Greening Air Travel Through Sustainable Fuels Will Be A Tough Climb

Greening Air Travel Through Sustainable Fuels Will Be A Tough Climb

FILE - In this Friday, March 19, 2021 file photo, an airliner lands at Tampa International Airport ... [+] in Tampa, Fla. On Sunday, March 21, more than 1. 5 million people streamed through U. S. airport security checkpoints, the largest number since the pandemic tightened its grip on the United States more than a year ago. However, passenger traffic remains far below 2019 levels. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) As concerns about Covid-19 slowly fade, the skies are becoming friendlier again, with domestic flight traffic creeping up toward pre-pandemic levels. But it's not there yet. By March 2021, passenger traffic increased by 30% from last month, and airlines say it may take a couple of years to fully recover, as remote workplaces continue to disrupt business travel and more folks travel locally. Yet the full recovery of the airline industry is still within sight. Still, airlines must plan to meet their target goals of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Until recently, the industry mostly relied on increases in fuel efficiency for carbon reduction improvements. Fuel is a large operational cost for airlines, and so economics play a powerful motivational role in optimizing fuel, even without the carbon implications. Yet