The Government must dramatically curtail the growth of the aviation industry or give up on its plan to cut Britain's carbon dioxide emissions, a major study said today.

Pollution from aircraft, which is currently not even included in the Government's Co2 targets, is increasing at such a rate that it threatens to release more greenhouse gases than the rest of the economy put together, the study found.

Today's stark warning was one of the conclusions of a five-year study of Britain's plan to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

Dr Kevin Anderson, who led the research team at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change at Manchester University, said it was time for the Government to face the consequences of a rapidly-growing aviation industry.

"If the UK Government does not curb aviation growth, all other sectors of the economy will eventually be forced to become carbon neutral," said Dr Anderson. "It will undermine the international competitiveness of UK industry."

Today's report, called Decarbonising the UK, said that the Government's failure to consider the environmental costs of air travel "has led to a serious underestimation of the actions necessary to achieve a true 60 per cent reduction" in Britain's emissions.

The study also identified a contradiction between the Government's policy of encouraging the expansion of the air industry - through new airports, more runways and cheap tickets - and its environmental plans.

"This research demonstrates the paradoxical nature of the UK Government's self-imposed 60 per cent carbon reduction target... and their desire to permit, or indeed promote, the high levels of growth currently experienced in the aviation sector," the study said.

The Government’s Aviation White Paper in 2003 predicted that Britain's passenger numbers will more than double from 180 million to 475 million over the next 25 years.

The study warned that if the British aviation industry continues to expand at two thirds of its current 8 per cent growth rate then the Government's entire emissions policy will be rendered moot because pollution from aircraft alone will exceed the national target.

The study warned that the aviation industry is a particularly damaging source of pollution because aircraft release significant quantities of greenhouse gases high in the Earth's atmosphere. Aviation technology also changes slowly, with aircraft frequently flying for 30 years or more.

"A combination of long design runs (already 35 years for the Boeing 747) and design lives (typically 30 years) locks the industry into a kerosene-fuelled future," the study said, citing the new giant Airbus A-380 as an example of a brand new aircraft that still relies on conventional jet engines.

The Government reacted to today's report by saying that it intends to cap pollution from the aviation industry by encouraging emission trading between companies.

"Emissions from aviation have been growing and we want to address this by bringing the sector into the emissions trading scheme, there will be pressure on companies to reduce emissions," said Elliot Morley, minister for climate change and the environment.

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