Federal government to achieve CO2-neutral air traffic by 2050

News-Sustainability-Today

Bern – The Federal Council wants to make air traffic climate-neutral by 2050. A corresponding report defines the necessary measures. In addition to sustainable aviation fuels, technologies for the extraction and storage of CO2 are also to be used.

The Federal Council believes it is possible to make air traffic CO2-neutral by 2050. A postulate report adopted at the meeting on February 21 sets out the direction for climate-friendly air traffic, the Federal Council announced in a press release. The prerequisite for this is that the industry invests “a lot of resources in research and development of technical measures in the coming years”.

According to the report, the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) is a priority for achieving this goal. According to the CO2 Act, they must be added from next year. Undesirable effects on the environment and adverse effects on the production of food and animal feed are to be excluded by means of defined criteria.

The report identifies efficiency improvements in the fleet and flight operations as further levers for achieving the targets. The emissions trading system already provides further incentives for CO2 reductions, writes the Federal Council. Together, these measures could reduce CO2 emissions from Swiss air traffic by 70 percent, according to estimates. According to the Federal Council, additional technologies for the extraction and storage of CO2, so-called negative emission technologies, are required to fully meet the net-zero target by 2050. ce/hs