Story ID: 391
EBAA Joins Climbing Fast Initiative
By: David Donald
Caption: EBAA and NBAA will jointly work on advancing sustainability development
Word Count: 402
The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) has joined NBAA’s Climbing Fast program, a multi-media advocacy initiative that highlights the societal benefits of business aviation, the groups said Monday at EBACE 2024.
One of Climbing Fast’s key topics is sustainability, as the sector heads towards its commitment to be carbon-zero by 2050. That subject was at the heart of the panel session, which was moderated by NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen and EBAA secretary general Holger Krahmer.
A major challenge is educating politicians to view the sector as a leader in the drive for decarbonization, and its ability to implement and demonstrate positive changes in a short time. Many of the politicians, opined Krahmer, “underestimate the business needs and business impact” of decarbonization, adding that politicians often “ignore business aviation’s potential” to drive change. There is a clear need to inform government agencies of what can be achieved.
Patrick Hansen, the CEO of Luxaviation, added that “wealthy clients can pay for low-emission flying” and were willing to do so. He also noted that business aviation is a leader in the development of electric and hydrogen-fueled aircraft.
However, for the time being those technologies remain the future, and currently the main effort remains the introduction of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). “SAF is the key tool to decarbonize commercial aviation and also business aviation, but it needs the right enablers,” said Krahmer.
Bizav has adopted SAF use with enthusiasm, but credible supply remains an issue, especially at the smaller airfields from where business aircraft often operate. Transporting SAF to such places can be expensive, and also is not carbon-efficient. Book-and-claim schemes can provide a means of offsetting this, but are not available everywhere.
Climate solutions expert Kennedy Ricci, president of 4Air, also highlighted other aspects away from the reduction in CO2 emissions, such as work to reduce NO2 emissions and contrails. The company recently analyzed the damage contrails can cause, and also of when and where they occur.
Kurt Edwards, director general of the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), reported that the organization is working closely with ICAO to implement SAF usage, with an aim of achieving 50% carbon reduction by 2030. He also highlighted another challenge: financing sustainability development efforts. To help address this issue, ICAO has created a “match-maker” that finds the right investors for technology initiatives.