Key levers to reduce CO2 emissions from commercial aviation
In order to achieve the sustainability objective defined in Section 1.1, there is the need to reduce CO2 emissions at a rate
equal or greater than the rate of increase of traffic. Reduction of CO2 emissions from aviation can be achieved through five
key levers:
_ Technological efficiency improvements: relate to vehicle (i.e. aircraft) fuel efficiency performance.
_ Operational efficiency improvements: include effects of airline operations (e.g. aircraft weight reductions by removing
unnecessary onboard equipment) and air traffic control operations (e.g. fuel optimized flight path, altitude, reduced
ATC delays, etc.).
Use of alternative fuels: capture the use of fuels that have a lower CO2 emission content than traditional jet fuels.
_ Demand shift: account for changes in travelers’ mode choice behavior or reduction of demand due to non-travel alternatives
(e.g. video-conferencing, virtual meetings, etc.).
_ Carbon pricing (i.e. market-based incentives): used as a mechanism to increase the effective price of fuel and reduce demand
through the price-demand elasticity relationship.
These key levers were used as a basis for the generation of scenarios used as inputs in a Global Aviation Industry Dynamics
model to evaluate the potential reduction of CO2 emissions from aviation for the 2004 to 2024 time period.