(Dassie Persaud-van der Westhuizen)
My nascent airline career may have been halted by the COVID-19 pandemic – but it will restart. A question that bothers me in the meanwhile is whether airlines will be able survive the pressure by the environmentalists who love to use air travel – and its conspicuous vapour trails – as the whipping boy for global warming.
Perhaps it’s time to apologise to the greenies, tree-huggers, climate-hawks and whatever other names you secretly called them. They were right; Global warming is real, and humans are on track to messing up the earth for good.
With only a few years left to make unrecognisable changes in every industry around the world – to meet environmental targets laid out in global agreements, such as the Paris Agreement – the clock is ticking. And the aviation industry recently decided to stop twiddling its thumbs and get involved, despite not having been included in these arrangements originally.
Maybe you’ve started to notice signs of the impending extreme weather crisis – like the increasing wildfires abroad, droughts preventing refreshing showers in your beach house in Cape Town, and wilder weather in general. So, the goal of the Paris Agreement is to combat this trend and prevent irrecoverable damage by capping the global temperature increase at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the year 2050.
The aviation industry accounts for at least 2% of global CO2 emissions. As the industry continues to grow (as it did in those ‘good-old-days’ before COVID-19), so will the industry’s contribution to total CO2 emissions by burning fossil fuels. The problem is that the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere contributes to global warming, which in turn leads to climate change.
Airlines need to burn less fuel for each person carried.
What is the aviation industry’s plan of action to tackle its CO2 emissions? It wasn’t easy to make one. How can CO2 emissions from a particular international flight, for example, be assigned to a single country?
In the end, ICAO created a Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). It’s a three-phase strategy: Firstly, fuel efficiency should have improved by 1.5% each year from 2009 – 2015. Then CO2 emissions are capped at 2020 levels and, finally, net emissions should reduce by 50% by the year 2050 (based on 2005 levels). Domestic airlines are encouraged to participate as well, despite the name suggesting that they are excluded. But what does all that really mean?
CORSIA – In A Nutshell
Let’s start with the basics – burning JetA fuel creates CO2 emissions. So, airlines need to burn less of it for each person carried to become more efficient.
Reduction strategies involve combinations of various measures: Technology options include retrofitting the existing fleet with winglets, for example, or upgrading to new generation aircraft. (The Airbus A320Neo is approximately 17% more fuel-efficient than its predecessor).
Improved air traffic management is essential and helps to reduce the distance and holding time flown to save fuel. Internal airline operational strategies such as continuous descent procedures and single-engine taxi also make a significant difference.
Is it realistic to want to cap CO2 emissions at 2020 levels? Simply put, any amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere above the 2020 CO2 total should be offset by buying Market-Based Measures (MBM) such as carbon credits, or offsets for every extra tonne of CO2 emitted. Lastly, by 2050, net emissions should reduce by 50% when compared to 2005. This requires a rapid reduction in the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere through the introduction of new technologies into the market. So, how is the industry coping with the transition towards a greener future?
Green Players
In November 2019, easyJet became the world’s first net-zero carbon airline. And while the world focused on COVID-19, JetBlue became the first carbon-neutral airline in the US for domestic routes. In November 2011, Lufthansa used a blend of biofuel to operate the first daily commercial passenger flight.
SAA made history on our home soil in July 2015 by completing the first flight with a blend of biofuel and normal JetA on the continent (on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town). And more recently, a Qantas Dreamliner flight took centre stage as the first blended biofuel flight from Australia to the US. While airlines are increasingly utilising biofuels, only a handful of airports have it in regular supply. Partly because it costs far more than fossil-fuels and partly because it is not widely available. So maybe biofuels won’t save the day after all.
The Reality Behind The Nice-sounding Plan Of Action
Some studies indicate that the industry’s projection to reach the 2050 CO2 emission targets is too conservative and that the CO2 emissions compound growth rate is 70% higher than that used by ICAO. Since the future of biofuels and new technology are uncertain, some regard it as highly improbable that environmental targets will be reached.
So, why don’t we just rely on carbon-offsets and credits? The aviation industry acknowledges these measures are only an interim solution. Some claim that these measures create a false sense of security for passengers who purchase them – who incorrectly believe that their flight won’t contribute to global warming due to the purchased offsets. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. So, airlines are encouraged to be transparent about the carbon-offset programmes they support and to carefully consider their choice of language when describing offset initiatives to paint an honest picture to passengers. After all, passengers want transparency and are placing increasing amounts of pressure on airlines to go green. For example, in Europe during 2018, a movement referred to as ‘flight shaming’ was popularised by the Swedish environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Gretha Thunberg, and resulted in a 4% decrease in international flights from Swedish airports.
The Future Is Green
So, what are airlines supposed to do if it’s unlikely that biofuels will save the day? I have to admit that I don’t have the answer. But, I’d like to think that some of the greatest minds of my generation are working on it.
In the meantime, everyone should do their part to become as environmentally friendly as possible to meet the goals of global agreements which will protect our planet. For airlines that haven’t yet aligned themselves with green initiatives, it could mean temporarily experiencing lower profit margins to retrofit existing aircraft and to train crew according to new fuel-efficient SOP’s. Or, by following in KLM’s ‘fly responsibly’ campaign that encourages passengers to fly less – by rather choosing public transport that emits fewer CO2 emissions on short routes or by questioning whether a ‘face-to-face’ meeting is essential.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
As a passenger, perhaps the time has come to be more like the greenies, tree-huggers, climate-hawks. Maybe choosing not to fly for leisure is responsible behaviour moving forward, or packing lighter when travel is unavoidable to reduce baggage weight on board. If 200 passengers can carry 10 kg of baggage each less the two ton load saving will have a small but significant reduction in fuel burn.
If we don’t find ways to drastically change the industry as it recovers from the global pandemic, we’re in for a rude awaking in very soon – disease, droughts and extreme weather patterns will be a part of our reality.
Instead of dealing with these problems in the long-run, already accepting that green is the new black could help prevent global warming and irreversible damage to our earth.
Carbon emissions are just one part of aligning with the green trend. In what other ways should airlines change? Acknowledging that single-use plastics onboard is old fashioned is a great starting point. Green airlines are already flying single-use plastic-free; Etihad Airways proved this is even possible on ultra-long-haul flights in 2019. Or, choosing to operate out of green airports is also a step in the right direction. Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport in Sweden turned carbon neutral in 2009 (the first European airport to achieve this) and incorporates other measures such as environmentally friendly de-icing chemicals into the mix to protect water sources near the airport.
While it may not seem like there are many options, making the necessary changes to include as many environmentally friendly choices into daily operations adds up in the end. There isn’t a lot of time left to postpone taking action. So, let’s commend the airlines that have already accepted that green is the new black. Because, as Robert Swan has said: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” And we’ve believed that for far too long.
