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Corsia
In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted CORSIA, a global carbon offsetting scheme to address CO2 emissions from international aviation. The agreement at ICAO demonstrates that the aviation industry is determined to live up to its climate change commitments and play its part in meeting international goals for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
EU ETS
The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) is a cornerstone of the EU's policy to combat climate change and its key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. It is the world's first major carbon market and remains the biggest one. Since 2012, the EU emissions trading system (ETS) applies to flights to and from airports in the European Economic Area (EEA).
CORSIA vs EU ETS
In February 2017, the European Commission (EC) made a proposal for the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) prolonging the existing temporary limited scope of the scheme that applies to flights within the European Economic Area (EEA) only.
Carbon Offsetting
What is it?
Carbon offsetting allows a company to compensate for its emissions by financing a reduction in emissions elsewhere. While carbon offsetting does not require companies to reduce their emissions “in-house”, it provides an environmentally effective option for sectors where the potential for further emissions reductions is limited.
Industry environmental statistics
Globally:
Market-based measures
Market-based measures, also known as economic measures, play a big role in the decarbonisation of the sector as they complement the other solutions until the sector can rely only on in-sector emission reductions. For the airline industry, there are two types of economic measures available: a cap and trade system, like the EU ETS, and carbon offsetting, like CORSIA.
EU ETS
Sustainable aviation fuels
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), will be crucial to decarbonise aviation in the short term. SAFs are available on the market as a certified drop-in fuel, blended with conventional jet fuel. There are currently 6 pathways for blending bio-based fuels with conventional aviation fuels that are certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International, with the maximum blend allowed in these cases being 50%.
Technology
Airlines of all sizes as well as aviation manufacturers are looking carefully at all avenues for reducing carbon emissions. Research into efficiency improvements and electric taxiing as well as implementing better air traffic management, for example, should be welcomed and encouraged.
It is important to recognise, however, that propulsion is the key area where innovation is required to truly enable low-carbon and even zero-emission flights.
There are different emissions-reducing propulsion technologies:
Operations
As for operational improvements, a substantial amount of fuel is wasted due to inefficient routing. Better flight routing could reduce inefficient aviation operations growth and cut consumption by 10% according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Whereas, according to EUROCONTROL’s Performance Review Report, the measures could lead to a 6% emission reduction in Europe.