Fuelling the future: the role of technology and human behaviour in decarbonising aviation and shipping

What roles can technology and human behaviour play in decarbonising aviation and shipping?

We know that the journey to decarbonise emissions-heavy industries – like aviation and shipping – will require a significant transition from current practices. For at least the last decade, key players in both sectors have been investing in technology and innovation to enable this shift, including alternative fuels, cleaner and more efficient aircraft, ships and engines, and better data for understanding and improving operations.

With increasing urgency to meet net zero targets by 2050 and interim goals by 2030, it’s become clear that low-carbon transitions must also include behaviour shifts at individual, company and industrial levels. According to KPMG’s 2023 Net Zero Readiness report, the pace of change in aviation and shipping is slower than in other sectors, putting their net zero by 2050 targets at risk.

A growing movement of “conscious consumers” has encouraged individuals to change their behaviour and purchasing decisions to climate-friendly alternatives, with a significant focus on flight-free travel. But what role can behaviour change play within the aviation and shipping industries themselves?

Signol asked leading experts in aviation and shipping for their views on how both technology and human behaviour can drive decarbonisation. Here are the 10 takeaways:

Data is at the heart of decarbonisation technology

Dr Anjali Bakhru and Louisa Cilenti, Maritime Technology Investors at pH3 Capital Ventures:

“While you can develop soft tech without hard tech, you generally can’t develop hard tech without soft tech. 

“For example, there are a number of wind propulsion solutions which have been developed to reduce the overall reliance on carbon fuels for ships. These are hardware solutions which typically incorporate an intelligent control and automation system and a smart weather routing system to maximise wind-assisted propulsion power and fuel reduction potential. 

In fact, many of the clean tech innovations we see also need to collect real-time data as part of the process of designing and testing out the effectiveness of their solution during the development process. In some cases, digital twins are being used to create virtual replicas of the system in question and to enable real-time and remote monitoring of systems.”

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“Contemporary data technology, as well as digital/software tools (like, for example, digital twins, Al, computer models, IoT, and virtual/augmented reality), play an overarching role in sustainable aviation by being at the very core of any optimization of processes and practices as well as at the acceleration of tech/product development and implementation”

Nichola Bates, Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation Programs at Boeing:

“Data is being utilised to inform better decision-making, such as through flight path optimisation, maintenance, repairs and operations that are helping to reduce fuel consumption and support decarbonisation efforts.

“Advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning will further optimise future flight activities, providing more significant gains in decarbonisation across the aviation industry.”

Emissions data drives policy changes

Hans Joergen Elnaes, Aviation Analyst and Advisor at WINAIR AS:

“There is a magnitude of data available on aviation and its effect on global emissions with and without decarbonizing. These data trigger the aviation industry, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders to understand the effect if aviation is not decarbonized according to the plans in force to reach net zero by 2050.”

Tech innovation relies on talent and investment

Dr Anjali Bakhru and Louisa Cilenti, maritime technology investors at pH3 Capital Ventures:

“The well-being of people needs to be enhanced if the industry is to attract and retain highly skilled professionals that will help drive positive change. We also need to attract more capital to the sector to accelerate the development and deployment of clean technologies with the potential for industry-wide transformation.”

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“We need enough financial backing, both private and public, to support the growth and scaling up of technologies and ventures that factually contribute to the green transition of the aviation industry.”

Sustainability can be held back by bureaucracy and regulation

Nichola Bates, Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation Programs at Boeing:

“Technology can be a powerful tool for addressing many sustainability challenges within the aviation industry. However, specific issues involve broader systemic complexities, regulatory frameworks, and societal considerations that cannot be entirely overcome through technological innovation alone.

“A holistic and collaborative approach, encompassing policy, regulation, infrastructure development, and technological innovation, is crucial for achieving comprehensive sustainability in the aviation sector.”

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“There are issues related to entrenched practices that aviation agencies and operators are reluctant to abandon.”

“A huge amount of time (and costs) is dedicated to certification procedures, which are still run according to methodologies that were developed likely 50 years ago, way before digital tools had reached the maturity and reliability they have nowadays.

“The same applies to air traffic control, still handled according to methods and procedures created about 70 years ago. For example, one of our graduate startups, Shift Aviation, developed a system reducing the time airplanes loiter above their destination airports, waiting for a landing slot. The main reason for this waste is that terminal air traffic control only takes charge of an incoming airplane when it is relatively close, resulting in clogging and queues. This solution allows planes to book a landing slot just after taking off from the airport of origin, increasing traffic predictability.”  

Hans Joergen Elnaes, Aviation Analyst and Advisor at WINAIR AS:

“I believe most sustainability issues can be tackled with tech, but as aviation is 100% focused on safety, one must accept that new tech will take its time to be certified for commercial use. It does not make any sense for politicians to state that we want to have fossil fuel-free domestic flights by 2025/26, fossil fuel-free flights will come when certification is achieved, not when politicians want it.”

More is needed to scale sustainable fuels

Nichola Bates, Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation Programs at Boeing:

“When scaling up the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), we face issues such as feedstock availability and responsible land use. Transitioning to wide-scale SAF use will require significant changes to existing infrastructure, such as airports and refuelling facilities. These challenges will not only be solved through technology but will need to be supported with careful policy and strategic planning.”

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“In the coming years we are going to need more and more SAF due to present and upcoming regulations as well as market demand. The required scaling up is in the order of hundreds of times relative to the production available today. 

“However, to achieve the amount of SAF supply capable of bringing us to net zero by 2050, the level of investment in SAF production plants as well as renewable green energy is of a magnitude very challenging to meet.”

Dr Anjali Bakhru and Louisa Cilenti, Maritime Technology Investors at pH3 Capital Ventures:

“There are certain challenges that can’t be tackled by technology alone, such as the development of alternative fuels which also requires co-ordinated policy support.”

Operational efficiency can be tackled while we work on new innovations

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“We can improve aviation sustainability already today, while still flying present generation aircraft, by applying operational approaches and procedures which allow for more efficient routing, flight and airport operations, air traffic control.”

Behaviour change will play a pivotal role

Dr Anjali Bakhru and Louisa Cilenti, Maritime Technology Investors at pH3 Capital Ventures:

“We have seen from the introduction of smart energy monitoring systems in the built environment the role that real-time feedback loops and data can play in influencing individual and collective behaviour to reduce energy waste.  By making energy usage visible, people can be more aware of their habits and adjust their behaviours to control energy consumption. There are even examples of community energy/neighbourhood level dashboards that encourage competition to reduce energy consumption. 

“We are excited about the potential of behaviour change enablement technologies, like the software platform developed by Signol, which use the power of behavioural insights to reduce fuel use, carbon emissions and operating costs in aviation and shipping. 

“We know that maritime decarbonisation is as dependent upon shifting mindsets and culture as it is on the adoption of clean technologies, and behaviour change will play a pivotal role in maximising the benefit of the new technologies.”

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“Pilots and other operators need to become increasingly aware of the effects of their working style on the sustainability of the aviation industry or a lack thereof. Signol’s work is a clear example in this respect. 

“This also applies to manufacturing, maintenance and repair by OEMs and MROs in relation to the choice and use of raw materials, developing efficient aircraft which are also easier to dismantle and recycle at the end of their operational life and making use of materials which are as sustainable as possible.”

Nichola Bates, Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation Programs at Boeing:

“Our decisions and actions play a critical role in our journey to achieve net zero; everyone needs to play their part. All industry stakeholders, from executives to flight crew, ground staff to passengers, will require greater awareness and education about the environmental impact of aviation. 

“We also need to incentivise adopting more sustainable practices and solutions, whether by choosing more ecological flight options, optimising maintenance, repairs and flight operations or reducing waste.”

Sustainability will become a “competitive edge’ and drive more innovation

Hans Joergen Elnaes, Aviation Analyst and Advisor at WINAIR AS:

“In the coming years we might develop a scenario where companies will have to report their CO2/GHG emissions, including air travel. Such data might become a competitive edge, where corporations with ‘good data’ are in a better competitive position than companies with ‘poor data’. 

“This might drive corporations to utilise more emissions-friendly air travel, i.e. airlines which blend more SAF (sustainable aviation fuels) with fossil jet fuel, even though the airfare on such flights will most likely be higher.

“As more decarbonising tech evolves within aviation, the market will applaud it and prefer airlines at the forefront of innovation, even if airfares are higher in the early days of new tech. I think this will be a boost to tech developers and speed up innovations and capital funding of new tech in the aviation industry.”

Tech-enabled decision-making will increase

Dr Anjali Bakhru and Louisa Cilenti, Maritime Technology Investors at pH3 Capital Ventures:

“If we look to the future, it is likely that tech and data will remain as important as ever. Systems to monitor and collect data on an ongoing basis are needed to ensure that systems are fully optimised and can respond to changing regulatory targets. We also see autonomous technologies and innovation that can improve decision-making processes playing a more dominant role.”

Mario Vesco, Venture Manager at Sustainable Aero Lab:

“Data and digital technologies are going to play an increasingly relevant role in decarbonising aviation, thanks to the proliferation of Al, ML, digital twins as well as robotisation, automation and uncrewed solutions.”

Nichola Bates, Head of Global Accelerators and Innovation Programs at Boeing:

“Advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning will further optimise future flight activities, providing more significant gains in decarbonisation across the aviation industry.”

Attitudes must shift towards early adoption of technology

Dr Anjali Bakhru and Louisa Cilenti, Maritime Technology Investors at pH3 Capital Ventures:

“Another important aspect of human behaviour is not only for companies to make the right choices but also to consider timing and whether they want to be a leader or a follower in making those choices. 

“Arguably, many companies within maritime are waiting to see what their competitors are doing or going to do which means that much-needed cleantech solutions are likely to be implemented later rather than sooner overall. 

“Of course, tech is at the heart of this dilemma. Given the existence of multiple tech solutions at an early stage in the development of most cleantech market verticals, the challenge of being an early adopter is considerable. 

“What we need to emphasise is that small steps forward on the journey to net zero now will help those companies to learn from their experience and help to make the best choices when bigger steps are required to meet their goals in full at a later date.”