CFP Energy study reveals major net zero hurdles for aviation

Energy and environmental solutions provider CFP Energy has published the findings of a survey that provides critical insight into the decarbonisation approaches of aviation operators navigating a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.

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The report surveyed over 500 organisations in high-emission sectors across the UK, Germany and France.

To meet net-zero goals, aviation operators are diversifying their use of green technologies and products
Biofuels (53%) and Voluntary Carbon Markets (51%) dominate current decarbonisation efforts, while hydrogen, with 42% adoption, highlights the sector's shift toward alternative fuels. Green Certificates (44%) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) (48%) are also gaining traction as companies diversify their carbon strategies.

Aviation operators revealed uneven decarbonisation progress across the UK, Germany, and France
When analysing survey results, 90% of respondents reported publishing a net-zero transition plan, yet 13% admitted they were failing to meet their targets. In France, 17% of respondents acknowledged delays in their plans, compared to just 7% in Germany.

Major barriers
Despite significant progress, senior stakeholders across the European aviation industry identified major barriers to achieving net zero, including funding constraints (61%), technology availability (60%), knowledge gaps (54%), and regulatory complexities (53%).

These challenges emerge as COP29 prepares to address carbon credit standards and greenhouse gas removal frameworks under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. European and UK aviation stakeholders are poised to play a crucial role in advancing sustainable carbon markets and refining net-zero strategies for the sector and beyond.

Tim Atkinson, Director of Sales and Structuring at CFP Energy commented on the survey findings: "It's encouraging to see many of the survey participants are planning for rises in future ETS carbon prices and taking advantage of the flexibility carbon markets offer to manage rising compliance costs, whilst technology challenges are addressed.

It has never been more important for businesses to ensure they are prepared for the paradigm shift of tougher targets and higher carbon prices that are set to impact both the UK and EU Emissions Trading Schemes over the next five to 10 years."

Catherine Newman, Chief Operating Officer at CFP Energy, said: "In the survey results and within our own client base, we see strong uptake of PPAs, Green Certificates, Voluntary Carbon Credits and biofuels across Europe, which is an encouraging sign but there are still significant gaps in knowledge across the industries that we have surveyed.

"What is most interesting is the barriers that industry stakeholders attribute to holding their respective sectors back. Between funding issues, regulations, knowledge gaps and a lack of technology, large-scale organisations face a mountain of issues to overcome.

"We hope this report provides business leaders with actionable solutions to tackle decarbonisation amidst volatile conditions. The solutions to decarbonise exist, we simply need to provide better access to them."

Access the full results, here (pdf download).