FutureFlight On The Radar
Roland Berger Issues Road Map to Get Aviation to Net Zero Sustainability by 2050
Replacing old aircraft, new propulsion technology, better air traffic management and sustainable fuels are all part of Roland Berger's mix of environmental improvements for the air transport sector.

Even allowing for the hopefully short-term reduction of airline traffic volumes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will triple by 2050, according to aviation consultancy Roland Berger. In fact, current annual levels of 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions had appeared likely to quadruple by 2050, but now emission levels are set to fall during 2020, followed by some “muted growth” anticipated for the next few years, according to a new study released by the company on July 21 during the FIA Connect event.

However, according to project manager Nikhil Sachdeva, CO2 emissions are not the only challenging aspect of aviation’s environmental footprint. Factoring in other contaminants such as oxides from nitrogen, water vapor, sulfites, soot, contrails, and aviation-induced cloudiness, the sector’s impact could end up three times higher than that of CO2 alone by 2050.