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Denmark aims to reach fully fossil-fuel-free domestic aviation
by 2030 while making sure that consumers have a domestic "green"
aviation option by 2025.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made the government's pledge in her annual speech on
New Year's Day.
The Nordic state aims to get on track to reach economy-wide
net-zero emissions by 2050. Denmark's government in 2019 agreed to increase the pace of
decarbonization, vowing to slash its 1990 emissions not by 40% but
by 70% by 2030.
But greener flight requires developing aviation technologies, as
currently planes are only allowed to operate on a 50% sustainable
aviation fuel (SAF) and fossil fuel blend, according to BP.
The prime minister noted that Denmark's private sector and
universities, like Aalborg University, are working to develop
greener technologies and fuels for planes.
The first SAF made from biogas, CO2, and hydrogen can be
produced in Denmark and the Nordic countries by 2025, according to
a 2019 University of Southern Denmark
study.
Denmark's public grant agency is funding the Energy Cluster
Denmark consortium to commercialize SAF made from biomass.
Last May Denmark notched an SAF "first" through Shell joint
venture DCC & Shell Aviation.
The SAF was made from "sustainably sourced, renewable waste" to
allow airline Alsie Express to fly between the Danish cities of
Sønderborg and Copenhagen. It was supplied as part of 2020 SAF
supply agreement between Shell and Finnish refiner Neste.
For now, however, the prevailing practice to decarbonize
aviation in Denmark is to use offsets, Shell said.
Building on past success
But the country hopes to repeat its past green innovation
successes when it comes to SAF.
Most Danish electricity comes from wind power, which stands to
reason as Denmark is the birthplace of offshore wind technology. It
is home to a booming offshore wind sector that will expand yet
further following a recent tender round.
In Europe, where EU-wide carbon neutrality proposals would increase carbon taxes for aviation
emissions, other countries are moving on separate paths to cut
back on aviation's fossil fuel use.
The UK government in 2021 mulled making jet fuel suppliers blend
an increasing proportion of SAF into their aviation fuel in 2025.
Recently, the UK also announced the design of an experimental
zero-carbon liquid hydrogen plane that might
one-day allow "guilt-free flying."
Last May, France's parliament passed a bill that foresees a
reduction of domestic airline emissions, in line with the country's
2050 net-zero target.
France's Climate and Resilience Bill
requires passengers to travel by train in lieu of short-haul
domestic flights, making it "one of the first countries in the
world to prioritize trains over air travel wherever possible." It
also ensures that, in 2024, airlines will have to buy carbon
offsets that counteract their domestic flight emissions.
Posted 06 January 2022 by Cristina Brooks, Senior Journalist, Climate and Sustainability