The French State will dedicate 435 million euros in 2023 to the decarbonisation of the air transport sector, the Delegate Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, announced this Friday during a meeting of industry players at the Airbus premises in Toulouse.
“The decarbonisation of aviation is not an option, it is an obligation”, the minister declared in a press release, thus committing herself to “accompany the sector in this essential transition for its future”.
At the beginning of the year, the Government announced the granting of 800 million euros to the Civil Aeronautical Research Council (Corac), which brings together industry players in the sector and the State, with the aim of developing the first low-powered engine by 2030. in aircraft carbon.
2 to 3% of CO2 emissions
Of these 800 million euros, 300 million were to be deployed in 2022, then 300 million in 2023 and 200 million in 2024. It is the envelope for 2023 that is now inflated with 435 million, an increase of 135 million euros.
Asked by AFP about the projects under study and the distribution of this budget of almost 500 million euros, the ministry replied that “the programming is being defined with the sector.”
Aeronautical players are already working on technological innovations to reduce CO2 emissions from aircraft.
Airbus, which has committed to running its planes on 100% green fuels by 2030, is developing a hydrogen plane. For his part, Safran is working on electrical equipment.
Aviation accounts for between 2 and 3% of global CO2 emissions, the main greenhouse gas, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN agency.
Anemic from the Covid-19 pandemic, global air traffic is expected to have 10 billion passengers in 2050, more than double its 2019 level. That’s a lot more emissions if nothing is done.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which brings together the vast majority of airlines, and the aviation industry have committed to reducing net CO2 emissions to zero by 2050, including controversial carbon offset mechanisms.
Source: BFM TV
