Advanced BioFuels USA

(GreenAir Online)  The UK’s aviation industry has set new interim decarbonisation targets on its way to a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The sector’s Sustainable Aviation group, with members from airlines, airports, manufacturers and air navigation service providers, has announced a minimum overall 15% reduction in net emissions by 2030 and 40% by 2040 relative to 2019. The industry estimates gross emissions from UK aviation totalled 37.4 million tonnes (Mt) in 2019 but reduced to a net 31.4 Mt through market-based measures such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). UK aviation emissions fell to around 9.1 Mt in 2020 as a result of Covid but a traffic rebound is expected to see gross emissions from unabated traffic growth accelerate past 2019 levels by 2024 to reach 41.5 Mt by 2030. In addition to in-sector technology, sustainable fuel and operational efficiency developments, reaching the 2030 and 2040 targets will rely heavily on the industry funding carbon removals elsewhere through emissions trading, offsetting and carbon capture.

However, the industry is confident the ramping up of “game-changing” sustainable aviation fuel production and use, along with emerging low and zero carbon technologies such as electric and hydrogen powered aircraft, will become mainstream in the 2030s and increase the pace of decarbonisation. In view of this, Sustainable Aviation has started to update the sector’s Decarbonisation Road Map, first published in 2020, which the group expects to demonstrate even faster potential to reduce emissions through technology innovation.

…

SA has laid out five areas that it sees as critical to reaching the net zero goal:

1. Key policies this year to deliver a commercial UK sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry by providing an urgent demand signal and price support. This could deliver up to 14 UK plants generating SAF from household and industrial waste by the middle 2030s and supporting at least a 32% reduction in emissions from UK aviation by 2050.
2. A positive, long-term signal for investment in aerospace technology and the development of hybrid, electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft through increased and extended funding for the Aerospace Technology Institute.
3. The completion of airspace modernisation that would generate significant carbon savings.
4. Policies that incentivise the commercialisation of carbon removal technologies that enable carbon neutral or carbon negative aviation fuel, allowing the aviation industry to address any remaining residual emissions.
5. The UK government “to seek a more robust international commitment for aviation carbon reduction at the ICAO Assembly in 2022, ensuring emissions are reduced across the globe and not exported from the UK.”

…

However, to reach the 15% net reduction target, 9.3 Mt will have to come from offsetting, emissions trading or funding carbon removal technologies. To reach the 2040 interim target of a 40% net emissions reduction will require the UK aviation sector to fund 16.7 Mt of carbon removals.  READ MORE