WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chief executives of major US airlines are due to meet with two key White House advisers on Friday on efforts to reduce carbon emissions and use renewable fuels, five people told Reuters topic.
The executive directors of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are among those invited to meet with White House National Climate Change Adviser Gina McCarthy and Economic Adviser Brian Deese to discuss environmental issues related to air travel, including the use of greener fuels. to fuel air travel.
The White House and a spokeswoman for a group representing airlines declined to comment.
McCarthy told Reuters earlier this month that he had begun talks with the utility and automotive sectors about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She said the talks were part of a comprehensive effort by the Biden administration to hire each federal agency to decarbonize the US energy sector by 2035 and the entire economy by 2050.
Reuters reported last week that US airlines and renewable energy companies were putting pressure on the Biden administration to support a significant increase in low-carbon aviation fuel subsidies. They say new incentives are needed to help fight climate change.
Air travel contributes about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the Air Transport Task Force said. This percentage is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades if airlines do not switch quickly to “sustainable aviation fuel”.
Such a fuel is made from waste from biological sources, such as old cooking oil, animal fats and vegetable oils. It is much more expensive than traditional aircraft fuel.
Speaking at an Axios event about the future of green travel, United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby said the investment in research and development needed to bring the entire economy to zero net emissions will require government support.
United is committed to a multi-million dollar investment in carbon capture, a technology designed to aspirate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as part of a plan that will be 100% green by 2050.
The industry trade group Airlines for America previously told Reuters that it had also been in contact with Biden climate change officials to discuss expanding the sustainable aviation fuel market.
A4A members currently use only about 1.5 million gallons of green fuel for aircraft in the United States per year, out of a total commercial fuel market that exceeds 620 million barrels annually. (One barrel of aircraft fuel contains 42 gallons.)
Many other countries have already proposed or are exploring sustainable fuel mandates for aviation as a means of addressing increased carbon production from air travel. A mandate in Norway entered into force in January 2020, while the Netherlands will have one in force by 2023.
European requirements are expected to be addressed at the White House meeting.
Globally, more than 250,000 flights have run on sustainable aviation fuel since 2016, while in 2020 there have been approximately 10.6 million gallons, the International Air Transport Association said.
Boeing Co. of Chicago is committed to flying 100% sustainable aviation fuels by 2030, it said in January.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Jarett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Edited by Rosalba O’Brien and Matthew Lewis