Analysing the opportunities and challenges for mitigating the climate impact of aviation: A narrative review

Lai, Yat Yin; Christley, Emily; Kulanovic, Aneta; Teng, Chung-Hsiang; Björklund, Anna; Nordensvärd, Johan; Karakaya, Emrah; Urban, Florian

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111972

Cited by 57 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…In mid-April 2024, the Tidö government further proposed to half the aviation taxation to stimulate airlines in an economic downturn, which would increase GHG emission with 87 600 tCO2-eq annually. xiv Contrary to recent scientific studies (Lai et al, 2022;Urban et al, 2024), Carlson is confident that aviation will be able to transition to sustainable fuels. xv In addition, some of the Tidö parties like KD and SD have voiced concerns about ambitious EU-level climate policy, e.g.…”

Section: Recent Policy Changes and Proposalsmentioning

confidence: 91%

The ‘Nasty Politics’ of Swedish Climate Governance: A Threat to the Climate and Democracy

von Malmborg

2024

Preprint

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Sweden has long been hailed as a role model in climate policy. But the new right-wing government supported by a far-right populist party is undertaking a paradigm shift in Swedish climate policy and governance. This paper critically analyses this paradigm shift and its impacts on legitimacy, accountability and justice. These are democratic norms important in the analysis of a just transition to climate neutrality. Severe democratic deficits of the policy process and the policies proposed and adopted are identified, suggesting ‘nasty politics’ characterised by populist, divisive, and contentious rhetoric that entrenches polarization and us/them narratives. Climate scientists and the climate justice movement are discriminated in the policy process, the latter also being accused of terrorism and seen as a threat to democracy by the government. The deficits are partly explained by the neo-corporatist political system of Sweden and the dominance of the (neo)liberal discourse of ecological modernization in Swedish environmental policy, but primarily with the ongoing process of autocratization driven by anti-democratic far-right populist parties throughout Europe. The anti-democratic climate policy reforms in Sweden are foreboding an unwelcome development in the EU given the boost of far-right populist parties in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament in June 2024.

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Section: Recent Policy Changes and Proposalsmentioning

confidence: 91%

The ‘Nasty Politics’ of Swedish Climate Governance: A Threat to the Climate and Democracy

von Malmborg

2024

Preprint

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“…In particular, it demands that SAF production deployment be carried out on a more interdisciplinary basis and that industries in Sweden need to be organized in a more integrated way than before. In this sense, the systems approach facilitates LCA studies in accounting for the environmental sustainability of innovative technologies beyond their technical considerations and incorporating socio-political perspectives (Lai et al, 2022). Still, we have utilized a rather limited scope and dimensions of STS in our study, and our simplified version of actors' interdependency analysis could well mean that some actors or interactions are not accounted for.…”

Section: Socio-technical System Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employing a Socio-Technical System Approach in Prospective Life Cycle Assessment: A Case of Large-Scale Swedish Sustainable Aviation Fuels

2022

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Ambitious fossil-free targets imposed on the aviation industry worldwide demand a large volumetric supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to meet. Sweden's commitment to a 30% volume SAF blending target by 2030 attracts interest in local production. However, the sustainability of local production is largely unknown. Addressing this gap, we aim to explore potential SAF technology pathways and assess their environmental performances in Sweden. To do so, we utilize a socio-technical system (STS) approach for pathways selection and prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) for environmental impact assessment. As a result, we identify two lignocellulosic-based and two electrofuel-based pathways and evaluate their global warming potential, mineral depletion potential, ionizing radiation, land use, freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity impact in comparison to jet fuel. Our findings show that the well-to-wake global warming potential (100 years) of 30% SAF is on average 20% lower than that of jet fuel, with non-carbon dioxide species emitted in flight being the major contributors, prompting the need for urgent research efforts to mitigate their potential impacts. Under the assumption that no burdens are allocated to waste material used as feedstock, lignocellulosic-based 100% SAF has a well-to-pump climate impact (100 years) ranging from 0.6 to 1.5 g CO2−eq/MJ compared to jet fuel's 10.5 g CO2−eq/MJ. In contrast, the well-to-pump climate impact (100 years) of electrofuel-based 100% SAF (ranging from 7.8 to 8.2 g CO2−eq/MJ) is only marginally lower than that of jet fuel, mainly attributed to emissions from steel and concrete produced for wind turbine manufacturing. In general, the use of electricity generated by wind power could shift the potential environmental burden associated with jet fuel from global warming to mineral depletion, land use, freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity. The STS approach underscores the need to prioritize changes in systems underpinning SAF production, in turn supporting policy and investment decision making.

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“…Innovative technologies are offering alternatives to fossil-based jet fuels, but each option faces challenges, such as cost, investment, market formation, political support, and consumer acceptance. Although forestry residues are the potential raw material for SAF production, high costs, lack of production facilities, limited government subsidies, concerns about the sustainability and competitiveness of raw materials, and customer willingness to pay less are decisive factors for their usage [92]. The aerospace industry has promised a scale-up of biofuel use for more than a decade, but this promise is still unfulfilled.…”

Section: Efficiency and Fuel Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global commercial aviation policies in the context of the climate crisis and an analysis of these approaches from the perspective of Türkiye

GÜRÇAM¹

2022

Environmental Research and Technology

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The climate crisis is becoming more visible day by day and is affecting the ecological system more and more. However, despite such a visible threat and its severe effects, efforts at the national and international levels are far from tackling the climate crisis. Especially with its rapid growth and ever-increasing emission rates, the commercial aviation sector remains inadequate in combating the climate crisis. This study discusses the struggles of the global commercial aviation sector in terms of the climate crisis and the reflections of this combat on the Turkish commercial aviation sector. As a result, both international and domestic commercial aviation sectors follow an unrealistic attitude in the fight against the climate crisis, and there is still a long way to go.

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Analysing the opportunities and challenges for mitigating the climate impact of aviation: A narrative review

Cited by 57 publications

References 114 publications

The ‘Nasty Politics’ of Swedish Climate Governance: A Threat to the Climate and Democracy

The ‘Nasty Politics’ of Swedish Climate Governance: A Threat to the Climate and Democracy

Employing a Socio-Technical System Approach in Prospective Life Cycle Assessment: A Case of Large-Scale Swedish Sustainable Aviation Fuels

Global commercial aviation policies in the context of the climate crisis and an analysis of these approaches from the perspective of Türkiye

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