Author: Joanna Plucinska
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Air passenger numbers are forecast to more than double by 2050, causing fuel demand to rise and undermining the aviation industry’s moves to cut its emissions, research by climate change group Transport and Environment showed on Monday. .
As aviation industry leaders meet in Dublin this week for an annual financial conference where a flurry of plane sales are expected, a Brussels-based group has called on the European Union to implement measures to limit the sector’s growth.
“It’s time to come back to earth and end this addiction to growth,” Jo Dardenne, the group’s aviation director, told Reuters.
Steps to curb fast-growing air traffic could include limiting the growth of airport infrastructure and corporate travel while increasing taxation of the sector, the report said.
The aviation industry, which accounts for around 2.5% of global carbon emissions, has pledged to use more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in an effort to reduce emissions and reach net zero by 2050.
But tight supply and prices that are up to five times higher than traditional jet fuel mean that little of the greener fuel is being used.
Monday’s report said the industry’s fuel consumption is projected to rise 59% by 2050 from 2019 levels as passenger numbers increase.
As aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing (NYSE: ) anticipate big growth in the coming years and more planes in the sky, emissions will increase even with more efficient jets on the market and the use of SAF.
“The more they grow, the further they get away from that. At this rate, they will still be burning two billion barrels of oil a year in 2050, despite the use of SAF,” Dardenne said.
Airbus and Boeing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The airline industry has repeatedly rejected calls to cut growth, saying the sector is crucial to economic development and global connectivity.
