As the aviation sector looks to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the biggest gains may not happen in the air but on the ground, stated Tim Lieuwen, the 2025 AIAA Dryden Lecturer in Research, during the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum in January.

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“The least cost way to get to a net-zero society is to take a system view about economy-wide CO2 emissions and where and how aviation fits into that, rather than trying to zero out CO2 emissions sector by sector.  It makes sense if you think about it – it’s a whole lot cheaper to manage your CO2 emissions from something that’s sitting on the ground, potentially sitting right above a depleted oil reservoir versus trying to manage something that’s flying around and has to deal with all the safety issues of aviation,” said Lieuwen.

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Planes mimicking migrating geese to save energy. Aviation fuel made of cooking oil or downed timber waste. Aircraft wings that can change shape during flight to maximize efficiency. These are some of the ideas Delta Air Lines thinks could help it reach its 2050 net zero emissions goal, outlined during the Atlanta company's appearance at the CES tech show in Las Vegas this week, also billed as the start to its 100th year celebration. "For us, it's just become part of the business. Every business decision that we're making at this point is taking sustainability into consideration," Chief Sustainability Officer Amelia DeLuca said in an interview.

That's in large part because its biggest driver of emissions, jet fuel, is also one of its biggest costs. But the changes are also key as the company plots future global growth, as outlined by CEO Ed Bastian this week. "I firmly believe our next century of flight will be about connecting the world," he said Tuesday. In a later interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bastian said he believes the company's international business will ultimately become 50% of revenue, up from one-third today. Those international flights demand bigger planes, longer routes and more energy, DeLuca pointed out, making energy efficiency advancements all the more important.

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Anna Erickson, Woodruff Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, spoke with Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino about the push to revive the nuclear energy sector in a recent Marketplace Podcast.