Ongoing emissions from…
Demand growth
• Green air travel is still decades away. Here’s why
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/green-air-travel-is-still-decades-away-here-s-why-1.5939159
• British Airways named second biggest air polluter
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ba-second-biggest-air-polluter-emissions-3xxwkcjh2
FLIGHT DISCOUNTS
• UK set to cut air passenger duty on domestic flights
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/10/uk-set-to-cut-air-passenger-duty-on-domestic-flights
• New ICCT study finds low-cost carriers driving 90% of US airline CO2 emissions growth
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2021/03/20210326-icctlcc.html
BAILOUTS
• Half price flights on offer as Australia aims to boost regional tourism with 800,000 travellers
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/11/half-price-flights-on-offer-as-australia-aims-to-boost-regional-tourism-with-800000-travellers
TOURISM
• For planet Earth, no tourism is a curse and a blessing
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/travel/covid-pandemic-environmental-impact.html
Flightpath based reductions
• Can high-tech weather forecasting reduce aviation emissions?
https://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=118
Fuel based reductions
“SUSTAINABLE” AVIATION FUELS
The aviation industry uses marketing greenwash and accounting tricks to mislead you into thinking that actual flight emissions from ‘Sustainable’ Aviation Fuel (SAF) are a fraction of those from fossil jet fuel. A jet never burns pure SAF, so a common 50:50 blend with fossil jet fuel doubles claimed emissions. And actual flight CO2 emissions are additionally more than claimed, by the amount of CO2 drawn down in making the fuel. Furthermore SAF still creates non-CO2 emissions twice as warming as actual flight CO2 emissions.
• US airlines commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050
https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transport/us-airlines-commit-to-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2050/143121.article
• Aviation is plotting a sustainable course
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/aviation-plotting-sustainable-course
• A350 recruited for emissions analysis of wholly-sustainable fuel flights
https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transport/a350-recruited-for-emissions-analysis-of-wholly-sustainable-fuel-flights/142956.article
• Airbus and others flies its first 100% Sustainable Aviation fuel flight
https://economyclassandbeyond.boardingarea.com/2021/03/20/airbus-and-others-flies-its-first-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel-flight/
• Solving aviation issue may mean a return to ‘Think Big’
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/climate-emergency/solving-aviation-issue-may-mean-a-return-to-think-big
• The holy grail of aviation: net-zero flights ‘on the horizon’, say scientists
https://www.positive.news/science/net-zero-flights-on-the-horizon-say-scientists/
• Air Canada sets new net zero emissions goals
https://www.aviationtoday.com/2021/03/16/air-canada-sets-new-net-zero-emissions-goals/
• Airlines using sustainable fuels have a competitive disadvantage
https://simpleflying.com/airline-sustainable-fuel-disadvantage/
• NGOs and aviation sector call for long-haul emissions to be covered by EU’s Sustainable Aviation Fuels mandate
https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/ngos-and-aviation-sector-call-long-haul-emissions-be-covered-eu’s-sustainable-aviation-fuels
• Palm oil to be used in sustainable aviation fuel production
https://biofuels-news.com/news/palm-oil-to-be-used-in-sustainable-aviation-fuel-production/
• Europe seeks alliance with U.S. to tackle aviation emissions
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-eu-aviation/europe-seeks-alliance-with-u-s-to-tackle-aviation-emissions-idUSKBN2B81RU
• Up, up and away — with jet fuel powered by food scraps
https://www.conservation.org/blog/up-up-and-away-with-jet-fuel-powered-by-food-scraps-3-stories-you-may-have-missed
• The race to jet zero – is emission-free transatlantic air travel really possible?
https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/the-race-to-jet-zero-is-emissionfree-crossatlantic-air-travel-really-possible
• Air Canada goes in for long-term green
https://www.cargoforwarder.eu/2021/03/21/air-canada-goes-in-for-long-term-green/
• TU Eindhoven leads EU funded project to produce sustainable aviation fuel
https://sciencebusiness.net/network-updates/tu-eindhoven-leads-eu-funded-project-produce-sustainable-aviation-fuel
• EPA implements Clean Air Act authority to finalize greenhouse gas emission standards for aircraft
https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2021/02/epa-implements-clean-air-act-authority-to-finalize-greenhouse-gas-emission-standards-for-aircraft
HYDROGEN
Burning hydrogen fuel still creates non-CO2 emissions twice as warming as avoided flight CO2 emissions, and generating enough CO2 emissions-free hydrogen will use more than all the renewable electricity currently generated.
• Revolutionary hydrogen technology unveiled that could unlock the emerging hydrogen aviation market
https://www.h2-view.com/story/revolutionary-hydrogen-technology-unveiled-that-could-unlock-the-emerging-hydrogen-aviation-market/
• Hydrogen powered aviation
https://www.fch.europa.eu/publications/hydrogen-powered-aviation
• Aviation’s hydrogen targets tied to a renewables ‘ecosystem’
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2021-03-24/aviations-hydrogen-targets-tied-renewables-ecosystem
• COVID-19 and pathways to low-carbon air transport until 2050
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abe90b
ELECTRIC
• Zero-emission aviation to take off in Norway from 2026
https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/13/zero-emission-aviation-to-take-off-in-norway-from-2026
• Rolls-Royce electric plane taxis towards world electric speed record
https://thedriven.io/2021/03/10/rolls-royce-electric-plane-taxis-towards-world-electric-speed-record/
• Will a British bioelectric hybrid plane really take off?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/18/will-a-british-bioelectric-hybrid-plane-really-take-off
Paper-based reductions
OFFSETS
When all sectors need to reduce their emissions to zero, the aviation industry buys/offsets the reductions of others in order to grow its own emissions.
• iAero Group Drives Sustainability In The Aviation Industry By Being The First To Provide 100% Carbon Neutral Air Charter Flights
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iaero-group-drives-sustainability-in-the-aviation-industry-by-being-the-first-to-provide-100-carbon-neutral-air-charter-flights-301248835.html
• Aviation industry carbon scheme highly flawed, Brussels warned
https://www.ft.com/content/296121c6-1af5-4ef4-b674-c3389b6de33c
• FedEx commits to carbon-neutral operations by 2040
https://simpleflying.com/fedex-carbon-netural-2040/
• What is FedEx doing about climate change?
https://qz.com/1981406/what-is-fedex-doing-about-climate-change/
• Qantas: non-stop flights to London, New York to be carbon neutral
https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-non-stop-flights-to-london-new-york-to-be-carbon-neutral
• Eugene airport joins program letting passengers buy carbon footprint-balancing offsets
https://www.aviationpros.com/airports/news/21215275/eugene-airport-joins-program-letting-passengers-buy-carbon-footprintbalancing-offsets
Stopping emissions through…
Demand reduction
TOURISM
• COVID-19 travel restrictions around the world: One third of all countries now closed to tourists
https://www.traveller.com.au/covid19-travel-restrictions-around-the-world-one-third-of-all-countries-now-closed-to-tourists-h1up7x
FLIGHT TAXES
• Why green taxes aren’t the answer to aviation emissions
https://simpleflying.com/aviation-emissions-green-taxes/
• Charge more for flights to deter tourists and help the planet, says Air New Zealand adviser
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/09/charge-more-for-flights-to-deter-tourists-and-help-the-planet-says-air-nz-adviser
• Make flights to New Zealand more expensive to deter tourists, says aviation adviser
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/new-zealand-flight-price-climate-jonathan-porritt-b1814536.html
Protest
EX-PILOTS
• Meet the pilots who gave up flying to fight climate change
https://www.euronews.com/living/2021/03/24/meet-the-pilots-who-gave-up-flying-to-fight-climate-change
Halting infrastructure expansion
AIRPORTS
• Airport project near Lisbon grounded. Next stop: a plan for a just and rapid reduction of aviation
https://www.climaximo.pt/2021/03/02/airport-project-near-lisbon-grounded-next-stop-a-plan-for-a-just-and-rapid-reduction-of-aviation/
• International climate scientists join call to halt Leeds Bradford airport expansion
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/04/international-climate-scientists-join-call-to-halt-leeds-bradford-airport-expansion
• Why airports could become stranded assets
https://energymonitor.ai/sector/transport/why-airports-could-become-stranded-assets
Alternatives to flight
VIDEO CONFERENCING
• Do you really need to fly?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/opinion/business-travel-videoconferencing.html
RAIL
• Why New Zealand should invest in smart rail before green hydrogen to decarbonise transport
https://theconversation.com/why-new-zealand-should-invest-in-smart-rail-before-green-hydrogen-to-decarbonise-transport-153075
• Gen Z’s high-speed rail meme dream, explained
https://www.vox.com/2021/3/10/22303355/gen-z-high-speed-rail-biden-map-meme-buttigieg
• European public opinion poll shows support for shifting flights to rail
https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/2021-03-26_EU%20Rail_polling%20report_final-1.pdf
