LATAM’s Path to Decarbonization

On Monday, Airbus and several major airlines, including Air Canada, Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group, LATAM Airlines Group, Lufthansa Group, and Virgin Atlantic, signed Letters of Intent to explore opportunities for a future supply of carbon removal credits from direct air carbon capture technology. We’ll focus on the Latin American airline. Let’s take a look at LATAM’s Path to Decarbonization. A path to decarbonization by LATAM LATAM and Airbus reached an agreement to explore opportunities to remove CO2 from the atmosphere through the Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) system. Thus, LATAM has become a pioneer in evaluating this emission reduction mechanism in Latin America. This technology will allow filtering and capturing CO2 from the atmosphere to later store it safely and permanently at great depths. “DACCS represents an innovative way not only to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but also has the potential to play a role in the development of sustainable synthetic aviation fuels,” said Juan José Tohá, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability of LATAM Airlines Group. The executive added that “on the path to carbon neutrality, collaborative work is key, and there is no single solution. That is why we are implementing different measures to be net-zero, including greater efficiencies, sustainable aviation fuels, and new technologies, supported by the conservation of strategic ecosystems and quality offsets.” This announcement is part of the group's sustainability strategy that seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. To this end, LATAM is working on its Climate Change pillar, which includes implementing measures and best practices for the efficient use of fuel to reduce emissions, the development of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel), and support for the conservation of strategic ecosystems. LATAM recently undertook the commitment to reach 5% SAF in its operations by 2030, prioritizing production in South America. The airline has also compromised to be a zero waste-to-landfill group by 2027, offset 50% of domestic emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. SAF and LATAM During the Wings of America 2022 event held in Santiago de Chile earlier this year, LATAM pledged to reach 5% sustainable fuel use by 2030. “South America has the potential to be a world leader in the production of sustainable fuels and thereby make a very significant contribution to climate action. For this to happen, public and private actors, including LATAM, need to collaborate, play their roles and lead the energy transition that we need to make the world a better place. With this announcement, the group is giving a clear call to action to the market and highlighting our interest in buying SAF fuels in the region”, said Roberto Alvo, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group. The executive highlighted the potential for the development of SAF in the region due to its natural resources and wealth of renewable energies. However, Alvo noted it is currently an undeveloped market with limited supply, as it does not yet have the enabling conditions to develop its potential in the region. It still requires specific regulatory schemes, promotion of technology and innovation, and support for the production and logistics chain, among other factors. Currently, the high production costs and the immaturity of the market pose significant challenges for the massification of the use of this type of fuel. In this sense, LATAM's CEO made a call to government authorities, private companies, academia, and the other players in the airline industry to collaborate and generate incentives to expand the production, use, and massification of SAF in South America, thus finding solutions to the current climate emergency.

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