Of the air traffic is a relevant driver of the Climate crisis. In June 2022, almost 556,000 flights were registered in the EU. This is an 83.9% increase from the same month last year. The number of flights is on the verge of reaching pre-pandemic levels after the Corona years of 2020 and 2021. At the invitation of the Greens parliamentary group in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg, representatives from business, science, civil society and the politics met to discuss different approaches to Reduction the emissions to be discussed in European airspace.
The speakers have different approaches prof. Dr. AS Giuseppe Callo by H2FLY, the emission-free flight with hydrogen wanted, the Stuttgart MEP and member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg And Matthew Miroloexpert of air transport policy by the NGO Transport & Environment.
member of Parliament Thomas Marwein, member of the Europe and Transport Commissions: “We need a holistic solution. First of all, this includes: Fewer flights – and for example short-haul flights rail transfer. In the case of flights that cannot be substituted for other means of transport, we must cancel as soon as possible CO2 emissions reduce – with climate-friendly technologies such as hydrogen. We need more investment here.”
“It is crucial to bring all the players together and not work against each other but against each other. Our goals in development and production synthetic fuels it has to be much more ambitious. Biofuels are finished, it is necessary to produce large quantities of synthetic fuels. Furthermore, we not only need ambitious targets, but also regulations so that the targets can be achieved. It is counterproductive if conditions are imposed on hydrogen production that we cannot meet. For example, we need a decoupling between the production site and the place of use,” said the Transport Minister Winfried Hermann.
Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, MEP from Stuttgart in the EU transport commission, indicates the unresolved problems: “long-haul flights, which account for the lion’s share of CO2 emissions, remain an undisputed problem in the short and medium term. In addition, non-CO2 effects such as water vapour, nitrogen oxides and soot probably account for 2/3 of the total Climatic effects from the air traffic and still occur when GHG-neutral fuels are used. Adjusting flight paths and altitudes can help here, but flying will remain a matter of principle. In Europe, we need an attractive switch to other modes of transport such as night trains.”
