“You’re next holiday may be powered by weeds” wrote Dominic O’Connell in the Sunday Times this week and indeed he may be right... Last week we saw a passenger biofuel flight by KLM and the last in a series of ‘MINT’ flights; this week sees development through British Airways who have taken a big step into the world of biofuels by starting trials in conjunction with Rolls-Royce. The trails involve conducting largescale ground tests of a range of fuels made from plants and will take place as of next year. BA will buy up to 240 tonnes of four kinds of biofuels for its research. The data generated by the tests should help speed the certification of the fuels for commercial use, with regulatory approval expected towards the end of next year.
Latin American airliner, GOL, announced this week their plan to have all aircraft be equipped with sensors to enable the use of the GPS Landing System, as well as Vertical Situation Display, as of January 2010. GOL predicts the GPS Landing System will become the dominant global technology in the near future. This equipment permits continuous ascent or descent which reduces fuel consumption and the emission of environmentally harmful gases by up to 15% in these flight stages. Enhancing this is the Vertical Situation Display which allows pilots to accurately identify, from the cockpit, information on ground relief and obstacles therefore permitting more efficient landing planning, reducing landing component wear and tear and, consequently, future maintenance expenses.
Elsewhere, there has been a request to ‘Switch off!’ by Stansted airport as they launch their new energy awareness campaign. Rather than leaving appliances on standby, airport staff are encouraged to save power by switching off therefore saving power, reducing emissions and by transferring this practice to home as well, saving some money on energy bills! This initiative is a part of the airport’s Energy Management Plan to reduce CO2 emissions from airport buildings and infrastructure by 30% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. Other initiatives at Stansted include installation of a biomass boiler which has brought a 75% saving on gas consumption in the terminal building, use of movement sensors in office areas to turn lights off when areas aren't in use and a move to introduce low energy lighting across the airfield.
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