Editorial: As airline traffic reaches pre-pandemic levels, so does pollution from planes

Aviation is responsible for 2 to 3 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Photo / 123rf

Opinion

EDITORIAL

As the airline industry recovers to pre-Covid capacity, there are signs it is moving with urgency to solve its biggest problem - emissions from aircraft.

Some time this month, forecast available seat kilometres will surpass those of the same month in 2019.

Data from aviation consultancy IBA shows that in October, all markets apart from Europe and the Asia-Pacific were trending at or above pre-pandemic capacity.

The coming Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States will see passenger traffic at record levels.

And according to the latest Stats NZ monthly figures, inbound travel is running at 86 per cent of pre-Covid levels, and trips overseas by New Zealanders at 91 per cent.

This will increase over the summer.

Aircraft are responsible for about one billion tonnes, or 2.5 per cent, of total CO2 emissions a year, and reducing this is proving fiendishly difficult. It is more difficult to decarbonise than the electricity sector or road transport.

It will need a global effort, political will and significant technological advances, especially in battery and hydrogen-powered aircraft, to meet the ambitious targets the airline industry has set itself.

But there are signs of progress, with big airlines committing to more use of sustainable aviation fuel (Saf), which can be used in existing engines and supply systems, so is the most immediate prospect for cutting the environmental impact of long-haul travel in particular.

Emirates flights from Dubai to Sydney and on to New Zealand have run on a blend of Saf and Jet A-1 fuel. This week, Singapore Airlines announced its plan to replace 5 per cent of all fuel requirements with Saf by 2030. Here, Air New Zealand aims to reach 10 per cent Saf use by 2030.

This growing demand from airlines, especially the big ones, is crucial to scaling up the existing supply of green fuel, made from organic feedstocks such as animal fats, oils, woody residues and municipal solid waste.

But there’s also another way to make Saf under investigation that could, in the long term, be even more promising.

Marsden Point-based Channel Infrastructure and Fortescue Future Industries are investigating the development of a green hydrogen manufacturing facility in Northland to produce synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) that could supply around 60 million litres – equivalent to more than 3 per cent of the pre-Covid annual jet fuel requirements for the aviation sector in New Zealand.

Business NZ’s Energy Council says it’s not only good for the planet, but producing eSAF benefits fuel security, and will create jobs and stimulate associated industries.

The cost of not progressing decarbonisation initiatives within our borders is huge – both in terms of impact on those key tourism and export sectors, but also the massive offsets we will be paying out for not meeting our decarbonisation commitments.

In Christopher Luxon, New Zealand will have a Prime Minister who knows the aviation sector well. As chief executive at Air New Zealand, he was a big supporter of sustainability within aviation, and should be well aware of the opportunity for the new Government to encourage it.