Flights and the aviation industry are important topics that stir up conversations in the sustainability space, and there’s no denying it’s a carbon intensive activity. After all, a significant amount (around 2%) of global CO2 emissions is estimated to come from aviation.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak recently came under fire for choosing to fly to Scotland in a private jet alongside his announcement to ramp up North Sea oil and gas licences.
“Every prime minister before me has also used planes to travel around the United Kingdom because it is an efficient use of time for the person running the country so I can keep focusing on delivering for people,” Sunak said defensively.
“But if your approach to climate change is to say no one should go on a holiday, no one should [go on] a plane, I think you are completely and utterly wrong – that is absolutely not the approach to tackling climate change,” he added.
The issue doesn’t lay so much with commercial flights, but private jets. The former chairman of the Climate Change Committee Lord Deben stressed his concerns, as the UK is the country with largest number of private aeroplane take-offs.
“Private aeroplanes are polluting more than any other aeroplanes,” Lord Deben said. “Why on earth don’t we restrict those rather than restricting the sort of plane which takes people on a well-deserved holiday?”
To reach net zero air travel targets by 2050, the UK government is investing ££218 million into green aerospace technology.
The funding will go towards developing new landing gear, lower carbon and more efficient aircraft wings, engines and sensors, and will be delivered through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme.
To go some way towards countering the current concerns, airlines have been looking at creating greener ways to travel…
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Virgin Atlantic: 100% sustainable aviation fuel
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it will fly its first plane fuelled by 100% sustainable aviation fuel across the Atlantic in November 2023, pending regulatory approvals.
The aviation fuel typically delivers CO2 lifecycle emissions savings of more than 70% while performing like the traditional jet fuel it replaces. Today, sustainable aviation fuel represents less than 0.1% of jet fuel volumes and fuel standards allow for just a 50% SAF blend in commercial jet engines.
Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Wiess said sustainable aviation fuel is the “most readily available way” for the aviation industry to decarbonise, “but currently there’s not enough supply and without it and the radical collaboration required to produce it, we can’t meet our 2030 targets.”
easyJet: fuel-efficient technology
easyJet is also making sustainable changes to its fuel, as it recently announced that one-fifth of its fleet now consists of more fuel efficient technology called NEO.
The A320neo Family aircraft use around 15% less fuel than their equivalent predecessors, and have up to 50% noise reduction at take-off, landing and while taxiing.
easyJet chief operating officer David Morgan said adaptation of efficient aviation technology is the “single biggest contributor to reducing emissions in the short term and the roll-out of new neo aircraft is a key part of this.”
An integral part of its roadmap to net zero will be to phase out its older Airbus A320ceo Family aircraft out over time and replace it with the new-technology aircraft, which are at least 15% more fuel efficient and see up to 50% noise reduction upon taxiing, take-off and landing.
Ecojet: Britain’s first electric airline
Britain’s first electric airline Ecojet is expected to hit the runway in early 2024. The planes will run on kerosene fuel before utilising engines that can convert green hydrogen into electricity.
Green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince hopes the airline will commence with 19-seater planes that can take 300 mile journeys and will be served by staff who wear environmentally-friendly uniforms. Vince told the Guardian: “We want to prove that one of the last frontiers [of decarbonisation] can be broken and it’s not insolvable”.
“A lot of people seem to think that people who are eco-conscious want everyone to live a life of self-denial in a cave. Green living is not about giving things up – everything we like to have in this life can be done in a net zero life.”
Vince also said he wasn’t completely satisfied to be beginning the aviation project in a manner that required fossil fuels but said that this was due to the airline needing to launch quickly to secure slots and “keep up momentum”.
