Other Industries, Individuals In Britain Would Have To Cut Emissions 90% By 2050, Report Says

If airlines continue to grow, the British government's Climate Change Committee warns that every other segment of the country will have to cut their emissions by as much as 90 percent by 2050, a new report shows.

That has caused the committee to call for caps on airline emissions during the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks.

The BBC reports that, in a letter to the Transport Secretary Lord Andrew Adonis and the Climate Secretary Ed Miliband, the committee says the aviation industry will have to cut emissions from planes back to their 2005 level by 2050. That's a far less stringent target than the reduction to 80% of 1990 emissions by 2050 called for in the overall UK target. If not, then the committee says the rest of the nation will be forced to cut emissions 90% to accommodate the aviation sector.

There are alternatives, according to the committee. Use of biofuels or new technology could help cut emissions below 2005 levels, or airlines might purchase carbon credits to continue operations.

Among the recommendations of the committee are that All CO2 emissions from aviation should be capped, either through a global aviation deal or by including international aviation emissions in national emission reduction targets. Emissions allowances for aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme, says the CCC, should be fully auctioned to prevent windfall profits for airlines, and funds should be found for radical innovation in engine, airframe and fuel technology, the BBC reports.

Opponents of cap and trade say the emissions reduction scheme could wind up costing passengers double for an airline ticket, but committee Chief Executive David Kennedy said there was no evidence that was the case. He said taxes would rise "very gently," and in the first decade would be "barely noticeable."

Greenpeace Activist Vicky Wyatt told the BBC the only way to make real cuts in airline emissions is to stop airport expansion, like the addition of a third runway at Heathrow, which Kennedy said could be a point of discussion in a more extensive review of Britain's aviation system later this year.

FMI: www.theccc.org.uk