Aviation industry leaders Swiss and Lufthansa take carbon reduction seriously by adopting aviation carbon removal technology and SAF.
In a groundbreaking move for the airline sector, SWISS and the Lufthansa Group have become the first major carriers to sign a long-term agreement with Climeworks, a pioneer in direct air capture technology. The partnership signals these companies’ commitment to being early adopters of aviation carbon removal technology to mitigate aviation’s hard-to-abate emissions and secure a more sustainable future for the industry.
Under the multi-year agreement, which will run until 2030, SWISS will leverage Climeworks’ aviation carbon removal technology capabilities to directly remove unavoidable CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently store it underground. This innovative approach complements the airline’s ongoing emissions reduction efforts through sustainable aviation fuel, fleet modernization, and operational efficiencies.
“Partnering with Climeworks reflects our ambition to promote key technologies on the journey to net zero,” said SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx. “To achieve aviation’s climate targets, we must rely on a variety of measures, including rapidly scaling sustainable fuels and carbon removal.”
The aviation industry confronts formidable decarbonization obstacles due to the sector’s heavy reliance on emissions-intensive jet fuels and the lack of readily available low-carbon alternatives for long-haul flights. According to analyses by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), even with aggressive sustainable aviation fuel adoption and radical operational efficiencies, a significant portion of the industry’s emissions will remain hard to abate in the coming decades.
To align with the Paris Agreement’s limits on global temperature rise, IATA estimates a staggering 3 to 12 billion tons of carbon dioxide will need to be actively and permanently removed from the atmosphere annually through 2050. The aviation sector must simultaneously pursue this gargantuan carbon removal requirement in addition to the deep emissions cuts.
Climate scientists and energy experts universally agree that failing to scale up carbon removal solutions over the next decade rapidly will make achieving net zero emissions by 2050 virtually impossible for aviation and other hard-to-abate sectors. The carbon removal capacities required are orders of magnitude higher than current capabilities, necessitating swift cross-industry action and investment to drive innovation and deployment of effective negative emissions technologies like direct air capture.
SWISS and Lufthansa’s pioneering deal with Climeworks to purchase carbon removal from its direct air capture plants signals these leaders’ recognition of this urgent need. By becoming among the first movers in assessing and adopting high-quality aviation carbon removal technology now, they aim to help catalyze the build-out of this critical capacity well in advance of projected future demand across the aviation sector. Experts assert such farsighted commitments from airlines will be pivotal for surmounting the unique decarbonization hurdles they face.
“We’re proud to be the first customers from aviation and take this vital step with Climeworks,” stated Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of the Swiss company specializing in direct air capture and storage. “This partnership accelerates the scale-up of high-quality carbon removal that aviation requires.”
Direct air capture technology is poised to complement sustainable aviation fuel production in the years ahead strategically. As the industry seeks to transition away from conventional jet fuels derived from fossil sources, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) produced from renewable feedstocks or captured carbon dioxide offer a promising low-emission alternative. However, current SAF production is limited by feedstock availability constraints.
Direct air aviation carbon removal technology circumvents this bottleneck by providing a potentially unlimited source of atmospheric carbon dioxide as a raw material input. When combined with renewable hydrogen from electrolysis, the captured CO2 can be synthesized into liquid hydrocarbons constituting SAF through novel power-to-liquid processes. This pathway unlocks massive scalability for SAF supply in the future.
Climeworks’ direct air aviation carbon removal technology is well-positioned to contribute captured CO2 for such SAF production routes. Its modular plants can be co-located with renewable power sources and SAF refineries to enable a decentralized production model. This seamless integration aligns with SWISS’ Fly Net Zero strategy, which already incorporates SAF alongside a suite of emissions reduction initiatives across its operations and fleet.
By proactively investing in scalable direct air aviation carbon removal technology now, SWISS is future-proofing its ability to secure sufficient SAF supply as this key decarbonization lever gains mainstream adoption across the aviation sector in the coming decades. The multi-pronged approach, combining SAF, revolutionary technologies like direct air capture, and improved operational efficiencies, underscores the airline’s commitment to charting an achievable transition to ultra-low emission air travel.
The premium airline also aims to integrate Climeworks’ service into its sustainable travel offerings, allowing customers to contribute to scaling this crucial technology for mitigating climate impacts.
As the urgency to decarbonize intensifies across industries, this landmark deal for real-world use of aviation carbon removal technology demonstrates aviation’s commitment to exploring all viable pathways to meet ambitious net zero targets, securing its long-term viability and ensuring a sustainable future for air travel.
