Analysis Aviation

PtX Lab Analysis I 03/2023 I Topic: Aviation I 31 pages

In 2018, international aviation was responsible for approximately 2.8 percent of global CO₂ emissions. Following the pandemic-related decline in air traffic, a return to pre-crisis levels is expected by 2024, implying a renewed increase in emissions. Beyond CO₂, aviation also generates non-CO₂ climate impact, most notably persistent contrails, whose radiative forcing can exceed that of CO₂ emissions alone.

At the international and European levels, instruments such as the Paris Agreement, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), and the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) have been established to mitigate these emissions, with the overarching objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

The Analysis Aviation shows: From a mitigation perspective, demand reduction through the avoidance of air travel remains the most effective measure. However, this is not entirely possible.

In the short to medium term, incremental improvements in aircraft efficiency and flight path optimisation can contribute modest reductions in emissions. However, substantial and sustained mitigation will require the substitution of conventional fossil jet fuel with sustainable alternatives.

The limited availability of sustainable biomass restricts the scalability of biofuels. Consequently, synthetic jet fuel produced via power-to-liquid (PtL) processes are considered a key technological pathway for the defossilisation of aviation.