In separate presentations at the Australian Avalon Air Show, Airbus and Boeing highlight the importance of the aviation industry, with an environmental focus.
Stephen Foshaw, chief executive of Airbus in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, says aviation has an urgent need for decarbonization. This is because they give them a “license” to continue running decades away, especially as consumers become more aware of carbon emissions.
He also observes that 80% of Australian jet fuel was imported in 2024 compared to just 50% ago 10 years ago. This creates energy security issues.
On how to solve these problems, Forshaw says Australia is very well placed to produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) given the raw materials are ready.
In addition to providing energy security, robust Australian SAF functions also provide employment and, most importantly, reduce flight-related emissions.
Boeing used the show to present on Cascade 2.0, a publicly-plied Climate Impact model that allows users to adjust different variables to map the industry's decarbonization journey.
Ryan Fawcet, vice-president of environmental sustainability demonstrating cascades to reporters at Boeing's stand, helped manipulate factors such as air transport growth, fuel type, aircraft type, operational efficiency and other factors to assess the long-term impact on emissions reductions.
As a demonstration, he formulated one hypothesis to combine sustainable aviation fuels, offsets, new aircraft types, and operations to significantly reduce emissions by 2050.
Faucett said the tool will help policymakers and other industry participants measure the impact of a variety of factors involved in reducing industry emissions.
“It portrays exactly what you need in every set of removals to reach net zero,” says Faucett.
Under IATA's net zero goal, the airline hopes to achieve net zero carbon emissions in global air transport by 2050 through sustainable aviation fuels, new technologies, operational efficiency and carbon offsetting.
