that industry accepts it can’t rely on voluntary approaches and market forces, which hasn’t really worked to date for SAF because it doesn’t create certainty for investors – and that governments must regulate and introduce effective carbon pricing that ensures uptake.”

Photo: ZeroAvia’s Piper M-class retrofitted aircraft undertakes first hydrogen flight

CAE first revealed its carbon neutral ambitions late last year. “We wanted to honour our pre-pandemic commitment and up our contribution now – a testament to CAE’s environmental leadership and engagement towards future generations,” said the company’s CEO, Marc Parent.

“This is a bold achievement and we hope that CAE’s commitment in the fight against climate change will inspire other companies to take tangible actions today. We are also working with the industry towards the development of electric aircraft and undertaking other measures to reduce our overall emissions.”

Parent announced the carbon neutral decision in a live virtual Q&A discussion on the environment with employees and their children.

CAE said it would offset emissions by buying RECs in the countries where it operates and funding greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction projects such as wind energy in India and forest preservation in Canada.

According to CAE’s latest CSR report, direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions by the company amounted to 25,213 tCO2e in 2019, with Scope 1 and 2 location-based emissions totalling 87,825 tCO2e and Scope 1 and 2 market-based emissions totalling 80,550 tCO2e.

The Quebec-headquartered company had revenues of $3.3 billion in 2019 and employs 10,000 people at 160 sites and training locations in 35 countries. It trains 220,000 civil and defence crewmembers each year, including 135,000 pilots, and has over 300 airline and major business aircraft customers.

“This is a step in the right direction to ensure a green economic recovery in Quebec,” commented Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec Minister of Economy and Innovation. “This achievement demonstrates the real dynamism of our aerospace industry while confirming that Quebec remains a good place to make major investments in the environment and in innovation projects.”

Added Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Navdeep Bains: “I am pleased to see Canadian companies demonstrating their leadership in the fight against climate change by working towards the green recovery of our aerospace industry.”

Photo: CAE’s Marc Parent discusses carbon neutrality with employees and their children