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Take off: Carbon removals and sustainable fuels on the runway to net-zero aviation

  • Ted Christie-Miller
    Director of Carbon Removal
  • Sofía Ordozgoiti
    Research Associate
  • Carbon Removal
  • Net Zero
Aviation is a high-emitting industry, which is set to grow in emissions over the next three decades. It is one of the “high-hanging fruits” of decarbonisation because of the lack of mature technological solutions for decarbonisation. The key decarbonisation solutions for aviation are SAFs and engineered carbon removal solutions. Both solutions are nascent and expensive, but if the innovation curve can be climbed, the costs will come down. If we fail to bring down the costs of these technologies, consumers will be hit hard.

Here are some key takeaways from the report

  • In a case study of three airlines, the majority of credits bought to date have been on credits with low or a moderately low likelihood of achieving a tonne of carbon removed or avoided (BeZero Carbon Rating of C, B and BB).

  • If we fail to bring down costs of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) and engineered carbon removal credits, tickets could be 230% higher in 2050.

  • Up to 3.4 gigatonnes of carbon may need to be removed by 2050 to counterbalance non-CO₂ emissions from aviation. Engineered carbon removal currently removes around 2 megatonnes of carbon a year.

Contents

  • 01 The Challenge

  • 02 The Path Ahead

  • 03 Conclusion

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