Eurocontrol and ACI Europe join forces to ease airport congestion and reduce aircraft emissions
Fri 31 Oct 2008 - Eurocontrol, the organization responsible for European air safety and air traffic management harmonization, and ACI Europe, represents airport operators, have signed a cooperative agreement which is aimed at enhancing the capacity of airport infrastructure across Europe and optimizing operations. It follows a forecast that air services will double by 2030 but the lack of sufficient airport capacity will result in severe congestion and full saturation at many European airports. Read more ...
|
Biofuels will be in commercial aviation use within three to five years, believes Boeing
Fri 31 Oct 2008 - Boeing's Director of Environmental Strategy, Darrin Morgan, told The Guardian newspaper that biofuels will be approved for commercial use by airlines within three to five years, sooner than previously thought possible. The biggest barrier to mass use of biofuels, he said, is the availability of enough biomass material to satisfy industry needs. Meanwhile, the Boeing-led Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) held its annual Algae Biomass Summit in Seattle last week, featuring presentations focusing on the role of algae in addressing growing global energy needs. Read more ...
1 opinion posted |
US turns up the heat on Europe's Emissions Trading Scheme with diplomatic and industry objections
Thu 30 Oct 2008 - The US Ambassador to the European Union has today sent a letter to the European Commission reiterating US concerns over the inclusion of international civil aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The US threatens to take "appropriate measures" under international law if the EU "insists on taking unilateral action" over the issue. In a speech today in Brussels, James C. May, the President and CEO of the Air Transport Association of America (ATA), which represents the bulk of US airlines, said the ETS was contrary to international law and a bad policy. Read more ...
|
UK Government reverses earlier decision not to include aviation emissions in Climate Change Bill
Thu 30 Oct 2008 - Facing a rebellion from MPs within its own party and anger from environmentalists, the UK Government has backed down on an earlier decision to exclude aviation and shipping carbon emissions from its ambitious legally-binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050. Prime Minster Gordon Brown has also told MPs that a final verdict on a third runway at Heathrow "would be taken only after full consideration of the environmental implications", fuelling speculation that the Government was getting cold feet over its support for the project. Read more ...
|
European ministers rubber stamp Council and Parliament agreement on aviation's entry into the EU ETS
Mon 27 Oct 2008 - The directive to include aviation into the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme from 2012 was formally adopted, without discussion, during a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on Friday (October 24). EU Member States now have 12 months to transpose the directive into national law. Airlines have condemned the move just as the global financial crisis bites and with the European aviation sector already showing signs of a major slowdown. Read more ...
|
UK Government to provide research and development funding for algae-based transport biofuels
Fri 24 Oct 2008 - The UK Government is to underwrite a publicly-funded initiative to research, develop and then commercialize the use of algae as a second generation biofuel for road and air transport by 2020. The two-phase project, called the Algae Biofuels Challenge, is to be led by the Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by the Government to accelerate a move to a low carbon economy by working with organizations to reduce carbon emissions and develop low carbon technologies. Read more ...
|
Copa Airlines claims Latin American first as it launches a voluntary carbon offset service to passengers
Thu 22 Oct 2008 - Panama-based Copa Airlines has added a carbon calculator to its website, allowing passengers to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions of their chosen flights. The offset programme was developed in association with Sustainable Travel International and contributions will be invested in alternative energy projects and reforestation. Still in Central America, Costa Rica's NatureAir, which claims to be the world's first certified carbon neutral airline, has launched a sustainable travel blog. Read more ...
|
Qantas A380 takes part in ASPIRE fuel and emissions saving initiative on inaugural trans-Pacific flight
Thu 23 Oct 2008 - A second demonstration flight took place yesterday under the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) programme which involved the return leg of Qantas' inaugural Airbus A380 service between Australia and the US West Coast. By using optimum air traffic management procedures and the latest technologies, the new aircraft was able to fly from Los Angeles to Melbourne more quickly and efficiently, saving both fuel and emissions. Read more ...
|
UK's new environment minister to omit aviation emissions from climate change legislation
Fri 17 Oct 2008 - The UK's new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, has announced that the Government has accepted the proposal put forward last week by the Climate Change Committee that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by 80 percent, instead of the previously proposed 60 percent, by 2050. However, the minister has decided not to include aviation and shipping emissions in the legally binding target. Read more ...
|
WWF taken to task over its $64,950 per person, 36,800-mile luxury private jet tourist expedition
Thu 16 Oct 2008 - In an article entitled 'Five-star Green Hypocrisy', online publication JunkScience.com has condemned environmental NGO WWF over its promotion of a round-the-world, 25-day journey by luxury private jet to conservation areas on four continents. Using WWF's own carbon calculator, JunkScience estimates the trip in the lavishly fitted Boeing 757 will burn about 100,000 gallons of jet fuel, producing 1,231 tons of CO2, the equivalent of putting 1,560 SUVs on the road over the same period. Read more ...
|
Belgian and Irish announcements of new passenger departure taxes lead to airline industry anger
Thu 16 Oct 2008 - Both Belgian and Irish governments announced on Tuesday their intentions to levy departure taxes on airline passengers. Belgium, which is struggling to find up to 2.5 billion euros to balance its 2009 books, is looking to raise 132 million euros from the new tax, although it is being promoted as a measure to benefit the environment through an anticipated reduction in carbon emissions. The Irish tax, which has no such pretensions, is expected to raise 95 million euros in 2009 and 150 million euros in a full year. Read more ...
|
Airbus challenges students to help shape the eco-efficient aircraft industry of the future
Tue 14 Oct 2008 - Commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus has launched an international competition called 'Fly Your Ideas' for student teams worldwide to submit proposals that will help enhance the aviation sector's eco-efficiency. With a top prize of 30,000 euros ($41,000), the competition is open to college and university students studying a degree, Masters or PhD in any academic discipline, from engineering to marketing, business to science and philosophy to design. Read more ...
|
IATA unveils environment display at Schiphol Airport to promote a green aviation image to the public
Tue 14 Oct 2008 - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has opened an environment exhibition stand in one of the main passenger departure lounges at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport as part of an industry commitment to better communicate aviation's environmental activities to the public. It is a joint initiative with the airport's operator, Schiphol Group, as well as Dutch airline KLM and BARIN, which represents airlines operating in the Netherlands. Read more ...
|
European Parliament’s environment committee passes tougher aviation ETS proposals from 2013
Mon 13 Oct 2008 - The European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) last week approved a package of measures to stiffen the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from 2013 as part of a general review of climate policy by the European Commission. The aviation industry has fared marginally worse than other sectors with MEPs proposing the allocation of free emission allowances be cut from 85 percent in 2012 to 80 percent in 2013 - the others would be entitled to 85 percent in 2013 - with a total phase-out for all industries by 2020. Read more ...
|
Surveys find conflicting attitudes by the travelling public to climate change and the environment
Fri 10 Oct 2008 - A survey carried out by travel portal Trivago found its European members had different reactions to travel and global warming. Only 16 percent of Britons changed their travel plans due to climate change, with 80 percent of respondents saying they were sceptical about global warming and 40 percent believing it was just media hype. The Italians, in comparison, are less cynical about climate change but also less likely to change their travel habits. Read more ...
|
EU to press third countries to participate with it in tackling international aviation greenhouse gas emissions
Fri 10 Oct 2008 - At a European Union Council meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, transport ministers called for the European Commission to engage with third countries on international aviation emissions. The Commission was urged to persuade them to adopt equivalent measures to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which should be included in the framework of aviation bilateral agreements. The Council, meanwhile, appears to have backtracked on an agreement with the European Parliament that ETS auction revenues must be ring-fenced for environmental measures. Read more ...
|
Virgin Galactic and NOAA to explore collaboration on high altitude climate change research and monitoring
Fri 3 Oct 2008 - Virgin Galactic, the ambitious project to take civilians to the edge of space, has signed an agreement with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to research the effects of climate change at high altitudes. Virgin is currently developing a plane, called WhiteKnightTwo, which will eventually carry the SpaceShipTwo passenger space craft to a height of about 50,000 feet (15km) before launching it. Both will be equipped with sensors and monitoring systems to measure CO2 and other GHGs as they fly through the upper atmosphere. Read more ...
|
VLM says it is a myth that short-haul flights are more environmentally damaging than rail journeys
Fri 3 Oct 2008 - Belgian regional carrier VLM Airlines has waded into the train versus plane debate by publishing a 'fact sheet', entitled Setting the Record Straight, which aims to disprove claims that flying within the UK and on short-haul flights to Europe is more damaging to the environment than taking the train on the same routes. VLM argues that train operators and their supporters are not taking into account the true environmental impact of rail services. Read more ...
|
Lufthansa announces measures to save paper on its cargo and passenger operations
Thu 2 Oct 2008 - Lufthansa Cargo has despatched its first paperless airfreight shipment on a flight from Frankfurt to Seoul as part of a move by the air cargo industry towards an e-freight era. Meanwhile, Lufthansa's airline passengers can now use mobile boarding passes on all flights from Germany to any European destination, avoiding the need for printing out any travel documents. Lufthansa Systems, the carrier's IT solutions subsidiary, has announced Air Berlin has contracted for its fuel-saving, flight planning system. Read more ...
|
|
