How to Decarbonize Flying

What hurdles the aviation industry needs to overcome to make air travel become carbon-neutral?

• In the wake of the pandemic, aviation tanked in 2020, resulting in a major drop in CO2 emissions. But as countries open up, air travel is expected to grow again. And this is bad news for the climate.
• The aviation industry anticipates a return to 2019 passenger numbers globally by 2023. By some estimates, greenhouse gas emissions from air travel are likely to triple by 2050.
• But if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius, it needs to have hit net zero CO2 emissions by this time, raising the question of how to decarbonize air travel.
• Many airlines are trying to offer carbon-neutral travel and look for alternative fuels to reduce pollution. But aviation is complicated to decarbonize with several technological hurdles to overcome.
• What are the biggest challenges in making flying guilt-free? Where do we stand with climate-neutral airplanes? And why has the aviation industry been slower than other sectors to evolve?