China News Service, September 13 (Zhongxin Finance and Economics Gong Hongyu) "Globally, reducing carbon emissions and controlling carbon is not an easy task for the aviation industry, especially there are few ways to achieve carbon neutrality. But one of the A very effective way is to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which can reduce carbon emissions by 80% or more.” said Li Zaixin, general manager of Cathay Pacific China.
Recently, the "Haichuang Forum • 2022" co-hosted by the Central Committee of the Zhigong Party and the Beijing CPPCC and undertaken by China News Network was held in Beijing. The forum focused on topics such as the "dual-carbon" strategy and green transformation for in-depth discussions.
During the period, Li Zaixin accepted an exclusive interview with Chinanews.com.
Li Zaixin, General Manager of Cathay Pacific China (Photo provided)
At present, the topic of emission reduction and carbon reduction has attracted much attention around the world.
Li Zaixin said that there are four main measures for airlines to reduce carbon emissions: one is technological innovation, that is, the introduction of lower-carbon and fuel-efficient aircraft, including electric aircraft and hydrogen-powered aircraft; the second is the improvement of operational efficiency, including aircraft reduction. The third is sustainable aviation fuel; the fourth is the market mechanism, that is, the aviation industry achieves its own emission reduction goal by purchasing carbon emission reduction indicators from other industries.
"Among these measures, sustainable aviation fuel has the greatest contribution to achieving the carbon neutrality goal of 2050, and the contribution to emission reduction can reach 80%." Li Zaixin said.
Li Zaixin said that in order to meet the goal of using 10% sustainable jet fuel by 2030, Cathay Pacific is gradually increasing the proportion of sustainable jet fuel used every year.
With the continuous advancement of technology, the increase of supply, the reduction of cost, and the support of national policies, the widespread use of sustainable aviation fuel in the aviation industry will be just around the corner.
At the same time, she also pointed out that the current application of sustainable fuels faces some difficulties and challenges.
First, the global supply of SAF is very small, and the current substitution rate of SAF for traditional jet fuel is less than 1/1,000; secondly, the price of sustainable jet fuel is high, 3-5 times that of traditional jet fuel, and the premium causes Commercially unsustainable; finally, the development of a sustainable aviation fuel industry, with increased supply and lower prices, requires the government to introduce corresponding policies to guide it.
In addition, in response to recent measures such as China's adjustment of the circuit breaker policy for international flights and the resumption of international cargo flights at Daxing Airport, Li Zaixin said in an interview that China's adjustment of circuit breaker measures for international flights will play a positive role in the recovery of international flights and will help the aviation industry to gradually recover. recovery.
"Cathay Pacific will continue to work hard to restore more passenger capacity and rebuild the flight network connection at the Hong Kong hub. By the end of this year, Cathay Pacific's passenger and cargo capacity will reach about a quarter and about 65% of their pre-pandemic levels, respectively. "(Finish)