Kennedy Ricci, 4Air
On a mission to help deliver net zero
Kennedy Ricci, president of 4Air is on a mission to cut the carbon footprint of aviation to net zero. He explains how to Mike Stones.
Kennedy Ricci, 4Air
On a mission to help deliver net zero
Kennedy Ricci, president of 4Air is on a mission to cut the carbon footprint of aviation to net zero. He explains how to Mike Stones.
KENNEDY RICCI LOVES aviation. You might expect that – his father is the business aviation entrepreneur Kenn Ricci, founder of the monolithic Directional Aviation. But his son’s passion for flying is rooted not just in family bonds but in the cockpit of his Cirrus light aircraft. Watching the world slip beneath his silver wings helped the younger Ricci forge his determination to improve aviation’s green credentials. His role as the president of aviation sustainability solutions provider 4Air provides the perfect platform to speed that mission.
“In the sustainability space, flying gives us a unique appreciation of the world,” Ricci tells Corporate Jet Investor. “It offers views of landscape and cloudscapes, unavailable from the ground, that inspires natural appreciation for our planet. So, it does motivate a lot of the passion to protect what we have now.”
He has chosen a big task. As evidence for human-induced global warming becomes ever clearer – with each new wildfire and each new record heat wave – so demands for action become ever more strident. The recent warning United Nations secretary-general António Guterres gave could not have been more explicit. “Half of humanity is in the danger zone, from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires. No nation is immune. Yet we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction,” he told an international meeting of 40 government ministers in July 2022. Then came the kicker: “We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.”
Ricci is determined that 4Air can make a powerful contribution to helping aviation address that challenge. Aviation is in the front line of the battle to curb climate change – not necessarily because of the volume of its contribution to carbon emissions (though significant) but due to its sky-high profile. And, particularly for private jet aviation, its many vocal critics. The global aviation industry produces about 2.1% of all human-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to the Air Transport Action Group. That 915m tonnes accounts for 12% of CO2 emissions from all transport sources compared with 74% from road transport. Business aviation in all its forms – including executive flights, medivac missions and parapublic flights such as search and rescue – is estimated to account for 2% of total aviation emissions or 0.4% of global emissions.
It's a total the industry is determined to eradicate. In May 2022, Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) reaffirmed the industry’s commitment to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. “This goal builds on our proven track record of leading the way on fuel-saving technologies from winglets to highly efficient engine technology and advanced avionics,” he wrote in a statement submitted to the US government Aviation Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
While 2050 still feels a long way away, Ricci believes the aviation industry needs to feel the hot breath of urgency on its collective neck. “2050 is a lot closer than it used to be,” he tells me smiling. “When you say it's only 28 years away, it starts to sound more meaningfully close.”
That underlines the need for consistent progress now. “We can't simply rely on getting to 2049 and then flip a switch to be carbon neutral by 2050.” The grand ideas to cut carbon –including electric/hybrid aircraft, with more powerful batteries, bigger range and longer duration, hydrogen-fueled planes and eVTOLs – will take longer to translate into workable solutions.
“The bigger solutions and ideas are going to take time to deliver,” says Ricci. “But it really does require action today to find ways of flattening that emissions curve, so that we can buy ourselves the time we need to get to 2050 and net zero emissions.”
How optimistic is he about the prospects for success? Particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is leading many western governments to lean more favourably towards the old familiar fossil fuels?
Ricci pauses to reflect. He acknowledges the renewed interest in fossil fuels worldwide but believes the society has passed a tipping point. Sustainability has become embedded in our DNA and there’s no going back now. To make the point, he recalls a recent conversation with Nancy Bsales, chief operating officer at 4Air. “My colleague Nancy has been working in this area for 15 years. We both agree the momentum this time is different. Interest in sustainability is coming from all sides – from customers, employees, corporate headquarters, industry leaders and even from the media.”
A key factor has been the global pandemic, he believes. It has led people to re-appraise their values and attitudes towards their lives, business and the environment. “Since Covid started, we have seen a lot more education about sustainability topics. We have seen the conversation evolve and continue to progress in a way that has surprised even us,” he says. “So, I am reassured to see what that momentum is turning to. But we need to sustain it to be successful to meet our net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
Part of the solution in meeting the net zero pledge is the organisation’s 4Air Ratings system, he says. Divided into four ratings or pillars, they include: Level 1: Bronze (Carbon neutral), Level 2 Silver (Emissions neutral), Level 3: Gold (Beyond neutral) and Level 4: Platinum (Climate champion).
Each rating is designed to be an easy-to-understand sustainability programme for companies or individuals to apply to their flying. Companies have the option to apply each rating as a turnkey solution to their own flying operations or to offer it to their customers. According to 4Air’s website: “Select a level, provide the scope to be covered and 4AIR will provide the rest. Our goal is to make sustainability turnkey with a full-service programme to help companies and individuals achieve their sustainability goals.” (See the accompanying story).
The system enables companies and individuals to start with relatively modest commitments before scaling up their involvement.
Climate change is a challenge that directly affects aviation, he reminds us. It is not simply an expectation that aviation should improve its record. Direct impacts of global warming impact the industry through reduced aircraft performance, shorter sectors and more flooding threats to leading airports worldwide as sea levels rise.
Another powerful incentive for industry action now is to avoid the need for tighter regulatory controls imposed by governments around the world. If aviation doesn't act now, if we don't lead change, then we will have to respond to change imposed from outside, he argues. “We need to demonstrate that we are making progress on this – that we are carrying the sustainability torch ourselves and being responsible.” Business aviation can be a leader in sustainability and learn things that help commercial aviation too. “If we can showcase that momentum and communicate it, we will really put aviation on a strong track to meet sustainability goals.”
So, time for the killer question: can business aviation honour its pledge to become carbon neutral by 2050? “It will take a lot of work, but through the mix of pillars we have, it’s something we can achieve. With carbon offsets, we can go carbon neutral today. And that's what we tell everybody in our 4Air programme and it’s not expensive to do that. Then, businesses and individuals can build their full commitment and do it better over time,” he says.
It’s a rising tide of advancing technology powered by developments such as electric aviation solutions, hydrogen, eVTOLs and other innovations. But Ricci is adamant, aviation does not need to wait for these technologies to become widely available. We can start today in a modest way with SAF, carbon offsets and the like and then adopt more sophisticated solutions as they become available.
Whatever the pace of progress, he believes business aviation has a priceless opportunity to show leadership in improving sustainability standards. And, in doing so, demonstrate the point that despite all the criticisms it is part of the solution to combatting climate change – not part of the problem.
Central to winning those arguments will be helping people understand the need for practical action now, ahead of the 2050 net zero target. It’s easy for pilots but can require more effort for other people, says Ricci. “From the cockpit, you get an appreciation of what there is to protect. Our role at 4Air is to help companies and businesses achieve that by taking practical steps now.”
4Air Ratings system
Level One: Bronze (Carbon neutral)
- Requires a 100% carbon dioxide (CO2) offset.
- 4AIR measures a company’s or individual’s carbon emissions using carbon accounting methods in line with ICAO and the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.
- Companies and individuals can identify and purchase carbon offset credits that fund specific projects intended to offset carbon emissions. Offset projects often incorporate forestry and renewable energy, allowing the industry to address the largest source of global emissions.
- A carbon offset is a tradeable, verified reduction or avoidance of one metric ton of CO2 emissions. 4AIR offset projects and credits are verified and validated with the most prominent verification standards.
- For large operators, emissions estimations are verified by an independent, third party to ensure that all flights are included and emissions accurately calculated.
Level Two: Silver (Emissions neutral)
- Requires a 300% offset to comprehensively offset emissions.
- Aviation’s biggest impact comes from non-CO2 emissions – emissions such as nitrous oxides or the formation of contrails. The non-CO2 emissions of gases and aerosol particles affect atmospheric composition and cloudiness, adding to the overall climate impact from the sector’s CO2 emissions.
- Climate impacts can be compared with a metric known as an emissions index. Using an emissions index known as the global warming potential (GWP), 4Air converts the impact of non-CO2 emissions into a CO2-equivalent amount (CO2e).
- To be truly emissions neutral and reduce aviation’s full impact on climate change, the entire impact must be considered.
- Current best estimates of the GWP of all aviation emissions is 3.0, so to be emission neutral requires offsetting 300% of carbon dioxide emissions alone.
Level Three: Gold (Beyond neutral)
- Requires a 5% direct emission.
- Carbon offsetting is a short run solution to supplement work to reduce emissions in the long run. Emissions reductions can be achieved through operational changes, buying new aircraft, or most prominently through SAF.
- As a result of limited commercial quantities of SAF available, a book and claim solution has been introduced to allow one person to use SAF, while another claims the benefit.
- Book and claim works like a renewable energy credit, introducing sustainable fuel into the fuel stream in one location while elsewhere someone is able to purchase and claim the attribute (a SAF credit or SAFc) of the emissions reduction. Through a registry, gallon renewable ID numbers and carbon intensities prevent double counting and ensure accurate emissions reductions are claimed. This system facilitates the development and deployment of SAF while maximising emissions reductions and minimising transportation.
- 4AIR facilitates direct uplift or acquisition and retirement of SAFc through book and claim.
Level Four: Platinum (Climate champion)
- Requires a direct contribution to the Aviation Climate Fund.
- To meet the most ambitious sustainability goals, aviation needs new technology that enables emissions reductions. In order to accelerate these new technologies, 4AIR has launched the Aviation Climate Fund. Contributions to the fund will support research and development for future aviation technologies and emission reduction solutions. Carbon offsetting and SAF will make much-needed progress, but are not, by themselves, enough to achieve a true zero impact.
- The fund will provide grants and investments to universities, non-profits, non-governmental entities and other research centres to support new technologies aimed at further reducing emissions in aviation.
- The Aviation Climate Fund (ACF) is partnering with leading universities and institutions to support their research that facilitates and lays the foundation for these new technologies.
- This fund aims to unify aviation stakeholders to support work that goes beyond best practice.
Source: 4Air
Source: 4Air
