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A shortage of verification bodies presents Aviation EU ETS aircraft operators with a major challenge
Fri 30 Apr 2010 - With the monitoring and collecting of data now underway, aircraft operators included in the Aviation EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) face yet another and imminent hurdle, says Paris-based VerifAvia. The CO2 emissions and tonne-kilometre data has to be verified by an independent accredited verification body before submission to the relevant administering Competent Authority by March 31 of each year, beginning in 2011. However, according to VerifAvia CEO Julien Dufour, with over 2,000 aircraft operators worldwide included in the scheme, only a handful of declared verifiers are so far in place and the aviation industry risks a shortage in the lead-up to the deadline. Read more ...
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Ash cloud's aviation CO2 silver lining has implications for airline EU ETS emissions allowances
Mon 26 Apr 2010 - Whilst the Iceland volcano ash cloud has cost the airlines $1.7 billion, according to IATA, around 1.67 million tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved by the grounding of scheduled flights within Europe, estimates consultants RDC Aviation. Figures from Eurocontrol show that between Thursday 15 April to the following Thursday, 22 April, 114,671 flights operated within European airspace compared to 188,514 in the previous week, with the agency estimating a higher overall saving of 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. However, the loss of the emissions will not be entirely welcomed by a number of airlines as 2010 is the benchmarking year for aircraft operators entering the Aviation EU Emissions Trading Scheme and airlines most affected by the ash cloud groundings could lose out in their allocation of free emissions allowances. Read more ...
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JetBlue marks Earth Day by encouraging staff and customers to do 'One Thing That’s Green'
Fri 23 Apr 2010 - To mark Earth Day yesterday, New York-based JetBlue Airways has launched a campaign to encourage customers, crew members and communities across its network to join in pledging to do 'One Thing That's Green'. For its part, the low-cost carrier is to donate one tree for each if its 12,000 crew members through its carbon offset partner Carbonfund.org. Through until July 9, customers can enter a sweepstake for the chance of winning a variety of eco-friendly prizes. The airline created its 'Jetting to Green' initiative in 2008 to encourage environmentally practices through education and volunteerism, and has recently formed the 'JetBlue Green Team' within the airline to develop future green metrics. Read more ...
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Climate change effects on weather poses real threat to aviation safety, say European states
Thu 22 Apr 2010 - Although much emphasis has been placed on the impact that commercial aviation has on the environment, less attention has been given to the impact that climate change may have on aviation safety. This is the view of a paper presented at the recent ICAO High-Level Safety Conference by member states of the EU, member states of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and Eurocontrol. Weather has been a hazard since aviators first took to the air, says the paper, but in the future there is likely to be more frequent hostile weather that will present a challenge to aviation safety. The paper announces an international conference is to take place in Germany in September under the auspices of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to raise awareness of the issue. Read more ...
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Seattle-Tacoma International steps up recycling efforts with airlines to reduce landfill waste
Thu 22 Apr 2010 - A new off-aircraft centralized recycling system has started operating at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that is aimed at reducing waste sent to landfills, improve ramp safety, decrease air emissions and save more than $250,000 each year. Six pairs of large capacity compactors have been installed at convenient locations for all airlines serving the airport to access. Computer monitoring provides alerts when they are full, thus reducing the amount of pick-up trips by 75 percent. The new programme includes financial incentives encouraging airlines to recycle. The Port of Seattle, which is responsible for the shipping port as well as the airport, has just published its annual environmental report for 2009-2010. Read more ...
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Berlin’s new Brandenburg International Airport to host world's first carbon-neutral filling station
Tue 20 Apr 2010 - A public filling station is to be constructed at the future Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) that is claimed will be the world's first CO2-neutral filling station. This is to be achieved through the building of a wind farm in the vicinity of the airport site, which will provide emissions-free power supply for the station itself and hydrogen fuel for vehicles, as well as generate enough power to offset the indirect CO2 emissions of conventional fuels sold at the station. It is an initiative of Berlin Airports, ENERTRAG and TOTAL, and the station is expected to enter service in October 2011, coinciding with the planned start of operations at BBI. Read more ...
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Two main UK political parties pledge to replace environmental passenger duty with per-plane tax
Wed 14 Apr 2010 - Ahead of a UK general election on May 6, the two main opposition parties have said they will replace Air Passenger Duty (APD) - a revenue-raising tax with 'green signals' - with a per-plane tax. The change had been previously mooted by the present Government in a 2008 consultation but was eventually rejected. In its manifesto, the opposition Conservative Party said it would "reform APD to encourage a switch to fuller and cleaner planes". The Liberal Democrats' manifesto calls for the introduction of a higher rate of per plane duty for domestic flights "for which alternative and less polluting travel is readily available" and plans to raise £3 billion ($4.6bn) per year from the tax. Both parties have repeated a commitment to reject plans for additional runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Read more ...
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Bombardier and GECAS join the growing list of accredited environmental aircraft fleet recyclers
Tue 13 Apr 2010 - Although great importance is attached to focusing on the environmental benefits of new aircraft, around 6,000 older types are expected to reach their end-of-life in the next 20 years. According to the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA), the disposal of these aircraft is a major problem and many companies have now launched environmental programmes to address it. Founded in 2005 by 11 organizations committed to drive the aircraft industry towards solutions for the safe and environmentally most responsible way of managing end-of-life aircraft, AFRA now encompasses 42 members from 10 countries. Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and GE Capital Aviation Services are the latest to be awarded AFRA accreditation for their dismantling operations. Read more ...
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Air France and American Airlines fly first transatlantic green flights in next-generation trials
Fri 9 Apr 2010 - A scheduled Air France Boeing 747-400ER undertook the first gate-to-gate transatlantic 'green' flight from Paris to Miami on Tuesday (Apr 6) to demonstrate procedures and technologies optimized to deliver reductions in noise and emissions levels. It was followed on the same route 24 hours later by a scheduled American Airlines Boeing 767-300. The two flights were conducted under the US-EU Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE). Air France said its flight saved two to three tonnes of jet fuel and cut CO2 emissions by six to nine tonnes. During the departure and arrival phases, the airline said the procedures used helped minimize noise levels by up to 7dB. Read more ...
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Finnair expects operational gains and fleet renewal to achieve a 41 percent emissions fall
Fri 9 Apr 2010 - Finnair has committed to increasing the pace of reducing its emissions per seat-kilometre over the next eight years, according to its recently published annual Corporate Responsibility Report. Between 1999 and 2009, the airline's CO2 emissions per seat have declined by 22 percent but through operational practices and fleet renewal it intends to reduce emissions by 24 percent between 2009 and 2017. This represents an anticipated overall 41 percent fall in 2017 compared to 1999. In an article within the report, Seppo Laine, Professor Emeritus of Aviation Technology at the Helsinki University of Technology, controversially claims recent research shows the climate warming effects caused by aviation have been overstated. Read more ...
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Solar Impulse takes off on maiden flight in a first step of an eventual solar-powered world journey
Thu 8 Apr 2010 - Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and his team successfully completed the maiden flight of their Solar Impulse aircraft in Payerne, Switzerland yesterday. The test flight lasted nearly 90 minutes, with the aircraft reaching an altitude of 1,200 metres. Although reported not to have been connected for this initial flight, the aircraft has almost 12,000 solar cells integrated into its massive wings - the length of a large commercial airliner - which feed energy to the four electric motors, each with a maximum power of just 10 HP. Solar-powered aircraft are unlikely to ever see commercial passenger use but Piccard says the aircraft is intended to demonstrate the importance of converting aviation to renewable energies. Read more ...
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UK airport to plant its own willow farm to produce biofuel for terminal building biomass boiler
Thu 8 Apr 2010 - The UK's East Midlands Airport is to establish a 26-hectare willow farm on its land to produce biofuel to power a biomass boiler, which will be situated in the terminal building. The farm is to be located north of the runway on land owned by the airport and is planned to be fully planted by 2013. Cuttings will be planted in three phases to ensure a continual crop of willow. The willow farm is expected to produce around 280 tonnes of wood fuel annually, which in turn will save 350 tonnes of CO2 emissions, says the airport. Read more ...
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First flight takes place of an aircraft solely powered by jet biofuel blend derived from plant biomass
Thu 8 Apr 2010 - The US Air Force has carried out the first-ever feasibility flight powered solely by a blended hydrotreated renewable jet fuel. The twin-engined A-10C Thunderbolt used a 50/50 blend of conventional military JP-8 jet fuel and a biofuel derived from camelina. A recent report projects that one billion gallons of camelina biofuel could be available to the aviation and biodiesel sectors by 2025. Meanwhile, camelina producer and supplier Great Plains has entered an into agreement with Accelergy to blend camelina oil with coal to create a jet biofuel in a process it claims to be 20 percent lower in CO2 emissions. Read more ...
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