Airbus Teams With Airlines to Buy Future Carbon Removal Credits

Airbus and several of the largest airlines in the world announced a new letter of intent pledging to buy carbon removal credits to offset the emissions from air travel.

According to Reuters.com, the European airplane manufacturer formed a coalition with seven international carriers to pre-purchase “verified and durable carbon removal credits starting in 2025.”

The airlines working with Airbus include Air Canada, Air France-KLM, EasyJet, International Airlines Group, LATAM Airlines Group, Lufthansa Group and Virgin Atlantic.

“These first letters of intent mark a concrete step towards the use of this promising technology for both Airbus’ own decarbonization plan and the aviation sector’s ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” Airbus spokesperson Julie Kitcher said.

With the global airline industry responsible for nearly three percent of carbon dioxide emissions, the carriers will look to purchase carbon removal credits from Airbus’ partner 1PointFive, which is scheduled to build a direct air carbon capture and storage facility in Texas.

The 1PointFive facility will reportedly remove up to one million tons of C02 each year, with construction kicking off later this year and a completion date set for 2024. Airbus has already agreed to purchase 400,000 tons of carbon removal credits over four years.

In December 2020, United Airlines pledged to go completely green by achieving a 100-percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the year 2050. As part of the effort, the carrier unveiled a multimillion-dollar investment in an atmospheric carbon-capture technology called ‘Direct Air Capture,’ which is expected to capture and store millions of metric tons of CO2 annually.