easyJet signs Letter of Intent with Airbus to support development of carbon removal solutions

• Latest IPCC report describes carbon dioxide removal as essential to addressing climate change
• Governments to recognise and incentivise contribution of negative emissions technologies to achieve net-zero targets

London, UK, 2022-Jul-19 — /Travel PR News/ — easyJet has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Airbus to support the development of carbon removal technology and explore opportunities for a future supply of carbon removal credits from direct air capture technology.

Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) is a high-potential technology that captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and then securely stores it underground. This can help counteract carbon emissions from hard to abate sectors, such as aviation, and even address historic carbon emitted in the past that remains in our atmosphere.

easyJet is among the first airlines in the world to support this nascent technology, which is recognised by climate scientists, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as critical to help the world go beyond climate change mitigation and support the achievement of net-zero targets.

Last year, easyJet joined the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign and committed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The airline has also recently announced its interim carbon reduction target, a 35% carbon emissions intensity improvement by FY2035 on a FY2020 baseline, in line with the Science-Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) sectoral decarbonisation pathway.

Carbon removal solutions will play a key role in the future to address any residual carbon emissions, while the airline’s ultimate ambition is to achieve zero carbon emission flying. easyJet is working with partners across the industry, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, on several dedicated projects to accelerate the development of future zero carbon emission aircraft technology.

The carbon removal certificates will be issued by Airbus’ partner 1PointFive – the licensed US partner of climate solutions company Carbon Engineering. Airbus’ partnership with 1PointFive includes the offtake or removal of 100,000 tonnes of carbon per year over 4 years. As part of the agreement, easyJet has committed to engage in negotiations on the possible pre-purchase of verified and durable carbon removals starting in 2025 through to 2028.

While the aviation industry has taken the initiative to support nascent direct air capture technology, it is essential that governments recognise the contribution of carbon removal solutions to achieve net-zero targets and introduce policy instruments and financial incentives to support negative emissions technologies. These will be critical to making these new technologies viable and successful.

Jane Ashton, easyJet’s Director of Sustainability, said:

“Decarbonising a hard to abate sector, such as aviation, is a huge challenge, that no one airline can tackle alone and it’s great to see the industry coming together through Airbus’ initiative.

“We believe that carbon removal solutions will be an essential element of our pathway to net-zero, complementing other components such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which has a similar net impact on carbon reduction, and helping us to neutralise any residual emissions in the future.

“Direct air capture is a nascent technology with a huge potential, so we are very pleased to be part of this important initiative and hope that governments will also recognise the potential of this technology and introduce policy instruments and financial incentives in its support.

“Ultimately, our ambition is to achieve zero carbon emission flying, and we are working with partners across the industry, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, on several dedicated projects to accelerate the development of future zero carbon emission aircraft technology.”

About easyJet

easyJet is Europe’s leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe’s primary airports, with great value fares and friendly service.

easyJet flies on more of Europe’s most popular routes than any other airline and carried more than 96 million passengers in 2019 – more than 16 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft on nearly 1000 routes to more than 150 airports across 35 countries. Over 300 million Europeans live within one hour’s drive of an easyJet airport.

easyJet aims to be a good corporate citizen, employing people on local contracts in eight countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports several local charities and has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised over £14m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline takes sustainability seriously and is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions flying by 2050. Together with its partners, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, easyJet is working to accelerate the development of zero-emission aircraft technology. In the meantime, the airline is offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all its flights, at no additional cost to its customers, and only supports projects that are certified by Gold Standard or the Verified Carbon Standard, internationally recognised certification schemes. In addition, easyJet continues to renew its fleet, operate efficiently, and aims to fill most of its seats. Since 2000, over a 20-year period, the airline reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by over one-third, and aims to bring this down further.

Innovation is in easyJet’s DNA – since launching over 25 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers.

The airline was named as Britain’s Most Admired Company of 2020 in the transport sector, retaining the leading position for a second year running. Britain’s Most Admired Companies study is the longest-running annual survey of corporate reputation in the UK.

Contact:

Press Office
01582 525252
www.easyJet.com
@easyJet_Press

Source: easyJet

###

Subscribe to Notifications