Environmental groups have long criticized the private aviation sector for being a major emitter of carbon dioxide around the world. The case gained even more prominence last week when climate activists made headlines by disrupting a private jet show in Switzerland.
Because they often travel shorter distances than commercial airliners, private jets are generally less energy efficient and their emissions per passenger are much higher. According to data from the European NGO Transport and Environment (T&E), jets can be five to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes, and 50 times more than trains.
Even so, the air taxi and private aviation sector has seen considerable growth in recent years. A report by the American think tank Institute for Policy Studies revealed that the sector recorded records in 2021 and 2022. To give you an idea, the size of the global fleet has grown by 133% since 2000.
Research commissioned by the global environmental NGO Greenpeace shows that private jets in Europe emitted 3.39 million metric tons of CO2 in 2022. The figure is roughly equivalent to the emissions of 753,000 gasoline-powered cars in the US during a year.
But experts say the sector can still play a crucial role in the global fight against climate change. Several players in the aviation and air taxi industry are looking at innovative ways to reduce environmental impacts.
As a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), along with other major commercial airlines, Jetex, the Dubai-based private aviation company, aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Launched in 2005 by CEO Adel Mardini, Jetex now has 750 employees based in dozens of private terminals around the world, including Dubai, Miami, Paris and Beijing.
Since 2021, thanks to a partnership with Finnish oil company Neste, Jetex has been offering sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), made from renewable waste and waste raw materials, at its Helsinki airport terminal, in Finland. Also in 2021, at the Paris Le Bourget airport terminal, Jetex started offering SAF made from used cooking oil produced by the French company TotalEnergies.
SAF’s limited supply doesn’t allow for the fuel to be offered at all airports, but the company says it wants to make it an option for its travelers at all of its locations around the world.
“We are constantly thinking about how we can work together with everyone so that climate change has less impact on our lives and in the future,” Mardini told the CNN adding that Jetex is working on transforming all of its locations into fully green private terminals in the future.
fuel shortage
Aviation accounted for more than 2% of global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2021. But according to IATA, SAF can reduce CO2 emissions by 80% and will be the single largest contributor to achieving the net emissions target of zero carbon in the sector by 2050.
Fuel shortages, however, remain the biggest challenge in this shift, according to Dr. Suzanne Kearns, associate professor of aviation at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
“We imagine that perhaps 60 to 70% of the emission reductions in the aviation sector come from the integration of sustainable aviation fuels. But the reality is that, today, it is two to eight times more expensive than traditional aviation fuels, and its affordability is limited, so it is not available at all airports,” Dr. Kearns explained to CNN.
She added that if the private aviation sector became an early adopter of SAF, “the economies of scale could make the fuel more affordable, which could hit other aspects of the aviation industry.”
While not all airports have SAF, last week Jetex signed an agreement that allows it to offer the product to its customers around the world. By partnering with 360 Jet Fuel Ltd, passengers (who are often jet owners) will be able to use what is known as a “Booking and Credit System”. They pay for SAF at an airport that has one, to offset some or all of the normal fuel used by the plane they are traveling on. In practice, this means that they can “provide” SAF for flights from airports that do not have the product.
The use of SAF in private aviation is slowly becoming more widespread. The UK-based Victor jet charter platform also has a partnership with the oil company Neste and recently announced that 20% of its passengers are voluntarily choosing to use some type of SAF for their flights, in a booking and credit style system that they call it “pay here, use there”.
“Pure Green”
Jetex also last year unveiled plans to launch what it calls the world’s first “pure green” private terminal at Berlin’s Neuhardenberg Airport, home to one of Europe’s largest solar farms.
“There is a solar farm around the airport that will fully cover the airport’s energy needs. On our side, we also plan to use electric vehicles to achieve net zero carbon emissions”, said Mardini.
With the terminal in Berlin still under development, the company has been taking small steps to transform some of its other locations, including Dubai, London, Paris and Singapore, into fully “green” terminals by the end of 2024.
Going forward, Jetex is considering the use of electric aircraft and has implemented strategic partnerships with urban air mobility companies, including Volocopter and EVE Air Mobility, to accelerate the development of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), at sometimes called flying taxis.
eVTOL aircraft have more limited range than private jets, and would be used for short flights around and between cities. In the future, they could be an eco-friendly option for the many celebrities who are criticized for traveling short distances in their jets.
“There are really exciting innovations coming from private aviation,” said Dr. Kearns.
“eVTOLs are fundamental to what we envision advanced air mobility to be,” he added. “They will transport people in urban environments without the emissions that would be produced by traditional or conventional jet fuel,” she said.
“The whole industry is growing very, very quickly and that’s exciting because private aviation is leading the shift towards a sustainable future for air transport.”
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
