Germany strives for establishing climate-neutral aviation industry – Scholz
Die Welt / Clean Energy Wire
Aviation industry representatives and political leaders in Germany have vowed to address the urgent transform in air traffic and make the business future-proof at the 3rd National Aviation Conference in Hamburg. “Our big goal is clear: we want to become climate neutral by 2045 and at the same time remain a successful industrial country with further growth opportunities,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an article by newspaper Die Welt. Scholz said he is confident that the industry will have “a good future” in Germany. “Our business location needs functioning and sustainable air traffic,” said transport minister Volker Wissing in a statement. “Nobody will be helped if we slow down our domestic aviation and let foreign providers who are less sustainability-oriented fill the gap.” Government measures announced ahead of the conference include: supporting airlines and airports in reducing greenhouse gases by promoting innovation and research; ensuring fair competition in air transport; investing in the development of a market for e-fuels and funding of hydrogen technologies; promoting uniform minimum standards at the international civil aviation organisation (ICAO), a programme to test climate-optimised flight routes; and the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) new flying H2 test laboratory UpLift, which is open to all companies that want to test hydrogen technology approaches in practical use in aircraft.
Aviation, which is a major industrial sector for Germany, is responsible for about 3 percent percent of global CO2 emissions. Economy minister Robert Habeck stressed that “no aircraft in the world flies without parts from Germany” and the government would ensure that the country retains a successful aviation hardware sector. “The idea that we will save the climate and do without an aviation industry is just naïve,” Habeck added. The government recently also announced that aims to make aviation cleaner by supplying aircraft with renewable electricity during airport stops.
