Sustainability in the Air

By Shashank Nigam & Dirk Singer 

In the face of growing concerns about climate change, aviation faces an existential crisis.

The industry contributes three percent to global carbon emissions, and without significant changes, that figure could increase drastically as air traffic continues to grow. As world governments continue to roll out new environmental regulations, public opinion is up in the air about what role aviation should play in our society.

To face these challenges, airlines are switching from fossil-fuel based kerosene to sustainability aviation fuel (SAF) in a push to lower emissions to net-zero, while electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft could make true zero aviation a reality in the coming decades. Even so, scaling these new technologies is extraordinarily complex, requiring major innovation in the air and on the ground. Fortunately, there are entrepreneurs, executives and investors facing these challenges head-on, charting a path for others to follow.

Additional Information

Sustainability in the Air shares the journeys of these bold innovators to lay bare the innovations, insights and best practices of the next era of aviation. Complete with case studies and interviews with these change makers. Sustainability in the Air teaches readers how:

- Air Company made vodka from thin air to test technology for sustainable jet fuel.
- Archer Aviation plans to bring a futurist vision of urban air mobility to life with short-range electric aircraft (eVTOLs)
- Heart Aerospace's innovative R&D helped them design a new electric aircraft from scratch on a budget
- ZeroAvia plans to enable hydrogen-powered flight for a true-zero future of aviation
- Embraer will make regional flights sustainable with a new family of aircraft

Plus lessons from airline leaders at KLM, Etihad Airways, JetBlue, SkyTeam and more.

The stories in Sustainability in the Air make it clear: to become truly sustainable, aviation must address investment, R&D, logistics, regulation and culture problems--often all at once. While this transformation won't happen without a little turbulence, the industry has dozens of innovators who are working full throttle for a sustainable future.

Authors' Bios

 Dirk Singer is the Head of Sustainability at SimpliFlying, an industry-leading aviation consulting firm dedicated to shaping a greener and more environmentally conscious future for air travel. He is also the co-founder of several successful creative agencies including Honey, Rabbit and Cow. Singer's career has spanned more than two decades, during which he has written white papers, newsletters and essays on climate change related issues, reaching thousands of subscribers in the aviation industry. Sustainability in the Air is his first book.

Shashank Nigam is the founder and CEO of SimpliFlying. Having consulted for more than 100 airlines over 15 years, Nigam is a frequent keynote speaker and has been widely featured in major media outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His previous book, SOAR, was an Amazon bestseller and is currently being taught to Masters students at Cranfield University (UK) and Embry-Riddle (USA). Sustainability in the Air is his second book, and he is the host of a leading podcast with the same name.