American has an agreement to buy nine million gallons of such fuel over several years, and Delta says it plans to replace a tenth of its jet fuel with sustainable alternatives by 2030. United, which buys renewable jet fuel from Fulcrum BioEnergy and World Energy, recently announced a deal with more than a dozen major corporate customers, including Deloitte, HP and Nike, that will result in the airline’s buying about 3.4 million gallons of sustainable fuel this year. customers include American Airlines, JetBlue and Delta Air Lines. Neste, a Finnish company, is the world’s largest producer of renewable jet fuel. The undistilled diesel is made from used cooking oil and waste from vegetable and animal processing plants. and Texmark Chemicals are converting imported undistilled diesel into renewable jet fuels. Commercial planes like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A320, which can carry a few hundred passengers, require an immense amount of energy to reach cruising altitude - more energy than modern batteries can efficiently supply.Īt a petrochemical plant outside Houston, Neste U.S. There are efforts to electrify small planes for short flights - including one backed by United - but doing the same for longer, larger flights will be tough, maybe impossible. “There are plenty of things we can compete on, but we all ought to be trying to make a difference on climate change.” It is the biggest risk to the globe,” Mr. “It is the biggest long-term issue that our generation faces. He wants United and other airlines to try different things and see what works. Scott Kirby, the chief executive of United Airlines, speaks often about the need to address climate change, but even he acknowledges that it will be difficult for the industry to clean up its act. And some large corporations, whose employees crisscross the globe and fill plush business class seats, are reviewing travel budgets to reduce expenses and emissions. Investors are pushing businesses to disclose more about their efforts to lobby lawmakers on climate issues, too. Now French lawmakers are considering a ban on short flights that can be replaced by train travel. There were early signs that it may have reduced air travel in Germany and Sweden. Researchers at the International Council on Clean Transportation say emissions may grow even faster.īefore the pandemic, a “flying shame” movement, which aims to discourage air travel in favor of greener options like rail, was gaining ground globally thanks to Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist. The United Nations expects airplane emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, to triple by 2050. And while planes become more efficient with each new model, growing demand for flights is outpacing those advancements. It will always emit some carbon.”Įxperts say commercial air travel accounts for about 3 to 4 percent of total U.S. “It’s a big crisis, it’s a pressing crisis - a lot needs to be done soon,” said Jagoda Egeland, an aviation policy expert at the International Transport Forum, a unit of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That leaves companies with few options: They can make tweaks to squeeze out efficiencies, wait for technology to improve or invest today to help make viable options for the future. Some solutions, like hydrogen fuel cells, are promising, but it’s unclear when they will be available, if ever. The industry is under increasing pressure to do something to reduce and eventually eliminate emissions from travel, but it won’t be easy. The worst of the pandemic may be over for airlines, but the industry faces another looming crisis: an accounting over its contribution to climate change.
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