The aviation industry is responsible for more than 2% of annual carbon emissions. That figure is set to rise as more passengers take to the skies. But the sector has set itself an ambitious target: to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. 
On this week’s podcast, hosts Tom Lee-Devlin and Alice Fulwood ask if airlines can really go green. Tom discovers the limits of battery-powered flight when a trip in one of the world’s first electric planes ends in an emergency landing. Andreea Moyes, from Air BP, explains why sustainable aviation fuel—and not batteries—will help solve the industry’s carbon problem. And Jim Harris, from consultancy Bain, argues that the days of cheap flying may be behind us.
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Growing concern over climate change has put the aviation industry under serious pressure.

To secure the sector's future, the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, has announced a pretty bold ambition.

Now, the aviation industry has accepted a plan for net 0 emissions by

Achieving that is going to be difficult and very expensive.

Sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, are the foundation of our strategy.

Because they absorb carbon as they are made, SAFs cut net emissions by 80%.

SAFs can come from plants, recycled cooking oil, household waste and renewable energy.

But, IATA says, sustainable aviation fuels can only get the industry part of the way to its net 0 target.

The most exciting development is a 0 emissions plane that will require new electric or hydrogen propulsion designs.

All this will come with a hefty price tag, which could force airlines to issue a final call for the days of cheap travel.

You're listening to Money Talks from The Economist, our weekly podcast on the markets, the economy and the world of business.

And in today's show, can the aviation industry go green?

First, things go wrong for Tom when he's taken out in 1 of the world's first battery-powered planes.

So 1 of our batteries is down, so Miles, I think we're going to head back now, right?

Then we hear from Air BP why sustainable aviation fuel, rather than batteries, could be the answer to the industry's emissions problem.

SAF can be used at scale because it's a drop-in fuel.

So You don't really have to develop new airplanes and new infrastructures.

Finally, we ask what all this will mean for the cost of flying.

Travel is going to be less affordable, and there's going to be fewer people doing it.

I'm here to do an interview, 1 that actually may feature on a forthcoming episode of Money Talks very soon.

Oh, very cryptic, looking forward to that.

Nope, he's disappeared, not joining us today, Not even so much as a postcard.

Still, I think it's probably his loss because this is probably going to be the most action-packed episode we have ever done.

I understand you did some real shoe leather reporting for this episode and went a bit wrong?

Yes, so I took a little spin in the first certified electric plane in Europe but it wasn't the smoothest of journeys.

So 1 of the 2 batteries overheated and gave out just a few minutes into the flight and we had to do an emergency landing with fire trucks and everything.

So that was all very exciting, but you'll hear more on that shortly.

Yes, a spoiler alert though, Tom is still with us and alive and well enough to make this episode, so clearly all in-flight troubles were not too catastrophic.

Robinson Well, we'll get to it very soon.

But before that, I just wanted to share why I was interested in looking into this topic.

So flying for many of us has become a pretty integral part of both our personal and professional lives.

So IATA, which is the global aviation industry body, estimates that 4000000000 passengers will take to the skies this year alone.

And that's incredibly important economically, both for the world's tourism industry, a lot of which relies on air travel, and also for the functioning of multinational businesses and global finance.

But flying is also very emissions intensive accounting for around about 2% of global carbon emissions.

And I feel like I've heard a lot on our show and elsewhere about greener substitutes for all kinds of emissions creating behaviours say switching a petrol car or gas, as they say in the US, for an electric 1 or heating homes with naughty wind farms instead of naughty gas.

But I've not heard nearly as much about how we can make flying green.

Yeah, Well, I hadn't either, which is exactly why I wanted to do this episode.

So there's a few technologies that airlines are really hoping will come to the rescue.

The first is electric and also hydrogen powered planes, but both of those face some significant problems.

So hydrogen delivers a lot less energy than kerosene or jet A, as they call it in the industry.

And it also needs to be stored at an icy minus 235 degrees Celsius, which has all sorts of cost and complexity to flying.

And I imagine your jaunt to the battery-powered plane has perhaps not convinced you that they are the answer.

Well, I'm trying to keep a bit of an open mind about this.

So both Air Canada and United Airlines have put in orders for 30-seater electric planes that could be in the air by 2028, but they'll only have a 200-kilometer range which is shorter than the distance between London and Manchester or perhaps more relevantly for you, Alice, between New York and DC.

Okay, yeah, that doesn't sound like it's going to get me back to the London office when I come over for Christmas.

Well, by 2050, it is hoped that electric planes could be flying distances of around 1500 kilometres, but no, that still won't get you all the way across the Atlantic.

And that's where sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, comes in.

SAF can be produced from a number of different feedstocks, but perhaps the best example would be growing plants which absorb carbon and then turning those into fuel, making it close to carbon neutral over the course of its life cycle.

But it's still not perfect, partly because it's often not 100% carbon free, and partly because it still has to be blended with traditional jet fuel.

But it's certainly a step in the right direction.

But to see it all in action, I traveled to Norwich Airport with our producer, Dan.

It's 11 in the morning here at Norwich Airport.

to say this is 1 of the smallest airports I think I've been in.

There are 4 flights on the departures board for the rest of the day, but I'm not here to travel to Amsterdam or Aberdeen.

I'm here to see the future of air travel.

I'm Alex Duran, I'm the CEO of Kline Aviation Group.

We're a Norwich-based aviation services business.

Thanks so much for taking the time to see us today.

Can you tell us a bit about your fleet here?

Yeah, the fleet we currently operate, we've got 5 jets under management, most of which are available for charter.

And we're also just taking on our 10th helicopter.

And what kind of things are customers using your fleet for?

We've seen a change from corporate use since the pandemic.

I think it's a lot more lifestyle and using it as an alternative means of transport.

See the helicopters are around festivals, sporting events, can be groups of businessmen, women travelling to meetings, but it's probably a lot more leisure than

Tough life flying around in planes and helicopters everywhere.

What proportion of your fleet is powered by sustainable sources of 1 type or another?

Part of the problem with sustainable aviation fuel is very limited availability so we have it at Norwich So every flight from here is powered by SAF.

We pick it up where we can otherwise, but it's ad hoc.

What we've done to augment that is we've taken on a lease of an electric aircraft.

It's obviously not available for charter at the moment, but just to showcase what can be done.

So that's the range of activities we do but how about we go and

All right so here we are we're in a big airplane hangar I think we've got I think I count 6 or 7 aircraft in here.

This in front of you is the Pipistrelle Velos Electro the world's first certified electric aircraft which you'll be taking a flight in.

Yeah it looks very futuristic but it's kind of barely bigger than a mini I would say.

It's all about weight so it's very light.

So let me introduce you to Miles who'll be your pilot.

Tiny little plane so Dan if I don't make it back tell my wife I love her.

been up anything smaller before like a JA aircraft?

We're going through a safety briefing on the aircraft, obviously a little bit different than stuff you've done before.

on the move, here we go so I'm just going to chance into the runway over here and we'll

Golf Kilo Oscar, VIA Delta 1 runway 09, wind 050 degrees 9 knots, cleared for takeoff.

VIA Delta 1 runway 09, cleared for takeoff, Golf Kilo Oscar.

Right, Miles, so where are we heading today?

So we've just turned east out of Norwich and we're just heading towards the North Norfolk coast, going overhead to North Horsham and then back into Norwich via Aylsham.

It's a little bit bumpy today just because of the thermals, very light winds, and yeah, glorious.

And so how is it flying an electric plane versus this kind of traditional fuel-powered equivalent?

I mean, the power it has, it's very light, it's a 600kg aircraft.

We've got a huge amount of torque as you find in electric cars, so super, super powerful.

With the traffic working tonight I thought we'd

Norwich Radio, Golf Kilo Oscar Pan Pan, Pan Pan, Pan Pan.

I've just had a battery warning failure, so I need to come back to the airfield as soon as.

Golf Oscar Echo Kilo Oscar Roger your Pan, join for left base runway

Just out of morbid curiosity, what happens if the other 1 fails?

We've got a good glide range, so we'll make it to the airfield from here.

Alright, so 1 of our batteries is down, so Miles I think we're going to head back now, right?

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Money Talks: Will green flying take off?