Condensation trails (contrails) are created when soot and water vapor are emitted from an aircraft's jet engines in a cold and humid atmosphere. For 5% of flights, contrails act as a potent greenhouse gas, trapping heat in the atmosphere, and are likely responsible for 1-2% of all human-caused global warming. Managing these contrails is an important pathway for aviation to significantly reduce its climate impact in the next decade.

Launched in 2025 and part of the Breakthrough Energy platform, Contrails.org brings together leading scientists, technologists, and industry experts to accelerate the scientific research, technological innovations and operational improvements needed to make contrail management a practical reality. We envision a world where intelligent route planning and management eliminates climate warming contrails with near-zero cost.

Our work is focused across three interconnected areas:

Science: Coordinate, support and sponsor strategic research to better model, predict and measure contrails and their climate impacts, so first movers are supported with the science they need to deliver maximum impact.

Technology: Prove feasibility at scale by developing the open-source models, tools and protocols required for contrail avoidance, validated via real-world operational demonstrations with airlines and air navigation service providers.

Implementation: Provide independent, authoritative information on contrail-climate impacts, and resolve system-level hurdles to build pathways for implementation at scale.

Through these efforts, Contrails.org aims to galvanize action towards contrail management. By doing so together, we can create a rapid, scalable and affordable pathway to reduce a significant source of global heating.