As governments worldwide put pressure on companies to decarbonise, it has become clear that aviation is one of the most hard to abate industries. With flight and passenger numbers rising – expected to rise to over 6 billion people flying annually by 2030 – it is critical that the industry find a way to reduce emissions. However, battery-powered or hydrogen-fuel commercial flights still appear a long way off.
But will greater investment in battery technology help the sector to make this leap? The aviation sector contributes around 2.4 percent of CO2 emissions globally, a figure that is expected to rise in line with growing demand. In 2023, the International Air Transport Administration (IATA) announced a target of net-zero carbon emissions from flights by 2050. It has broken down its strategy to achieve net zero as 5 percent reliant on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), 13 percent the use of new technology - electric and hydrogen, 3 percent improving infrastructure and operational efficiencies, and 19 percent the use of offsets and carbon capture technology