EasyJet unveils carbonneutrality roadmap   

LUTON

U.K. airline EasyJet has outlined its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 via new technology, saying it would use carbon capture to address just under a quarter of its emissions.

Chief Executive Johan Lundgren, unveiling EasyJet’s update at its headquarters in Luton north of London, said “exponential” growth in “state-of-the-art” technology will help meet the goal.EasyJet announced the 2050 aim last year but like all energy-intensive firms faced deep scepticism from environmental campaigners.

The strategy hinges on technologies that are still emerging like carbon capture, or in the pipeline like cleaner hydrogen engines.

The latter are set to become operational by 2035 at best.

The no-frills carrier will deploy more fuel-efficient Airbus A320neo aircraft in a multi-billion-dollar refit under its “roadmap” to slash carbon.EasyJet forecast that this will enable it to cut emissions per passenger per kilometre by 78 percent by 2050, from 2019 levels.

The carrier will also seek to compensate for residual emissions via carbon capture -- capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the ground -- in a policy starting by 2025.

But some environmentalists regard carbon capture-and-storage as a false solution that would justify maintaining dirty emissions, and with the risk that stocked CO2 could leak.

Many companies worldwide have expressed hopes to attain carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with U.N. goals to combat climate change, but energy-hungry industries like aviation face campaigners’ accusations of so-called greenwashing.