(Bloomberg) – Airbus SE chief said the aviation industry’s risks are prone to losing its target of eliminating carbon emissions.
“I don’t think it’s wrong for us to do a net worth by 2050,” CEO Guillaume Faury said at a sustainability event at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France on Monday. “Maybe it takes more time, but let’s not be shy.”
Given 2%-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, safe design changes slow down major changes and decades of aircraft life, given the technology and infrastructure challenges.
Working to achieve two zero-target hinges that introduce two major changes – use sustainable fuels in current aircraft and develop new designs such as hydrogen-powered aircraft. Airbus set a goal to produce hydrogen models by 2035, but said in February that it would take longer.
On Monday, Forre outlined the reasons for the delay in more detail. Faury said that while Airbus could build aircraft that have been developing, such projects would not be commercially viable on a large scale. The regulation framework has not been developed and there is no progress in generating sufficient clean hydrogen.
“We will be wrong if it’s too early,” he said. “The time is wrong.”
Delays on new aircraft mean that delays to reach the net zero target are more dependent on the production of clean aviation fuel. These efforts also met challenges, setting up new factory lag targets, which President Donald Trump eliminated with clean fuel subsidies.
“It’s not just a technical issue. It’s a matter of will,” said Bertrand Piccard, chairman of Solar Impulse Foundation, who shared the stage with Faury. It is developing a hydrogen-powered aircraft and highlighting the dual fuselage during the event.
Airbus didn’t say how long it would take for its hydrogen project. Last month, French trade unions said they were told that the aircraft’s service would be delayed by five to ten years.
Faury said the company remains committed to producing hydrogen-energy aircraft that will be commercially competitive.
“We absolutely believe that this is the energy of the future of aviation,” he said. “But it’s just more work to do.”
– Assistance with Guy Johnson.
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