Ongoing emissions from
… aviation growth
FLIGHTS
• Aviation operational gains offset by industry growth
https://www.adsadvance.co.uk/aviation-operational-gains-offset-by-industry-growth.html
• Airline emissions in Europe top pre-Covid levels despite pledge to decarbonise
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/08/airline-emissions-in-europe-top-pre-covid-levels-despite-pledge-to-decarbonise
• Aviation emissions are on the rise again in Europe: low-cost airlines are under fire
https://www.eunews.it/en/2026/05/08/aviation-emissions-are-on-the-rise-again-in-europe-low-cost-airlines-are-under-fire/
• Flying blind: European aviation hits new emissions high
https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/flying-blind-european-aviation-hits-new-emissions-high
• IBA Shows Carbon Intensity Dip but Emissions Still Rising
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2026-05-19/iba-shows-carbon-intensity-dip-emissions-still-rising
• Revealed: huge climate cost of harmful emissions from US immigration flights
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/26/us-immigration-flights-emissions
FREQUENT FLYERS
• The role of high-socioeconomic-status people in locking in or rapidly reducing energy-driven greenhouse gas emissions
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00900-y
AIRPORTS
• Top 5 Airports Driving Global Aviation Emissions as Expansion Fuels Climate Risks
https://carboncredits.com/top-5-airports-driving-global-aviation-emissions-as-expansion-fuels-climate-risks/
• Modernizing aviation policy is critical—outdated regulations risk constraining global air travel growth
https://aci.aero/2026/05/05/modernizing-aviation-policy-is-critical-outdated-regulations-risk-constraining-global-air-travel-growth/
• Aviation emissions concentrated at handful of major airports
https://carbon-pulse.com/511239/
… non-CO2 emissions
• EU upgrades platform to track aviation’s non-CO2 climate impact
https://carbon-pulse.com/507734/
… greenwashed fuels and engines
On a planet already dangerously hot, just stopping new emissions won’t make us safe. The CO2 already in the atmosphere must also be cut. So using existing CO2 — whether in plants (biofuel), in waste, or via Direct Air Capture combined with hydrogen electrically extracted from water (e-fuels) — to create new CO2 emissions, the so called net zero, carbon neutral technologies and pathways, is totally counterproductive. As are offsets for the same reason.
‘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.
• WSU study offers realistic look at the future of sustainable aviation fuel
https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2026/05/26/wsu-study-offers-realistic-look-at-the-future-of-sustainable-aviation-fuel/
• Canola Crop-Based SAF Shows Up to 55% Emissions Reduction Potential in Brazil
https://www.seedworld.com/latam/2026/05/01/canola-crop-based-saf-shows-up-to-55-emissions-reduction-potential-in-brazil/
• Kenya Airways and Rubis Energy to establish dedicated sustainable aviation fuel refinery
https://decarbonisationtechnology.com/news/2784/kenya-airways-and-rubis-energy-to-establish-dedicated-sustainable-aviation-fuel-refinery
• Sweden proposes national action plan for sustainable aviation and maritime fuels
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/sweden-proposes-national-action-plan-8670872/
• Sustainable aviation fuel: The future of low-carbon flight
https://www.dhl.com/global-en/delivered/responsibility/sustainable-aviation-fuel-low-carbon-flight.html
• From Waste to Wing: Using Renewable Natural Gas to Produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel
https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/blog/from-waste-to-wing-using-renewable-natural-gas-to-produce-sustainable-aviation-fuel/
• SAF ‘most viable solution’ for aviation in short term – Shell
https://www.h2-tech.com/articles/2022/q4-2022/hydrogen-economist/saf-most-viable-solution-for-aviation-in-short-term-shell/
• Indian Oil and M11 Energy launch Paradip sustainable aviation fuel plant in major green push
https://sustainability.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/green-tech/indian-oil-and-m11-energy-launch-paradip-sustainable-aviation-fuel-plant-in-major-green-push/131217711
• RAF to spend £1bn switching to sustainable jet fuel
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/23/royal-air-force-sustainable-aviation-fuel-mandate-cost/
• BBVA, HSBC & the Race to Crack Sustainable Aviation Fuel
https://energydigital.com/news/bbva-1-5bn-deal-backs-aviation-saf-goals
• Alternative fuels for aviation (CAD or SAF): The paths to sustainable production
https://www.capgemini.com/ca-en/insights/research-library/alternative-fuels-for-aviation/
• U.S. Sustainable Aviation Fuel Ambitions Meet Major Hurdles
https://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=2FA3ED64-DDAB-4AE3-A650-F880001352CB
• Pragmatic assessment of meeting the 2030 U.S. sustainable aviation fuel goal
https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/271477/1-s2.0-S0961953425X00131/1-s2.0-S0961953425009274/main.pdf
… delusional reduction scenarios
NET ZERO 2050
Net zero emissions by 2050 allows ongoing emissions and subtracts from them carbon drawdown needed to cool an already dangerously hot planet.
• Aviation’s Net-Zero Journey: Time for Hard Choices and Bold Commitment Juan Carlos Salazar, Secretary General, ICAO
https://www.icao.int/news/aviations-net-zero-journey-time-hard-choices-and-bold-commitment-juan-carlos-salazar-secretary
• Temasek likely to miss 2030 climate target dragged by aviation, energy investments
https://www.top1000funds.com/news/temasek-likely-to-miss-2030-climate-target-dragged-by-aviation-energy-investments/
CARBON CREDITS AND 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. When the planet is already dangerously hot, offsets steal carbon drawdown needed to cool the planet to excuse further emissions.
• Boeing Buys 20,000 Tonnes of Permanent Carbon Removal as Aviation Faces Net-Zero Pressure
https://carboncredits.com/boeing-buys-20000-tonnes-of-permanent-carbon-removal-as-aviation-faces-net-zero-pressure/
• Corsia market fragments as ‘EU-eligible’ EEUs offered
https://www.qcintel.com/carbon/article/analysis-corsia-market-fragments-as-eu-eligible-eeus-offered-64040.html
• BURN Wins DRC Authorization To Sell Cookstove Carbon Credits To Aviation Market
• Tighter EU CORSIA carbon credit criteria could exclude vast majority of cookstoves from European buyers
https://carbon-pulse.com/509777/
• The U.N.’s Plan for Reducing Airline Emissions Is Flawed
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-u-n-s-plan-for-reducing-airline-emissions-is-flawed-ef1ec6e5
• Zimbabwe dispute over CORSIA credit eligibility has wider implications for up-and-coming national registries
https://carbon-pulse.com/512932/
• Climate scientists heap praise on BACSWN’s world-first aviation platform
https://www.tribune242.com/news/2026/may/20/climate-scientists-heap-praise-on-bacswns-world-first-aviation-platform/
• Why the EU’s new aviation policy could reignite debate on carbon markets
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-economics/aviation-policy-eu-carbon-market-10699883/
• Airline urges Asia to scale up CORSIA supply to keep climate finance in region
https://carbon-pulse.com/516327/
• Lufthansa, IAG and Air France-KLM each exposed to €1.5bn-plus in EU carbon costs, analysis shows
https://www.ft.com/content/45620849-93b9-484b-8615-53eba76ea03c?syn-25a6b1a6=1
DIRECT AIR CAPTURE
• Direct air capture has substantial health and climate opportunity costs
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44458-026-00068-0
SO-CALLED EFFICIENCIES
• Business Jet Emissions Go Beyond Aircraft Choice
https://aviationjeta.com/business-jet-emissions-fuel-burn-saf/
• How Air Europa is Approaching Emissions Reduction
https://www.cirium.com/thoughtcloud/how-air-europa-is-approaching-emissions-reduction/
• Nigerian minister says 5 priorities crucial for African aviation growth
https://apanews.net/nigerian-minister-says-5-priorities-crucial-for-african-aviation-growth/
• Cirium’s airline emissions efficiency annual rankings highlight importance of younger fleets
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=9038
Airframe design
• And now for something completely different
https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2026/05/and-now-for-something-completely-different/
• The aviation industry’s carbon emissions could potentially be halved through efficiency improvements such as eliminating business and first class.
https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20260510-air-transport-efficiency-halve-emissions/#gsc.tab=0
Flight paths
• How flying in a geese formation could save carbon emissions
https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/latest/how-flying-in-a-geese-formation-could-save-carbon-emissions
Counting emissions
• How to offset flight emissions: calculator, guide and best practice
https://ecologi.com/resources/blog/how-to-offset-flight-emissions-calculator-guide-and-best-practice
Stopping emissions by
… stopping flying
PUBLIC OPPOSITION
• Red lines for airports
https://open.substack.com/pub/reddmonitor/p/red-lines-for-airports
… fuel supply shortages
THE WAR ON IRAN
• Two million airline seats cut amid soaring jet fuel prices
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/05/airline-seats-cut-jet-fuel-prices
• Heathrow passenger numbers dip as demand for international travel ebbs amid Iran war fallout
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/11/heathrow-passenger-numbers-dip-as-demand-for-international-travel-ebbs-amid-iran-war-fallout
• Totally grounded? How the jet fuel crisis could change our holidays – and world history
… fiscal measures
• Why Aviation Fuel Remains Untaxed: Legal Barriers to Aviation Fuel Taxation
https://alexandria.unisg.ch/entities/publication/3e67a67d-1c68-4462-81ab-6c4e21976796
https://alexandria.unisg.ch/server/api/core/bitstreams/2875098c-81a2-4f37-aa68-7fd636d19be6/content
The climate emergency
• ‘It’s no longer exceptional’: Karachi struggles under brutal new reality of extreme heat
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/17/its-no-longer-exceptional-karachi-struggles-under-brutal-new-reality-of-extreme-heat
• Australia backs landmark UN climate change ruling as others try to block it
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-21/australia-backs-united-nations-climate-change-ruling/106705694
• Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is not the climate guy you thought
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/21/mark-carney-climate-canada
• Turning a blind eye to climate risk threatens derailment
https://pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/05/turning-a-blind-eye-to-climate-risk-threatens-derailment/
• Climate crisis is accelerating antibiotic resistance across world, study says
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/26/climate-crisis-accelerating-antibiotic-resistance-across-world-salmonella-study
