In ‘Plane Sight’ Part 2: Sustainable Fuel & Solutions

The holy trinity behind reducing domestic aviation is: avoid, shift, and improve. This ethos was woven in Aotearoa New Zealand's first national Emissions Reduction Plan. These were presented as the three broad strokes as avoiding unnecessary trips, shifting them to alternate modes, and moving to lower-emission flying. 

While the whole world is looking for sustainable products and services (as they should), in the aviation industry, the supply of lower emission fuels does not match the demand. Air New Zealand has a goal to replace 20 % of fossil fuel by 2030. Due to fuels in short supply as well as being expensive among other things, Alternative Aviation Fuels (AAF) could only contribute to 0.1% of their fuel last year. 

Another Air New Zealand initiative has been to switch their jets from Airbus A320s to more efficient A321 neos. But none of them are allegedly certified for passenger travel anywhere in the world. 

One of the big questions would be if sustainability would come at a cost. These new technologies will not come cheap. Of course, this was the central premise of Air New Zealand recently. They announced their withdrawal from reaching their 2030 carbon emission targets, because of the hefty bill from the alternate fuels and fleets. 

Additionally, the option of AAF does not battle with the heart of the issue: consumption. A question that experts often ask is whether sustainable fuel would incentivise domestic travel. Air New Zealand stated that an approach that better suited the industry challenges should be the focal point. But it offers no comfort or solace that Air New Zealand says they are committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions target by 2050. Are these buzzwords again? Would we reach 2050 and get served broken promises again?

Haughton and White, in the premise of their book, ‘Why Plan’, elaborate the relevance of combating the root issue. They wrote:

"It’s like they see a baby coming down the river and want to jump in and save it. We need to stop being so reactive to the situations that confront us. Saving babies is FINE for them [other organisers/organisations], but WE want to know who’s throwing the goddamn babies in the water in the first place” (Michael Zinzun, cited in Leonie Sandercock 1998, p.85).

Airlines that are committed to sustainability should be commended. However, in the absence of accountability, these emissions are not falling fast enough. The onus must and should also fall on policy makers. Unfortunately, the public-private partnership Sustainable Aviation Aotearoa has not been an authoritative figure in this field since it was established in 2022. This is evident in the new draft of the Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP2), encompassing emission budgets. The draft mentions that Sustainable Aviation Aotearoa is exploring different solutions to support the supply and demand of AAF, but it unfortunately does not elaborate. 

There is no doubt that organisations internationally are committed to reducing emissions. We have a lot more to do, because a lot can be done. One needn’t look further than the railway tracks as a powerful alternative to domestic aviation. Like the brilliant author, Jules Verne, once wrote, “Trains, like time and tide, wait for no one”.  The solution is tangible. Let’s not wait anymore - let’s take action now.