The “decarbonisation” of air travel has become the driving question of the Paris Air Show, which opened its doors on June 19 outside Paris. Striving to build a game-changing “green plane”, the aviation industry is betting heavily on the development of sustainable fuels. From cooking oil to hydrogen planes, FRANCE 24 breaks down the possible pathways to carbon-neutral air travel – and why some may never make it off the ground.
Based on this and other reporting on the subject, I am fairly convinced that the aviation industry cannot and will not become carbon neutral - we’ll continue to see these performative bits of PR as the industry tries to reposition itself, and meanwhile jets will continue to spew greenhouse gases into the sky.
For a while I tried to convince myself that I was doing the right thing by buying carbon offsets for my flights. But eventually I couldn’t justify that response either. Now I’m one of the folks signed with https://flightfree.org/ and I feel much better.
yeah it’s probable we’ll just have to offset their much-reduced carbon footprint, since i’m doubtful we can get to literally zero flights. there’s just too much utility (and not enough utility/versatility with other modes of transit) to flying to completely get rid of the mode.