To achieve carbon net zero 2050 target government should halve planned flight growth

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

In order to hit the target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 the government has been asked to halve the flight growth plans.

A letter to the Transport Minister Grant Shapps by the official advisors to the Committee on Climate Change published a letter which highlighted the changes required to meet the aviation industry goal.

The aviation emissions could be reduced through improvements to fuel efficiency and the use of sustainable biofuels along with a cap of no more than 25 percent more flights than current level s to achieve the net zeros according to the CCC.

At the moment the government’s plans for twice the increase.

As per the letter there could be bigger reductions with new fuels like the synthetic carbon-neutral kerosene and algal biofuels. The current airport capacity strategy should be assessed by the ministers.

The CCC stated that the aviation is likely to be the largest emitting sector in the UK by 2050, even with strong progress on technology and limiting demand.Aviation also has climate warming effects beyond CO2, which it will be important to monitor and consider within future policies.

The call for a curb on the rapid expansion of the aviation industry has been welcomed by other organisations.

Cait Hewitt, deputy director at the Aviation Environment Federation said that  British people currently take more international flights than anyone else in the world, but there’s a growing public recognition that this feels out of step with the action we need to take on climate change, and two-thirds of Britons say they support limiting air travel to address the climate crisis.

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