United Airlines has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent by 2050.
The airline said it would achieve this through a multimillion-dollar investment in revolutionary atmospheric carbon capture technology known as direct air capture – rather than indirect measures like carbon-offsetting – in addition to continuing to invest in the development and use of sustainable aviation fuel.
The carrier will make a multimillion-dollar investment in 1PointFive, a partnership between Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Rusheen Capital Management, to enable them to build the first industrial-sized direct air capture plant in the United States.
The plant is expected to capture and permanently sequester one million tons of CO2 each year, the equivalent of the work of 40 million trees, but covering a land area about 3,000 times smaller.
United says the captured CO2 would then be “permanently, safely and securely stored deep underground by Occidental, a process certified by independent third parties”.
The airline says it is the first in the world to commit to direct air capture technology.
In 2018, United committed to reducing emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 but has move increased this target to fully remove emissions
Scott Kirby, United’s CEO, said: “As the leader of one of the world’s largest airlines, I recognise our responsibility in contributing to fight climate change, as well as our responsibility to solve it.
“These game-changing technologies will significantly reduce our emissions, and measurably reduce the speed of climate change – because buying carbon offsets alone is just not enough.
“Perhaps most importantly, we’re not just doing it to meet our own sustainability goal; we’re doing it to drive the positive change our entire industry requires so that every airline can eventually join us and do the same.”