Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa, a well-known German airline, said at an industry conference on Monday that the use of synthetic fuels produced from renewable energy is the best way to decarbonize the aviation industry, but the total amount of synthetic fuels required by the company to meet the fleet flight requires approximately half of Germany's electricity to produce.
He believes that the leader of the Green Party and current German Economy Minister Habeck will not allow him to do this.
Lufthansa's so-called synthetic fuel is SAF, a biofuel synthesized from renewable energy electricity, using carbon dioxide and water as raw materials. SAF is also seen by aviation industry executives as the only feasible way to decarbonize air travel.
The only weakness is that the production of SAF itself requires a large amount of electricity, which is undoubtedly very useless at a time when Germany needs to rely on imported electricity.
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Research shows that with the use of synthetic fuels such as SAF, millions of tons of CO2 emissions can be reduced in Europe alone by 2030. But high demand from the outside world has made SAF very expensive, making aviation industry executives very cautious about transitioning to this fuel for future energy use.
Spohr admitted that SAF may be the only way to decarbonize the aviation industry, but he also pointed out that the EU's quota regulations on SAF may increase the cost burden of the aviation industry.
The European Parliament approved the ReFuelEU aviation regulation earlier in September, requiring airlines to increase the use of SAF on all flights departing from EU airports starting in 2025. By 2025, 2% of fuel must come from sustainable fuels, and by 2030, this proportion needs to increase to 6%.
However, due to the limited supply of SAF, airlines may have to seek more expensive clean fuels, and the end result is that passengers need to pay higher ticket prices.
Reality is too skinny
A Lufthansa spokesman previously pointed out that if Lufthansa used all currently available SAF, its aircraft would probably only be able to fly for less than two weeks. To use more SAF, you need to expand the market, increase availability, and lower related prices.
German Chancellor Scholz once believed that the production of SAF can become one of Germany's strategic plans, attracting large amounts of investment and consolidating Germany's position as one of Airbus's manufacturing centers.
But Spohr thinks it's more realistic to produce synthetic fuels abroad, where there's more wind and solar energy available.
This contradiction highlights the growing weakness of Germany's energy system. Under the two-pronged attack of losing Russian energy supply and green transition, German industry is increasingly worried about the gap between energy goals and practical difficulties, and is increasingly doubtful that Germany can maintain its status as a manufacturing powerhouse.