It is now easier than ever to send or receive a product anywhere in the world thanks to the development of air freight transportation. If you live in the United States, you can have an order from China at your door within a matter of days, which is rather impressive. However, environmentalists are less than impressed, as air cargo is responsible for high CO2 emissions. With climate change and sustainability often topics of conversation these days, air freight carriers are being forced to re-think how they operate to minimize their environmental impact.
Freight transportation methods
There are four main types of freight transportation: air, sea, road, and rail. Here is a short comparison of their features:
Like every mode of transport, air cargo comes with its advantages and disadvantages. It is by far the fastest mode of transport, reliable departure and arrival information can be provided, destinations across the world can be reached and a high level of security is maintained, making it useful for transporting urgent, perishable, live and pharmaceutical goods. It sounds good, right? But due to its high costs and limited capacity, it is not always the best option. Then there is the topic of sustainability…
The impact of air cargo on the environment
The topics of the environment, sustainability and carbon footprints are becoming more widely discussed today, making it essential for companies to consider these issues when deciding on a shipping method for their goods.
This table shows the amount of CO2 (in grams) emitted per metric ton of freight and per km of transportation:
Based on these statistics, there is no doubt that air cargo is the worst type of transport for the environment, with air freight producing around 10 times more CO2 than ship transportation. There’s some science behind this fact: because aircraft emissions are released higher in the atmosphere than ships or trucks, they have a greater effect on the atmospheric chemistry. As the damage caused to the environment is so severe, it seems impossible to minimize.
The journey to becoming sustainable
In a response to government regulations and environment concerns, aviation companies are developing new ways to offset the negative impacts of air cargo on the environment:
- Using more sustainable fuel
More and more aircrafts are using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which has been shown to provide significant reductions in CO2 emissions by up to 80% in some cases.
Learn more about SAF and its benefits here:
- Using more efficient aircrafts
When trying to improve efficiency, the design, weight, and fuel of an aircraft are all important. Optimal speed, weight, and flight paths are being sought by companies to reduce emissions as well as costs.
Here are some modern features being installed on aircrafts:
- Winglets are devices placed on plane wings that are used to improve aerodynamic efficiency which can cut emissions by 6%.
- Improved in-flight navigation systems can allow pilots to avoid unfavorable weather conditions, which can save 4 tons of CO2 per flight.
- Continuous climb and descent operations which provides the best flight path to decrease fuel consumption and emissions
- 3D printing allows materials to be made with less weight, increasing efficiency.
- Investing in carbon offsets
If you’re wondering what a carbon offset is, it is basically a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. An example of this would be an air freight company investing in tree planting, where it would take around 15 trees to offset 1 ton of carbon that they previously produced.
Air cargo companies committed to sustainability
- Lufthansa Cargo
In November 2020, Lufthansa Cargo and DB Schenker collaborated to carry out the first CO2-neutral freight flights using SAF. The first cargo-neutral Boeing 777F flight from Frankfurt to Shanghai helped to set the tone for a sustainable future in the industry. Peter Gerber, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo noted that the company are “committed to the increased research and use of SAF… and Lufthansa Cargo takes its corporate responsibility very seriously”.
- Air France KLM Martinair (AFKLMP)
A week after Lufthansa’s carbon-neutral cargo flight program begun, AFKLMP launched the world’s first SAF program for the air cargo industry. The aim of the scheme is to allow more freight forwarders and shippers to reduce harmful emissions and work together to help the environment.
- Cargolux
The Luxembourgian air cargo carrier are committed to achieving sustainability across their operations. They operate the most fuel-efficient and quietest long-range wide-body aircraft, the Boeing 747-400 and 747-8 freighter. The company have claimed that they “produce less noise and emit less CO2 than many other cargo airlines operating older aircraft types”.
- FedEx
In March 2021, FedEx announced that they would invest over $2 billion to try and achieve carbon-neutral operations over the next 20 years. The carrier has revealed that they cut aircraft emissions by 24% since 2005 and avoided over 14.9 million tons (13.5 million metric tons) of CO2 emissions.
Closing thoughts
Although air cargo carriers across the world are trying their best to become more environmentally friendly, achieving this will be a hard task over a long period of time. People across the world rely on the industry and being able to have quick access to goods is more important than ever. Carriers must tackle the headwind that is sustainability and develop new strategies to keep emissions down.
