IAA Sebastian Mikez: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Is The Key Driver Of Carbon Reduction In The Industry

While other industries are busy with "carbon peak, carbon neutral", the aviation industry passively "realizes" the emission reduction target because of the unexpected shutdown caused by the epidemic.

However, the epidemic will not last forever, and the carbon emissions of the aviation industry will rebound to the pre epidemic level in the future. From a global perspective, the aviation industry is not a huge carbon emitter, but it is definitely a "difficult household" to reduce carbon emissions. At present, long-distance flights can only rely on fossil fuels, and the vast majority of carbon dioxide emissions in the industry come from flights over 1500 km.

Sebastian mikosz, senior vice president of the environmental and sustainable development division of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), recently gave an exclusive interview with the 21st century economic report.

In an interview, mikez said that IATA supports ICAO's decision to ensure that the international aviation carbon offset and emission reduction program (corsia) remains a key global tool for achieving carbon neutral growth. However, he also pointed out that it is very difficult to reduce emissions in the aviation industry, and sustainable aviation fuel is crucial to the reduction strategy of the aviation industry. Therefore, emission reduction in the aviation industry needs strong support from all countries to promote the priority use of sustainable aviation fuel in the aviation industry, more investment by oil companies in sustainable aviation fuel production, and investment in manufacturers of low emission flight technology.

In response to some disputes over corsia, mikez said that IATA will continue to promote consensus and seek solutions to address the concerns of all airlines.

Sebastian mikez

Promoting global consensus

21st century: last year, IATA supported the decision of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to set the emissions of aviation industry in 2019 as the baseline of corsia. Can you give us a brief introduction of the scheme and emission reduction plan?

Sebastian mikez: in June 2020, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced that corsia's carbon neutral growth baseline would be changed from the average emissions in 2019-2020 to reference only the emissions in 2019, aiming to maintain the integrity of the plan reached by 191 countries in 2016. If we still take the average emissions from 2019 to 2020 as the baseline, the airlines' carbon offsetting expenditure will be much higher than the original plan, which will worsen the airlines struggling to survive in the epidemic. It should be noted that the new baseline is more stringent than the original calculation before the outbreak of new cap.

IATA supports ICAO's decision to ensure that corsia remains a key global tool for carbon neutral growth.

"21st century": some people hold that the current goals and implementation plans of the global aviation carbon emission reduction offset mechanism fail to fully consider the development situation and capacity of various countries, and the carbon emission reduction targets and progress are unfair to developing countries still in a period of rapid growth. How does IATA view this issue? Is it possible for the follow-up programme to be adjusted according to the views of countries?

Sebastian mikez: IATA is very aware of the rapid development of airlines and the aviation industry in developing countries. As an industry association representing regional airlines and competing among them, one of our most difficult and important tasks is to find a basis for consensus and find solutions that take into account the different circumstances of all member airlines without distorting the market. By definition, compromise and consensus are not "perfect" for anyone, but they allow us to move in the same direction.

An example of consensus reached by all parties through corsia under the leadership of ICAO is that the opinions of different governments are reconciled in a complex mechanism through consensus. In the first two implementation periods of corsia, the state may voluntarily join the mechanism. The exemption clause of the mechanism provides more countries with the relief and flexibility of their performance obligations.

It must also be noted that industry goals set through the industry wide air transport action team are collective goals for the aviation industry, but do not set specific targets for individual airlines or countries. IATA emphasizes the importance of collective action and cooperation, which is essential for the complexity of the industry itself and the need for sustainable development of collective cooperation.

IATA will continue to promote consensus among all parties and seek solutions that take into account the concerns of all airlines.

Four pillars help achieve emission reduction targets

"21st century": at present, a large number of countries or regional organizations have published carbon neutral goals, most of which will be limited to 2050. In this case, is IATA optimistic about achieving the "long-term goal of reducing net carbon emissions to half of the 2005 level by 2050"? Is it possible to achieve this goal ahead of time?

Sebastian mikez: in theory, we can offset the carbon emissions of all flights tomorrow, but the future of aviation's environmental strategy is to develop low emission energy.

At present, the aircraft can only use liquid fuel for long-distance flight, and there is no other choice. By 2050, carbon dioxide emissions from liquid fuels will account for 75% of the total emissions, but flight safety is the first priority, and electric or hydrogen power technologies for long-range use instead of liquid fuels need to be developed for a long time.

Unlike land transportation, once the fuel runs out, the aircraft cannot stop or find a place to refuel. Therefore, sustainable aviation fuel is very important to the emission reduction strategy of aviation industry. The timing of commercial use of sustainable fuel will largely depend on the speed of its production scale expansion. Therefore, we need the strong support of governments of various countries, including reducing the investment risk in this field through tax credits, loan guarantee and other ways, and attracting the aviation industry to give priority to the use of sustainable aviation fuel, Encourage oil companies to invest more in sustainable aviation fuel production and encourage manufacturers to invest in low emission flight technologies and aircraft.

21st century: what are the main ways for airlines to achieve carbon emission reduction and carbon neutralization? What are the experiences of the leading international airlines in the field of carbon neutral?

Sebastian mikez: the aviation industry achieves its carbon emission goals through four pillars: technological improvement, operational improvement (aircraft design and improvement), infrastructure (air traffic management) and market mechanism (carbon offset).

All four pillars play a key role in achieving our ambitious climate goals, but technology will play the most important role in decarbonization. The cutting edge of technology is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The waypoint 2050 report of the industry wide air transport action group identifies three potential ways to achieve the goal of halving carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and sustainable aviation fuel is the key driving force among these three approaches. Many airlines are already using sustainable aviation fuel, and the industry generally believes that it can bring revolutionary changes to the decarbonization of the industry. But the efforts of airlines alone are not enough. Government policies must support the production of sustainable aviation fuel, and oil producers need to increase investment in sustainable aviation fuel facilities.

Carbon offsets are an important pillar of our goal of carbon neutrality from 2020. This is a temporary measure that will be used before the new technology is promoted. But we see that once the use of sustainable aviation fuel in long-distance flight is expanded, and hydrogen powered and electric aircraft can support commercial operation of medium and short-range flights in the medium term (the next decade), the industry's dependence on carbon offsets will be reduced accordingly. We believe that sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen powered and electric aircraft, combined with more effective operations and air traffic management, can decarbonize the aviation industry.

Urgent need to promote sustainable aviation fuel

21st century: some people believe that improving aviation fuel is the key to achieving carbon neutrality in the aviation industry. How does IATA view this issue? Is the breakthrough in fuel technology the most important thing in the process of carbon neutrality in the aviation industry?

Sebastian mikez: technology is the most important pillar to achieve our emission targets, and sustainable aviation fuel is the most promising technology at present.

Sustainable aviation fuel can reduce emissions by 80% in its whole life cycle. Sustainable biofuels are fuels that can be "blended" with conventional aviation kerosene, which means that airlines do not need to modify their engines or aircraft to use this fuel. At present, sustainable aviation fuel has been used for more than 350000 flights, and its raw material production will not affect food crop production, nor will it occupy precious water resources or lead to forest degradation. Waypoint 2050, released by the industry wide air transport action group in September 2020, identifies three potential ways to achieve the industry's 50% carbon dioxide emission reduction target by 2050. In each approach, sustainable aviation fuel was identified as the most critical factor.

21st century: in the view of IATA, what are the main obstacles to the carbon neutral process in the international aviation industry? What are the main difficulties faced by the association in practical work?

Sebastian mikez: the biggest obstacle to decarbonization right now is the lack of sustainable aviation fuel.

To achieve our industry goals, we will need up to 450 million tons (about 560 billion liters) of sustainable aviation fuel. In 2021, we expect the total consumption of sustainable aviation fuel will be about 120 million liters, and the industry still has a long way to go. Therefore, we hope that governments will support investment in sustainable aviation fuels through tax credits, loan guarantees and similar financial support, and that raw materials should be used preferentially for the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuels rather than those for land transportation.

We also need oil companies to invest in sustainable aviation fuel facilities. At present, the price of sustainable aviation fuel is about three times that of ordinary aviation fuel. The only way to achieve this is to increase supply to meet demand. Once the price of sustainable aviation fuel is equal to that of fossil fuel based aviation kerosene, it should become the main energy source.

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