A different business model is needed for aviation – not…
A new research paper, in the Journal of Air Transport Management (by Stefan Grossling and Andreas Humpe) looks at the likely increase in CO2 emissions from global aviation, with and without managing to use genuinely low carbon fuels. It concludes that the air travel sector is set to expand significantly, with ever more demand for air travel. But the only method the sector has to cut its CO2 emissions and climate impact is to local new, low carbon fuels. These will inevitably be more expensive than the fossil kerosene used now. The supply of the fuels will also be limiting, and even if electricity for electrofuels can be obtained from nuclear-generated electricity, if will be costly. This increase in cost will be the mechanism to reduce overall demand for air travel, though it is not the stated intention of governments. The current business model of the airline sector is high-volume, low-profit-margin. That is not a sustainable model for a sector with such high carbon emissions. Historically airlines have usually made losses, unless there are enough passengers. Unless this changes, the CO2 from aviation will continue to increase. .Tweet . Journal of Air Transport Management Volume 107, March 2023, 102353 Net-zero aviation: Time for a new business model? Authors: Stefan Gössling and Andreas Hum
