Climate Crisis Staff Report Aims to Build Back a Cleaner, More Resilient Aviation Sector | Article

On June 30, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released its staff report, Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. The report is informed by over a year and a half of public engagement and research, including 17 hearings on a wide variety of climate change issues and hundreds of suggestions from stakeholders—such as EESI—and the public. This article is part of a series highlighting key policy suggestions from the Select Committee.

Decarbonizing Aviation

Aviation is one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonize. Yet, to reach an economy wide net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, as laid out in the Select Committee staff report, aviation must be part of the solution. The report takes into account current strategies and legislative proposals in an effort to reduce aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions and ensure the nation’s airspace system is resilient as the U.S. confronts the hazards of a changing climate and rebuilds from the coronavirus devastation.

Although the pandemic’s effect on commercial aviation is without a close historical precedent, the industry has proven resilient to past shocks, such as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Still, the pandemic is causing the deepest economic contraction in the history of commercial aviation. The impact is so large, the sector will likely not fully recover until a COVID-19 vaccine is available and widely distributed and the economy regains strength. After the COVID crisis passes, industry growth will certainly resume, although its recovered size and structure are unclear. According to an Energy Information Administration projection made before the pandemic, U.S. aviation CO2 emissions will increase 36 percent by 2050 as compared to 2019 without additional policies supporting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. If “business as usual” for global aviation is pursued, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reports that emissions worldwide could triple by 2050. The solution, according to the report, “is not to end air travel,” but to encourage innovation that will lower emissions, provide good-paying jobs, and sustain American competitiveness."

Two primary paths for reducing aviation’s contribution to climate change are outlined in the report. The first pathway is to increase aircraft efficiency through technology improvements driven by emission standards, and the second is to use sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) produced from biological feedstock. Strategies for improving the climate resilience of the nation’s airports and upgrading airport ground support equipment are additional components of the report's aviation recommendations.

CO2 Standard

In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established CO2 emission standards for new and in-production aircraft that will be fully enforced worldwide in 2028. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority under the Clean Air Act to accept the ICAO standards or adopt more stringent CO2 reduction requirements for aircraft produced in the United States. The ICCT notes that, beginning this year, the average new aircraft is expected to “overperform” the CO2 standard by about 10 percent, eight years ahead of the enforcement of the ICAO requirement. Given that the average new aircraft in the U.S. fleet already meets the CO2 standard, the ICAO rule is not expected to result in efficiency improvements. The Select Committee Staff report recommends the EPA adopt a more stringent “technology-forcing” standard, instead of a “technology-following” one, for aircraft produced in the United States.

RDD&D

An efficiency standard that pushes new technology will require greater funding of federally supported research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) projects aimed at reducing aircraft emissions. Consistent with EESI’s recommendations to the committee for a robust research and development program, the report recommends increasing federal RDD&D funding at “NASA, DOE, FAA, and other relevant agencies into electrified propulsion systems, advanced materials, and more energy-efficient aviation technology.”

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts research and development in propulsion, lightweight materials, efficient airframe design, and electrification. The Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT) is a “cooperative aviation research organization” under the leadership of Washington State University and MIT funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, the Department of Defense, Transport Canada, and EPA. The organization is a Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and the Environment with a mission to reduce the climate, local air quality, and noise impact of aviation, and help develop sustainable aviation fuels at commercial scale. FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program is a collection of projects with industry partners focusing on lower-emission engine technologies, efficiency, and developing sustainable alternative jet fuels. The Department of Energy's (DOE) Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO) is working with other federal agencies, national laboratories, industry stakeholders, airlines, and the military to advance aviation biofuels by conducting research in the areas of feedstocks, fuel conversion, scale-up, and fuel testing. BETO also works with project partners on market development.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels

The Select Committee staff report also emphasizes that using SAF is a key strategy to substantially lower aviation CO2 emissions in the near- and medium-term. Full electrification for medium-size airliners (like a Boeing 737-800/900 or Airbus 320) over distances of several hundred miles is unlikely before mid-century, and hybrid configurations combining conventional turbofan engines and electric propulsion will still require liquid fuel. The report lists the requirements for SAF to be a suitable alternative to conventional fuel: it must meet certified safety standards; generate considerably less CO2 as measured in a life cycle analysis that includes indirect sources of greenhouse gases, such as land-use change; and be produced economically at scale.

To encourage cost-effective production at scale, the report recommends three measures. First, Congress should extend the biodiesel and renewable diesel tax credit that applies to SAF for five years past its expiration in 2022 and add a life-cycle carbon intensity requirement. Second, to overcome the cost disadvantage when compared to conventional fuel, the Department of Transportation or DOE should offer a competitive grant or cost-share program to assist in production, delivery, or storage of SAF. Third, the report recommends creating market incentives and certainty by amending the Renewable Fuels Standard or by passing a new law to establish a credit multiplier for sustainable aviation fuels that meet an especially low carbon standard.

Ground Support Equipment and Vehicles

The report encourages the use of lower- or zero-emission airport ground support equipment and vehicles by expanding the FAA’s Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) Program. Currently, the program provides grants for airports located in non-attainment or maintenance areas* of National Ambient Air Quality Standards to replace these vehicles and equipment with low- or zero-emission equipment. The report proposes expanding the VALE program to include airports outside of non-attainment or maintenance areas, and to include projects that eliminate GHG emissions, not just criteria pollutants. Additionally, the report recommends ensuring that electric propulsion aircraft charging infrastructure is eligible for grant funding.

Airport Resilience

The final aviation report recommendation addresses the resilience of airports to climate change. Extreme weather can close airports. High temperatures can soften asphalt tarmac, and present takeoff problems for certain aircraft. The report notes “13 of the nation’s 47 busiest airports in the country have at least one runway within 12 feet of sea level.” Storm surge and tidal flooding could inundate these runways. The report recommends Congress increase funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). Funds in this program should be available for airport climate resilience assessments and projects, and dependent on recipients’ adherence to labor, environmental, and civil rights statutes.

The Select Committee staff report recommendations on aviation present a plan for taking on the major challenge of decarbonizing an energy-intensive sector. Aircraft technology improvements and sustainable fuels will both be essential solutions, and are consistent with EESI’s recommendations. Both strategies illustrate the critical role of the federal government with its financial, technical, and leadership resources in multiple agencies. Aviation will recover from the pandemic contraction. It is essential that a plan be in place for the industry to contribute its share to a net-zero 2050, and to be prepared and resilient as the climate changes.

Author: Jeff Overton

*A “maintenance area” is an area previously designated as non-attaining, restored to attainment classification and requiring a maintenance plan to ensure the attainment standard is maintained. (https://www4.des.state.nh.us/appc/?page_id=27)