The most effective way Boeing and Airbus can fight climate change might be what used to be business as usual: building new jets.
When, after two years of pandemic paralysis, the global aviation industry reconvened last month for the Farnborough air show 30 miles from London, carbon emissions were top of the agenda. Air-taxi startups like Vertical Aerospace and Boeing-owned Wisk worked hard to pitch their battery-powered vehicles as part of the green push. Europe’s Airbus announced a project to test the clouds generated by hydrogen combustion. Engine makers debated how to scale up production of sustainable aviation fuel.