Climate Change Mitigation Pathways for the Aviation Sector

Md Arif Hasan, Abdullah Al Mamun, Syed Masiur Rahman, Karim Malik, Md. Iqram Uddin Al Amran, Abu Nasser Khondaker, Omer Reshi, Surya Prakash Tiwari and Fahad Saleh Alismail
Additional contact information
Md Arif Hasan: Sustainable Land Use Delivery Division, Ministry for the Environment, 23 Kate Sheppard Place, P.O. Box 10362, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
Abdullah Al Mamun: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Utah, 110 Central Campus Drive, MCE-1435, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Syed Masiur Rahman: Center for Environment & Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Karim Malik: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
Md. Iqram Uddin Al Amran: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka 1206, Bangladesh
Abu Nasser Khondaker: Center for Environment & Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Omer Reshi: Center for Environment & Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Surya Prakash Tiwari: Center for Environment & Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Fahad Saleh Alismail: Center for Environment & Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-29

Abstract: Even though the contribution of the aviation sector to the global economy is very notable, it also has an adverse impact on climate change. Improvements have been made in different areas (i.e., technology, sustainable aviation fuel, and design) to mitigate these adverse effects. However, the rate of improvement is small compared to the increase in the demand for air transportation. Hence, greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation sector are steadily increasing and this trend is expected to continue unless adequately addressed. In this context, this study examined the following: (i) the factors that affect the growth of aviation, (ii) trends in greenhouse gas emissions in the sector, (iii) trends in energy demand, (iv) mitigation pathways of emissions, (v) mitigation challenges for the International Civil Aviation Organization, (vi) achievements in mitigating emissions, (vii) barriers against mitigating emissions, and (viii) approaches of overcoming barriers against emissions mitigation. This study finds that continued research and development efforts targeting aircraft fuel burn efficiency are crucial in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although biofuels are promising for the reduction of aviation emissions, techniques to reduce NOx emissions could enhance large-scale deployment. Pragmatic market-based mechanisms, such as the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and/or carbon tax must be enforced on a global scale to capitalize on a collective stakeholder effort to curb CO 2 emissions. The findings of this study will help in understanding the emissions and energy consumption scenarios, which will provide a comprehensive package of mitigation pathways to overcome future emissions reduction challenges in the aviation sector.

Keywords: aviation sector; greenhouse gas emissions; energy consumption; mitigation; sustainable aviation fuel; ICAO (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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