Greener Skies 2009

Today's Guest blogger is Robert O'Meara who is Communications Manager at ACI Europe.

So, it's that time of year again. Peak summer season. If you have been through an airport recently, you'll doubtless have seen for yourself just how busy it is. But in the journey from check-in to security to boarding your flight, what activities did you notice on the airport site?

In the midst of security threats, extreme weather and the many other surprises that aviation can often be affected by (volcanic ash, anyone?), sometimes it's all too easy to overlook the environmental efforts being made by an airport.

Airports all over Europe are undertaking all kinds of environmental projects: from changing the airport car fleet to electric or hybrid technology, to photovoltaic parks, enhanced water management and recycling projects. So much of these activities go unnoticed by the passenger.

Airport Carbon Accreditation - mentioned on a number of previous occasions in this blog - celebrated its first birthday in mid-June. In that first year, 20 European airports became accredited at one of the four different levels possible: 'Mapping', 'Reduction', 'Optimisation' and 'Neutrality'.

Year 2 of the programme kicked off on 17 June 2010. And already, it's clear that momentum has moved up a gear. In less than 2 months, all of these airports have already renewed or become accredited for the first time:

- Milan Linate & Milan Malpensa in Italy
- Istanbul Airport in Turkey
- Bologna Airport in Italy
- Stockholm Arlanda and Stockholm Bromma airports in Sweden
- Ankara Esenboga Airport in Turkey
- Athens Airport in Greece
- Farnborough Airport in the UK
- Umea City Airport in Sweden
- Antalya Airport in Turkey

Some of these airports are at the beginning of the programme -  mapping the emissions sources under their control on the airport site. But nearly 50% of those listed are reducing CO2 emissions, actively engaging with others on the airport site to reduce theirs and offsetting any remaining CO2 emissions under the airports' direct control - effectively running carbon neutral operations.

So if you're passing through an airport terminal in the weeks or months ahead, take a look around. You may notice more recycling bins. The bus taking you to the aircraft may well be gas-powered. And the aeroplane you're travelling on probably won't leave its engines running on the ground, as occurred in the past. And you may see a banner that says 'This airport is participating in Airport Carbon Accreditation'.

At this year's Berlin and Farnborough Air Shows, EADS showcased the world's first flight of an aircraft powered by pure biofuel made from algae. To great acclaim, a Diamond DA42 New Generation aircraft powered by two Austro AE300 engines took part in the daily flight demonstrations.

 
Only minor modifications and adjustments have to be made to the aircraft to run on algae based biofuel and consumption is lower compared to conventional JET-A1 fuel due to its high energy content.

"All other demonstrations with third-generation biofuel have been done with blends," said EADS research and technology chief Jean Botti. "This is the first time anyone has done it with 100% biofuel." Bench tests with algae biofuel in the AE300 engine indicate fuel savings of 5-10% over kerosene as the biofuel burns more efficiently. "We are amazed that it had better combustion than kerosene," added Botti.

Such developments are a good match with the efficiency goals set by IATA which include an average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per year to 2020, a cap on aviation CO2 emissions from 2020 to ensure carbon-neutral growth and a goal to reduce CO2 emissions 50% by 2050 compared to 2005.

EADS, its partners and many other companies are currently researching further to support the growth of an algae-powered industry. Cost efficiency is key in the immediate future: currently it is more expensive to produce fuel from algae in comparison to sourcing crude oil. So if algae-based fuel is to compete with kerosene, research and development work must aim to establish an effective mass production to ensure availability in the near future.

Another research project spearheaded by EADS is a concept helicopter featuring a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system. With the potential to halve fuel consumption compared to a typical twin-turbine helicopter, it uses two opposed piston opposed cylinder diesel engines supplied by EcoMotors International of the USA to generate electrical power for the main and tail rotors.

The engines alone are around 30% more fuel efficient than today's turbine engines, while other weight savings and aerodynamic improvements facilitated by the hybrid architecture increase the total potential fuel saving to 50%, says EADS.

At Farnborough Airshow Hélène Gagnon shared with us the environmental initiatives being spearheaded by business jet and commercial aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. 

Watch the video to hear how Bombardier incorporates environmental stewardship throughout the production lifecycle; the company's leadership in establishing a carbon offset programme for business jet customers; and how Bombardier is helping the aviation industry 'walk the talk' with recycling at the air show