Akbar Al Baker, CEO of state-owned Qatar Airways, in remarks on Tuesday questioned the possibility of the world’s aviation industry meeting its goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The world’s airlines and members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – representing 83% of the world’s air traffic – as well as the countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – a United Nations agency concerned with aviation that includes 193 countries – pledged to reduce net carbon emissions for international flights. to zero by 2050.
According to Reuters, Al-Baker said, at the Qatar Economic Forum organized by Bloomberg on Tuesday: “I don’t think we will be able to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050…let’s be realistic.”
Al-Baker attributed his skepticism to the insufficient availability of sustainable aviation fuel, as well as the immaturity of alternative hydrogen technology.
According to a previous ICAO statement, achieving the goal of the aviation sector with zero emissions depends on accelerating the adoption of new and innovative aircraft technologies, simplifying aviation operations, and increasing the production and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels.
Sustainable aviation fuel is that which is made from renewable sources or from waste in line with environmental standards.
According to estimates by the International Air Transport Association – which represents 300 airlines – sustainable aviation fuels can contribute about 65% of the emissions reductions that the aviation sector needs to reach its net zero goal by 2050.
However, the director of the Gulf and Near East region at IATA, Khaled Al-Essawy, said, in statements to CNN Economic website last March, that the production of sustainable fuels grew in 2022 by about 200% to about 100 million liters, while the target is to produce 30 billion liters per year. 2030, and 450 billion liters in 2050.
(Prepared by: Maryam Abdel-Ghani, to contact zawya.arabic@lseg.com)
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2023-05-23 18:53:47
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