Electric planes and green hydrogen within a decade, Bowen says

afr.com:

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says electric planes will be in the skies and a green hydrogen industry will be up and running by the end of the decade, as Australia charts its course to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Amid scepticism from some energy experts about whether Australia can meet its 2030 climate targets, Mr Bowen admitted it would be a “challenge” to achieve 43 per cent emissions reduction over the next seven years.

Zunum Aero is developing a fleet of hybrid-electric planes that would make inexpensive, short-haul flights possible. 

The task had been made harder with recent figures that revealed emissions from the agriculture sector (up 3 per cent) and transport (up 6 per cent) had negated gains from the electricity sector (down 4 per cent), he told a Carbon Market Institute summit in Sydney on Friday.

“I think that underlines we have more to do,” Mr Bowen said. “As I say, it’s 75 months to 2030 – that concentrates the mind. Seventy-five months is not long, hence the need for long-term action.”

Mr Bowen said sustainable aviation fuel was crucial to Australia cutting its transport emissions, but he also believed there would be technological advancements to deliver electric planes on short-haul flights, such as between Sydney and Canberra.

“We’ll see them [electric planes] not in the next couple of years, but over the next decade we will. I’m [also] very bullish about Australia’s opportunity for sustainable aviation fuel.”

There are big expectations about electric planes and sustainable aviation fuel to help cut transport sector emissions, but both are a long way off from being commercially viable.

Several companies are working on electric planes, but they are all for short distances because of limited