The aviation sector is a growing sector in India. In India, there are more than 400 Nos. of airports and airstrips of which 153 are operational. As per the report of Civic aviation, more than 141 Million passengers have traveled through aviation mode in FY 2019-20 and more than 1 Million Flights have departed from Indian airports. A pictorial representation of passengers traveled and flight departure is given below:-
In the financial years 2009-10, a total of 77.4 Million Passengers had traveled through aviation mode, and in FY 2019-20, it become 202 Million passengers, it shows that in the last decade the aviation sector has noted a growth of 3 times more passengers. By considering this growth, In India, the passager traveling through aviation mode will be increased by 6 times of passengers traveled in FY 2019-20 in the next 2 decades.
The aviation sector is also adding a great amount of CO2 to our environment each year and in the upcoming next 2 decades, its contribution will increase at a very high level. As per the report of petrol planning and analysis cell, in last 10 year, the utilization of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) has almost become double. A graphical representation of ATF consumption of the last 10 years is given in below graph:-
By considering the last decade's growth, it may be estimated that the ATF consumption will be increased by 4 times of the ATF consumption in FY 2019-20 in the next two decades. The aviation sector has emitted 16 Million Tons of CO2 in FY 2009-10 and it will increase 28 Million Tons of CO2 in FY 2019-20.
As the Travelling will be increased by aviation mode day by day so the consumption of the fuel will also be increased day by day and it will lead to more CO2 emission in our atmosphere. This will increase the impact of Global warming on the world. However, if you see the overall contribution of CO2 in the aviation sector it is approximately 2% of total CO2 emission as per the carbonfootprint report. In India, the aviation sector contributes less than 1% of total carbon emission but as the usages of aviation are increasing very rapidly, we have to take some preventive measures to reduce the impact of Co2 emission on the environment. The aviation sector currently accounts for 2-3% of global carbon emissions. This will be increased by 22% of the global carbon emission by 2050.
Developing and using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the options to reduce carbon emissions due to the use of ATF. SAF is a clean substitute for traditional Jet Fuel. SAF is a cleaner fuel that is produced from sustainable feedstock’s drive from the various type of waste, agri-residue, waste oil from a biological origin. a short video on SAF is attached for better understanding.
References:-
- https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/co2-emissions-from-indian-aviation-sector-less-than-the-global-average-39313
- https://www.carbonindependent.org/22.html
- HANDBOOK ON CIVIL AVIATION STATISTICS 2019-20
- https://www.iata.org/en/programs/environment/sustainable-aviation-fuels/
- https://www.ppac.gov.in/
