2050 target unattainable

Why climate-neutral flying is a long time coming

Climate researchers have been reporting record temperatures for eleven months in a row and the first climate tipping points appear to have been reached. Aviation also plays a role in the unavoidable reduction of CO2 emissions, as kerosene-powered passenger planes are significant CO2 guzzlers. However, a sobering report shows that climate-friendly aviation is still a long way off.

The latest report on climate-neutral aviation by the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB) makes the gloomy assessment that even the goal of achieving climate-neutral aviation by 2050, which is not very ambitious compared to road traffic, is hardly achievable with the individual technologies currently available. Even using all available high technologies, climate-friendly air traffic is decades away due to the long development periods in aviation. Experts are therefore not only calling for new technologies, but are also urging people - such as frequent flyers and owners of private aircraft - to do without. Krone+ sheds light on the available technology and its limitations.