The first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner took place yesterday. The event was webcasted for the whole world to watch via a feed Boeing provided on their website. They had set up seven cameras around Paine Field in Everett, Washington to record the maiden flight, which is still available to watch on-demand.
Effort has been truly industry-wide this week, with praise due across the board from engine manufacturers to airports for their improvements in regards to their environmental performance.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has been named the Air Navigation Services Provider of the Year by the Centre of Asia Pacific Aviation. CAAS has been recognised for its achievements in operational efficiencies that improve fuel efficiency thus reducing costs and emissions, such as the improved management and shortening of routes.
DFW International Airport in Texas has also been reducing emissions and has been recognised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts. The airport was recently pushed up to number 11 in the EPA’s top 20 Local Government List of the largest green power purchasers. The airport purchases nearly 53 million kWh of green power per year, which is enough to meet 18% of the organization’s purchased electricity use. According to the EPA, this is equivalent to avoiding the CO2 emissions of nearly 7,000 passenger vehicles per year, or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 5,000 average American homes annually.
Frankfurt Airport looks set to make improvements in this area as well. A project has been launched to look into the potential of the Walldorf deep-earth geothermal field as resource for renewable energy. If all goes well, the partners will construct a hybrid power plant, which will use geothermal power and biogas to produce electricity and heat which will then be used to supply Frankfurt Airport with renewable energy, so fingers crossed!
And finally, Rolls Royce won a contract this week with Virgin Atlantic to power ten of the carriers’ aircraft with its state of the art Trent 700 engines. Six of the aircraft that are to be supplied are Airbus model A330’s, which will feature an enhanced performance version of the Trent 700… and what does that mean? These enhanced Trent 700’s improve engine fuel burn by a further 1.3% over the regular models, helping Virgin Atlantic’s to pursue its mission to fly a modern fleet with the most fuel efficient technology available.
In other news, the Doha Aviation Summit2009 this week brought together internationally recognised associations, civil aviation authorities, ministries of aviation, airports, airlines and leading service providers to discuss various current issues the industry is facing. Much time was dedicated to the industry’s action on tackling environmental issues, with input in particular from Christohpe Cros from Airbus, who offered advice to the aviation market on new technology that lowers emissions and works towards a carbon neutral aviation industry. The conference suitably concluded with a 'Green Aviation' day where panelists discussed the carbon free future of aviation providing different perspective on development and deployment of new technologies, efficient usage of infrastructure, progress and utilisation of alternative fuels and the role of the government and institutional bodies in ensuring the carbon neutral growth.
A UK aviation coalition including airport operators BAA, airlines BA and Virgin Atlantic and the CAA have published a new interim code of practice this week, designed to help cut aircraft emissions by reducing fuel burn from aircraft at airports. The document is technical in nature, and so primarily targeted at pilots, flight planners and airport operators who are collectively encouraged to get involved in methods such as single-engine taxiing, once safety considerations are assured. By shutting down an engine during taxi-in operations pilots are told they could achieve reductions of 20-40% of the ground level fuel burn and CO2 emissions, and 10-30% of ground NOx emissions, depending on aircraft type and operator technique.
The environmental practices that are highlighted in the document are also said to deliver significant improvements to noise and local air quality at airports and reduce costs to airlines. Thus as well as providing global environmental benefits, it delivers additional local benefits to people living and working around airports.
The voluntary set of guidelines has been published ahead of the full version of the code that is expected to be finalised early next year, which will include advice on the use of airport terminal and ground power rather than running the aircraft's auxiliary power unit, 'continuous climb departures', and collaborative decision making to deliver further improvements.
In the news this week airports have shown positive improvements as they make their own contributions to lowering carbon emissions.
Sky Harbor International Airport, Pheonix, has announced plans to lower their carbon footprint by converting airport-based vehicles to alternate fuels and building a $1.1 billion automated train that aims to take thousands of cars off the streets near Sky Harbor. Measures are also being taken by airlines operating at Sky Harbor to cut emissions on the ground by replacing diesel-powered ground-support vehicles with electric versions.
San Francisco International Airport has also been working hard, becoming the first in the nation to allow passengers to off-set their carbon emissions from flights. Climate Passport kiosks located in the airport determine how many pounds of CO2 a trip will produce and calculate accordingly how much an environmentally-friendly traveler should contribute in order to off-set their travel. Passengers are then able to purchase these certified carbon offsets.
In other news, the European Voice published an interesting piece on the aviation industry’s development of new fuels and innovative technology. The article talks of the vast improvement we have witnessed in biofuel development, as it has gone from being simply an “interesting concept” to being tested in flights in just 18 months. Also mentioned, is the new ‘silent’ aircraft, the Sax-40, an aircraft designed with wings that blend seamlessly into the body of the plane, reducing noise and carbon emissions.
The aviation industry, it seems, is well on the way to achieving its very ambitious targets!
Today's guest blogger is The Rt Hon Brian Wilson, former British Member of Parliament and current chair of Flying Matters, a UK coalition of aviation companies.
The UK Environment Secretary, Ed Miliband, recently declared that lower-income people should not be priced out of flying on environmental grounds. The UK Treasury appears to have no such qualms about airborne elitism since the impact of draconian increases in Air Passenger Duty, dressed up in spurious green clothes, will be exactly the one that Mr Miliband has rejected.
The vast majority of us take it for granted that we will, occasionally, be able to afford to visit friends and family in far flung places or to go on holiday abroad. It is a remarkable change from just 30 years ago when flying was still the preserve of an elite. It would be unjust and futile to implement policies designed to revert to that position.
The Government’s own figures confirm that the current rises in APD are expected to price over a million and a half people out of flying each year – with the prospect of much more to come.
The fundamental unfairness of these flight tax rises is evidenced by a recent study by the UK National Centre for Social Research which showed that people on low and middle incomes were most likely to stop flying altogether when prices were forced up, whilst those on higher incomes simply change to cheaper destinations.
The figures are eye watering. The tax will rise in stages so that by November next year a family of four flying to Jamaica will pay £300 in tax alone, compared with £160 now. The same family will pay £340 in tax to go to Sydney, more than double the current rate.
Research carried out by Populus showed that nearly half the population have loved ones living abroad and that many people combine holidays with visiting friends and family. The research also showed that cost of travel is the main factor in how often they can visit their loved ones abroad.
And what of those parts of the world which rely heavily on UK tourism to support their economies? Kenya, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean, to name a few. There is real fear that the cost of flying to these countries will put off so many visitors that their economies will be badly hit.
If the blatant unfairness were not enough, the tax is completely ineffective in environmental terms. APD is not hypothecated for environmental purposes. It doesn’t go towards research to reduce emissions either in aviation or other industries, whereas the aviation industry already spends more than £2.5billion a year on R&D to reduce its climate impact.
The UK is out of step on this issue given progress on ETS at EU level and the focus at the Copenhagen Summit in December on securing the inclusion of aviation in a global scheme to address its climate impact. Unilateral action by the UK government will cause economic pain for no environmental gain.
There is no economic or environmental justification for this socially regressive measure. As the UK public realise that the doors to the world are beginning to close for a large number of them, they may well express their disapproval at the ballot box. This time, The Environment Secretary is right and the Treasury is wrong.
I noticed a number of interesting stories in media this week. An article in EurActiv on Wednesday featured an interesting interview with Raffaello Garofalo, the Executive Director of the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA). EABA was launched on 5 June to address the lack of legal framework in Europe for the production of algae-to-biofuels. Garofalo outlines the potential of algae as a source for biofuels since it does not need productive land that can be used for food, a common accusation that is made of biofuels. It also grows at exponential rates in polluted seawater where most other organisms die. There are even processes by which algae can algae absorb the pollution as a nutrient, allowing the water to be cleaned up and returned back to the ocean. To read the interview in full, click here.
Another article that caught my eye concerns the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). According to a report to be published by RDC Aviation and Point Carbon, the aviation sector could face a shortfall of 77 million tonnes of CO2 when it enters the EU ETS in 2012. The report finds that at the current spot price of €14.40 per tonne of CO2, the cost of having to purchase the necessary credits is likely to be in the region of €1.1 billion, with British Airways and US carriers facing the largest shortfalls.
On a slightly more optimistic note, Gulf Air has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bahrain Government's General Directorate for the Protection of the Environment and Wildlife, in a major step forward in the airline's corporate social responsibility initiatives. Gulf Air Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Sameer Has-san Al Saeed told Gulf Daily News that "It (the MoU) has to be done now because if we leave it any longer then we will lose business; it's as simple as that." Staying in the same geographical region, Qatar Airways has been elected as a member of the International Air Transport Association’s Environment Committee (ENCOM) and also recently joined IATA’s new carbon offsetting programme. I think all these examples shows that the industry is only stepping up its environmental initiatives in the current economic climate, showing that an economic downturn provides an even greater incentive for a reduction in carbon emissions.
Kevin Dobby, International Aviation Adviser, acted as biofuels rapporteur for Day 1 of the Aviation and Environment Summit. He concluded that the biofuels technology works and that the drop-in model is the right one. However, there remain questions that need to be answered, such as standards for sustainability, as well as other economic factors. For his complete presentation, see the video below.
Kurt Schaad, Executive Producer for Swiss National Television, was the rapporteur for driving aviation efficiency. He explained that new initiatives are pushing 'out of the box', although numerous challenges remain in the areas of technology, operations and infrastructure. Schaad concluded by reminding us that 'all discussions need global solutions.' Click on the video to view his presentation.
Billy Glover from Boeing addressed delegates at the Aviation and Environment Summit about the future of sustainable biofuels in aviation. He explained that biofuels had moved from 'possibility to feasibility' and that the industry needed to adopt a 'can do' attitude.
To see the full presentation, click on the link below.
Willie Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of British Airways, believes that the industry has to continue funding environmental research, despite concerns that losses and weak forecasts might result in airlines cutting back their environmental programmes.
Jennifer Holmgren, Honeywell UOP, speaking about aviation biofuels at the Summit
(Photo by Justin Hession/Getty for the Air Transport Action Group)
We’re getting to the end of the day and it has been tremendously exciting to see all the delegates interacting and listening to the comments from the sessions.
One of the major topics focused on this year has been the prospects for alternative fuels for aviation. It’s a little known fact that the industry now has a target for 10% use of biofuels by 2017, which would be an amazing achievement. When I worked on the UK Sustainable Aviation project in 2005, we were told that kerosene would be the only game in town until at least the middle of the next decade. Even the 2006 Update, which did reference alternative fuels, concluded that despite some advances “Notwithstanding the above developments, kerosene is a safe, high energy density fuel and is likely to remain the fuel of choice for the foreseeable future.” Little could we have known that just three years later a plane would fly with a biofuel mix, and that not only would it prove to be viable, but it would in fact prove to burn even cleaner than kerosene.
There remain many technological and logistical challenges of course before we see biofuel playing a significant role. But the debates in the hall today showed that aviation has faced similar challenges before, and has conquered them. The Solar Impulse project points the way – albeit even further in the distance – to an even more exciting future. Completely carbon-free flight.
It is events like this which show that the aviation industry has lost none of its pioneering spirit, even in these difficult economic times. Let’s hope the politicians make similarly far-sighted decisions later this year.
