Dec 8, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

4AIR Partners with the University of Cambridge’s Aviation Impact Accelerator on Pathways to Net Zero Flight

4AIR, the first and only rating system focused on comprehensive sustainability in private aviation, has partnered with the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), led by the University of Cambridge, to develop interactive, evidence-based tools to engage decision-makers, the aviation industry and the public about how to achieve Net Zero Flight – no additional climate-changing emissions from flight activity.

The partnership is being financed by 4AIR and its Aviation Climate Fund, which uses contributions from 4AIR clients based on their carbon footprint to support research and development for future aviation technologies and emission reduction solutions.

“In order to meet ambitious sustainability goals such as Net Zero Flight, we will need future technologies that enable actual emissions reductions within the industry beyond offsets and SAF. 4AIR launched the Aviation Climate Fund to achieve this by supporting research and development for future aviation emission reduction solutions,” said Kennedy Ricci, 4AIR’s president. “Our partnership with the Aviation Impact Accelerator will support bringing the leading academics and industry practitioners together to identify new paths to Net Zero Flight.”

4AIR’s increasingly progressive ratings to promote sustainability include steps towards carbon neutrality, emissions neutrality and emissions reductions. Reductions can be achieved through operational changes, buying more modern aircraft or through Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). In fact, 4AIR recently launched an interactive SAF map for business jets. Carbon offsetting and SAF will make much-needed progress but are not by themselves enough to achieve a true zero impact.

Beyond these measures is the Aviation Climate Fund, which seeks to meet broader global sustainability goals through truly innovative technologies such as electric aircraft, alternative power, and cleaner fuels. The Aviation Climate Fund, unique in aviation, is intended to unify aviation stakeholders to support work that goes beyond today’s best practices and establishes new levels of sustainability. “Our goal is to identify the future technologies that will bring about emissions reductions in aviation and help accelerate their progress,” said Ricci.

With the support of a small group of funders including 4AIR and the Aviation Climate Fund it launched, the multidisciplinary Aviation Impact Accelerator will advance efforts over next steps in achieving emissions reductions by capturing the entire system, from the sources of power and raw materials to the production and transport of fuel and the introduction of new aircraft technologies and operations. This will provide a comprehensive picture of the situation for decision-makers, private aviation industry participants and the public to guide support around new technologies.

“Aviation is one of the most carbon-intensive forms of transportation and enabling the shift to Net Zero Flight will require a complete technological and infrastructure shift,” said Professor Rob Miller, Director of the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, which co-leads the Aviation Impact Accelerator. “We welcome 4AIR’s support in identifying solutions and developing ways to bring the full range of stakeholders into the debate about how best to achieve this ambitious, but absolutely critical, goal.”

About 4AIR

4AIR is an industry pioneer offering sustainability solutions beyond just simple carbon neutrality. Its industry-first framework seeks to address climate impacts of all types and provides a simplified and verifiable path for private aviation industry participants to achieve meaningful aircraft emissions counteraction and reduction.

The 4AIR framework offers four levels, each with specific, science-based goals, independently verified results and progressively greater impacts on sustainability that make it easy for private aviation users to pursue sustainability through access to carbon markets, use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, support for new technologies and other strategies.

All carbon credits through 4AIR are quantified and verified through the most respected and international leading bodies that issue and register credits, including the American Carbon Registry, Climate Action Reserve, Verified Carbon Standard (VERRA) and The Gold Standard. Additionally, end-of-year commitment audits are independently verified by third parties. 4AIR also serves the demand signal working groups with the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition.

For more information, visit us at www.4air.aero.

About Aviation Impact Accelerator

The Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) is an international group of academics and practitioners drawing on a broad range of expertise assembled by the University of Cambridge, to develop an interactive, evidence-based tool to engage decision makers and the wider public in a discussion on the pathways to net zero flight.

The project is led by the Whittle Laboratory and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemical Engineering, Hopkinson Laboratory, BP Institute, Judge Business School, and Bennett Institute, together with the Air Transportation Systems Lab at University College London, and the Melbourne Energy Institute at the University of Melbourne. The project is in partnership with HRH The Prince of Wales’s Sustainable Markets Initiative, The World Economic Forum, 4AIR, Cambridge Zero, MathWorks, and SATAVIA, with the input of industry advisors including Rolls-Royce, Boeing, BP, Heathrow and Siemens Energy.

For more information, visit us here.