CNN Spotlight on Airline Emissions

In today’s political “climate” (no pun intended), air travel has become an adversary of environmentalists, labeled as “the world’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gases,” spewing more than 600 million tons of CO2 annually. However, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air travel only makes up 3% of greenhouse emissions.
Environmentalist, however, will [...]

In today’s political “climate” (no pun intended), air travel has become an adversary of environmentalists, labeled as “the world’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gases,” spewing more than 600 million tons of CO2 annually. However, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air travel only makes up 3% of greenhouse emissions.

Environmentalist, however, will argue that this figure is false, in that it does not take into account “radiative forcing”, where the impact of airplane emissions in the upper atmosphere is 2.7x greater. This figure brings the airlines’ contribution to greenhouse gas emissions up to 13%.

In today’s skies, there are over 17,000 commercial airplanes soaring about, and that figure is expected to rise to approximately 30,000 over the next 20 years. With this increase comes a jump in airport quantities, adding 1,300 new airports by 2050.

Good for economists, bad for environmentalists.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that global tourism will generate around $7 trillion this year; keep 230 million people in jobs; and contribute 10 percent of global GDP. According to IATA, the aviation industry overall employs 28 million people, generating over $1.4 trillion for the global economy.

IATA claims that it plans for the world’s fleet to be 25% more fuel efficient by 2020, and wants zero emissions planes in the next 50 years. This brings to mind bio-fuels, solar power and other alternatives to power generation for and on commercial flights.

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