MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has hired a scientist to outline the airline’s roadmap on decarbonization as it sets out to become a net zero airline by 2050 in compliance with global targets.
According to PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng, the flag carrier has acquired the services of climate scientist Glenn Banaguas to guide the company in crafting its decarbonization plan.
PAL seeks to conduct a comprehensive assessment of its overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and transition toward full decarbonization.
Ng said PAL seeks to develop a roadmap for its own net zero emission program through policy recommendations provided by Banaguas. Likewise, the airline wants to update its GHG emission projections until 2050 using internationally accepted models.
With these, PAL hopes to become net zero by 2050 in line with international treaties on climate action, including the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact. Ng also called on aviation players to work on reducing their carbon wastes to mitigate the industry’s GHG emissions.
“Our net zero initiative comes at a crucial time for the international aviation industry seeking to further lessen environmental impact in response to the global scientific community’s clarion call against irreversible climate change,” Ng said.
“Being the country’s flag carrier and Asia’s first airline, PAL recognizes that its essential role in bridging our country and the rest of the world goes hand in hand with the need for climate action across international borders,” he said.
For one, PAL has started shifting to the use of renewable energy as a power supply for some of its offices, studying as well the potential of sustainable aviation fuel in electrifying its fleet.
The airline also improves its operational efficiency by carrying out fuel saving measures like the single engine taxi in, where an aircraft uses only half of its installed number engines for most of its taxi duration to cut fuel consumption. Further, PAL initiates reduced acceleration altitude in its flights wherein the pilot speeds up an aircraft at a lower altitude to save on fuel.
Based on records, the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization said that airlines account for two percent of GHG emissions worldwide: 1.3 percent for international, 0.7 percent for domestic. The UN body projects aviation emissions to increase by up to four times by 2050 if industry players choose to release the same volume of carbon wastes.
Banaguas founded and spearheads the Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute, a group which studies renewable energy, biodiversity conservation and circular economy.
In May Banaguas won the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, besting more than 200 nominations across the world.