At Farnborough, we caught up with Paul Nash, Head of New Energies for Airbus. In this video, he shares examples of how Airbus is using synthetic fuels today, tells how Airbus is taking a catalyst role in speeding up the commercialisation of biofuels and outlines the issues the industry faces the move towards carbon neutral growth.
Plane Talking
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Day two at Farnborough and already many of the manufacturers are announcing orders with more to follow. The business of the show is business, after all, and it is fascinating to walk round the trade show and realise just how many different companies are involved in the aviation industry, with all the jobs and economic benefit this brings around the world.
It is also gratifying to see how many parts of the industry are taking their environmental responsibilities seriously. We have seen parts manufacturers who are striving to make their products as light as possible in order to save fuel; a brake manufacturer who has developed a brake that slows the plane down without the fuel burn used before; and providers of air traffic management solutions which minimise flight time and thus, carbon emissions.
We also spoke to Paul Nash, Head of New Energies for Airbus and Billy Glover, Managing Director Environmental Strategy for Boeing, who both spoke about the tremendous potential of biofuels. The consensus seems to be that there will not be a 'one size fits all' approach to biofuel production as different countries and communities will draw upon the feedstocks (plants, waste and even algae) which make economic and environmental sense to them. This makes good sense and, in the end, as long as the fuels produced remain 'drop in' then it will make no difference to the industry. The future in this area is very exciting and will make a huge difference to aviation's environmental impact. Both these interviews will be available on the YouTube channel.
It is also gratifying to see how many parts of the industry are taking their environmental responsibilities seriously. We have seen parts manufacturers who are striving to make their products as light as possible in order to save fuel; a brake manufacturer who has developed a brake that slows the plane down without the fuel burn used before; and providers of air traffic management solutions which minimise flight time and thus, carbon emissions.
We also spoke to Paul Nash, Head of New Energies for Airbus and Billy Glover, Managing Director Environmental Strategy for Boeing, who both spoke about the tremendous potential of biofuels. The consensus seems to be that there will not be a 'one size fits all' approach to biofuel production as different countries and communities will draw upon the feedstocks (plants, waste and even algae) which make economic and environmental sense to them. This makes good sense and, in the end, as long as the fuels produced remain 'drop in' then it will make no difference to the industry. The future in this area is very exciting and will make a huge difference to aviation's environmental impact. Both these interviews will be available on the YouTube channel.
Perfect weather and a great day for the opening of the Farnborough Air Show. Next to the show news at every entrance, visitors could also pick up copies of the Green Flight Times and new Beginner's Guide to Aviation Efficiency.
Green flight was a theme that carried throughout the day. First, we had a tour of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has been getting incredible coverage in the UK press. Next, everyone was out on the deck for the flight of the Airbus A380, billed as the largest, greenest passenger plane in the world. We're talking to Boeing and Airbus tomorrow and will report back.
We met with some of the industry's leaders on green flight. First, Helene Gagnon, Vice President of Bombardier, who as manufacturers of both business and commercial jets has been at the forefront of pushing environmental standards. She shared insights on their efforts which we will be sharing in the weeks ahead. She also showed an environmental initiative that was showing immediate effect throughout the show - the recycling bins. Several years ago, Bombardier noticed that there was no on-site recycling at Farnborough and offered to provide it. Now three years running, the company provides 250 bins for both Farnborough and the Paris Air show.
Next up, we met with Jonathon Counsell, head of environment for British Airways. He shared insights into the company's Biofuels initiative which turns rubbish into aviation fuels. And to provide further insight into BA's biofuels plant we interviewed Dr. Robert Do, President & CEO of Solena Group who explained how the chemistry works and its future potential.
Check future blog posts and the YouTube channel for more information on these and other interviews.
Green flight was a theme that carried throughout the day. First, we had a tour of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has been getting incredible coverage in the UK press. Next, everyone was out on the deck for the flight of the Airbus A380, billed as the largest, greenest passenger plane in the world. We're talking to Boeing and Airbus tomorrow and will report back.
We met with some of the industry's leaders on green flight. First, Helene Gagnon, Vice President of Bombardier, who as manufacturers of both business and commercial jets has been at the forefront of pushing environmental standards. She shared insights on their efforts which we will be sharing in the weeks ahead. She also showed an environmental initiative that was showing immediate effect throughout the show - the recycling bins. Several years ago, Bombardier noticed that there was no on-site recycling at Farnborough and offered to provide it. Now three years running, the company provides 250 bins for both Farnborough and the Paris Air show.
Next up, we met with Jonathon Counsell, head of environment for British Airways. He shared insights into the company's Biofuels initiative which turns rubbish into aviation fuels. And to provide further insight into BA's biofuels plant we interviewed Dr. Robert Do, President & CEO of Solena Group who explained how the chemistry works and its future potential.
Check future blog posts and the YouTube channel for more information on these and other interviews.
Flying from Paris to Miami on 6 April, passengers on board could have been forgiven for not noticing there was anything different. Yet, for the people at Air France and SESAR, the flight had tremendous significance in seeing the results of the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) programme in action.
As the pilot, Captain Claude Godel explained to SESAR, the AIRE flight between Paris and Miami is ideal as it crosses numerous airspaces, all of which belong to AIRE as well as being incredibly efficient becuase it takes the best flight path, shortens the travel time and saves CO2 and fuel. According to Captain Godel the first green atlantic flight was the result of a combination of current best practices, comparing flight under AIRE as being similar to driving a car with only green lights in your path, as opposed to having to start and stop for each traffic light. Though he acknowledged that implementing these practices was difficult and required a reasonable amount of extra preperation and co-ordination, the success of the flight showed that implementing these practices was both achievable and worthwhile
AIRE was launched in 2007, designed to improve energy efficiency and aircraft noise in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). SESAR is responsible for its management in Europe. In 2009,SESAR supported 1,152 green flight trials under the AIRE umbrella. Over the coming year, Airbus, Air France, NATS, and NAV Canada will perform a series of transatlantic green flights with the A380, bridging the American and European projects.
The hope is that these successful flights will encourage the full adaptation of these technologies to ensure the full development of smarter, greener, flights that use the full range of environmentally-friendly options that already exist.
Today's Guest Blogger is Dr. Rainer Ohler, SVP Public Affairs & Communications at Airbus. In the first of a series of posts, he explores why the global need for more air travel is not inconsistent with creating a better environment and should be balanced with a greener world.
As the dust (or volcanic ash) settles, one question continues to split opinion: “If you stopped all aircraft tomorrow, would the world really be a better place?”
From interviews with some of the 1.2m passengers estimated to have been affected each day, to the plight of farm labourers in Kenya who depend on aviation for horticulture, to speculation about CO2 emissions savings, the volcano dominated news agenda has stimulated debate.
On one thing there appears to be consensus. Today, many of the benefits of air transport are so integrated into the social and economic fabric of our society that they are taken for granted. A cloud from Eyjafjallajokull has made this much clear at least.
So the question seems to be whether there is a need to reconsider the regularity with which we use air travel. And would there really be less impact on the environment?
The report from leading economic forecasting consultancy Oxford Economics – “Aviation: The Real World Wide Web” – offers interesting insight and (perhaps unexpected) answers to the following:
What would happen to the 33 million people whose jobs depend on air transport, to the 35% of world trade that it moves or the US$1.5 trillion global GDP that it supports? What would replace the catalyst that drives investment, productivity and tourism, or could equal it as a positive influence on social development, cultural exchange, learning and economic growth? What of the producers of perishable goods such as the Kenyan farmers, who depend on horticulture for their livelihood?
And for those who consider that aviation’s 2% contribution to man made emissions is too high a price to pay for social and economic development, the report also raises pertinent questions about whether stopping or restricting air transport would really lower emissions. Things are not as simple as they may first appear.
People and goods will still want and need to travel; people and economies will need to seek alternative employment and replacement activities respectively. This will also have an impact on the environment. It’s a complicated issue and one that needs to be debated more widely. But the report gives serious food for thought.
The fact is we live in a single global economy driven by aviation. On a planet more interconnected than at any time in history, woven together by a web of flights that create ever-expanding social and economic networks. Aviation delivers sustainable benefits that permeate the very social and economic fabric of our society, making a real difference to people in both developing and established nations worldwide.
But while growth in air travel is a global need, it need not be inconsistent with creating a better environment.
Some 80% of aviation emissions are from journeys of over 1,500 km for which there is no practical alternative and in the last 40 years the industry has worked to reduce aircraft fuel burn and emissions by 70% and noise by 75%. Together, we have made a commitment to doing more – an all too rare example of an entire global industry where even the fiercest competitors are working together to reduce their environmental impact.
Yet without the facts, who can blame those rightly concerned for our natural world to be clouded in their judgement and look blinkered in our direction, blinded by the mirage of a better, greener world?
And that’s the point.
Just as flying broadens horizons, we need to help others open their eyes to the bigger picture. And to understand the steps we are taking to shape the eco-efficient aviation industry of the future – for both a more connected and sustainable world.
Over the coming months, I’ll be contributing to the Enviro-Aero Plane Talking blog drawing examples from LiftTheEarth.com (which brings the Oxford Economics Report to life) to look in more detail at what increased access to flight – and greener flight – really means… for humankind and the planet.
This is not an either/or debate. It has to be and/and…
R. Ohler
… and Airbus is to mark the year by featuring the official logo on its A380 superjumbo aircraft throughout 2010. Airbus pledged support in June 2009 for the UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Green Wave initiative. The aim of the initiative is to educate young people about life on Earth, the importance of biodiversity, its role in their future and the steps they can take to nurture the nature around them.
Whilst the aviation sector is already committed to reducing the 2% of manmade CO2 emissions the sector accounts for, Airbus has also decided they want to tackle the other 98%. Being a global company, Airbus believes its global outreach will provide an important platform on which to spread the important message of the CBD.
The design of the A380 has been well conceived, resulting in lower fuel burn and lower operating costs per seat, but it is another aircraft that was amongst winners of this year's Brit Insurance Design Awards. It was the E430 Electric Aircraft, designed by Yuneec International, that won the award – a twin seat, single engine, light sport aircraft designed to be simple to use, easy to fly and produce zero emissions. Of course, electric aircraft are not yet used commercially, but it is an exciting preview of what the future of flying may bring!
My organisation, the Air Transport Action Group, is all about coordination of aviation industry partners for a greener future for flight. We bring together commercial rivals such as Airbus and Boeing and operational partners such as airports, airlines and air traffic control organisations in order to craft, plan and execute common environmental objectives, such as our cross-industry target of carbon neutral growth from 2020.
One example of such collaboration has just been announced - Heathrow Airport, Singapore Airlines, NATS (the UK's air traffic control organisation) and Airbus have been working on a project to implement new take-off and departures procedures for the A380 aircraft. By working together, these organisations have enabled take-offs using less power from the engines, followed by 'flexible acceleration' after the aircraft reaches 1,500 feet. This basically means the pilot is free to set the thrust of the engines to best match conditions for each flight - taking into full account wind speed and temperature etc.
This procedure will save on average 300 kilos of fuel (that's 945 kilos of carbon dioxide) off each take-off. When you consider that Singapore Airlines flies the A380 to Heathrow daily, that equates to an annual saving of just under 350 tonnes of CO2. Of course, the A380 is already a very efficient aircraft in its own right, as more of them enter service, new operational procedures will only add to that efficiency.
Now that Heathrow, NATS, Airbus and Singapore Airlines have been running the pilot programme for a year, the airport operator BAA is set to extend the programme to other operators of the A380 - Emirates and Qantas.
Good things happen when we work together!
- Image from Flickr user hyku
Air New Zealand's recent order of A320 aircraft to replace its domestic jet fleet is going to come with a little something extra - sharklets! These are an extension to the current Airbus A320 wingtips that will increase efficiency and reduce fuel use by a whopping 3.5% (or around 700 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft, per year). They are really just a fancy name for winglets. Crankyflier has made an amusing suggestion of what they may look like, but in reality, they will look like the computer mock-up above. Kiwis flying domestically from 2012 will get to see them first-hand.
We interviewed Andrea after she finished speaking at Greener Skies. Her presentation focused on some of the areas that people often forget in the environmental debate - the benefits that aviation brings to people around the world and importantly in developing nations. The report, called Aviation: The Real World Wide Web is available online through Oxford Economics.
It is sometimes easy to forget, as we check-in online, or wait in security queues, or make sure our seat back is upright and our table is folded away, that flying was once considered the height of luxury... indeed flying was once a dream in the minds of visionaries, one that many thought would never happen. Today, it is a necessary part of modern transport infrastructure. It carries millions of people each day and helps build trade links and deliver commodities and consumers all over the globe. But it is nice to know that we have not totally forgotten the visionaries.
Bauhaus Luftfahrt is a German-based aviation think-tank that “develops sustainable, innovative solutions for future air travel and air transportation”. One of the projects it is currently working on is called Claire. Rather than just describe… her, it may be easier to simply show you what she looks like:
This concept aircraft would utilise the latest in engine and wing design to be ultra-efficient and ultra-quiet while carrying large numbers of passengers in comfort. While the design may seem far-fetched, it is important to note that any of the cutting-edge elements that make up this design may spawn new technologies in their own right.
Take the idea of morphing winglets, for example. New Scientist reports that both Boeing and Airbus are looking at technologies that would allow the winglets (that are at the end of the wings on a large number of modern aircraft) to change shape mid-flight, taking advantage of the optimum operating conditions – basically altering to be the most effective angle and position at each point in the journey. This development could also provide massive savings in fuel consumption.
And our friends at Finnair have taken the vision of our aviation forefathers and run with it – all the way to the year 2093. They have commissioned artists to represent the aircraft of the future and present them – as well as the vision of aviation industry experts – on a website called Departure 2093. Below is their concept aircraft, the A1700-2400 Cruiser. I will leave you to explore the exciting world that awaits you (or your grandchildren) in 85 years…
Things have been a bit quieter this week but we still have a blog post and a bookmark to share:
- It's a new-look Airbus was our take on the Airbus A320 which flew with new winglets. 'Winglets' is possibly a misnoma because these wing-tip fences are huge. They will potentially save even more fuel (and therefore emissions) by improving the aerodynamics of the wing.
We also added this to our del.icio.us bookmarks:
- New Solar-Powered Airport Hangar Opens In California documents a structure with rooftop solar panels that can provide enough electricity for lights, forklifts and tow vehicles, and which is being hailed as “the greenest aviation facility in the world.”
Take a look at the enviro.aero Delicious account to see more!
This Airbus A320 aircraft flew last month with a new addition. While the aircraft might not look too different from an ordinary A320 at first glance, the observant among you will notice the presence of winglets on this narrowbody jet. A320's normally have small 'wingtip fences', but the winglets on this testbed aircraft are a lot larger and will potentially save even more fuel (and therefore emissions) by improving the aerodynamics of the wing. The trials of these blended wingletson the A320, produced by Aviation Partners, are expected to take around three months.
An exciting announcement today from Airbus who have launched a competition called Fly Your Ideas, aimed at getting relevant university students to work on aviation's next big advancement in environmental performance. With a top prize of 30,000 euros, the technology challenge is open to college and university students from around the world, studying a degree, Masters or PhD in any academic discipline. The proposals can look at a wide range of topics including new materials, products and/or processes as well as aircraft performance, manufacturing and organisational and operational performance. More information can be found on the Fly Your Ideas website, with the winners being announced at Le Bourget Airshow in Paris next year.
Airlines are increasingly seeing the benefits of retro-fitting older aircraft with new technologies available that help save fuel and reduce emissions. Partially, this is because of the high oil price suddenly making the return on investment period a lot shorter, but it also reflects the new emphasis within a lot of airlines on operating greener fleets. Sometimes, it may have a bit to do with making your aircraft look, well, cooler...
Take winglets. These are the upturned extensions to normal aircraft wings which not only look 'sexy' as one journalist recently put it, but also provide some massive savings in fuel use. In fact, it is estimated that by 2014, these retro-fitted winglets could save up to five billion gallons of jet fuel across the industry. While some Boeing and most Airbus aircraft have wingtip devices built into them at the point of manufacture, a company called Aviation Partners Boeing makes the 737 and 757 blended winglets that have proved very popular, with nearly 2,500 aircraft having had the technology fitted. Now, another of the industry's workhorses - the Boeing 767 - has had winglets created for it . Among the 10 launch customer airlines for the new (and, at 3.4 meters, tall) winglets are American Airlines, Air New Zealand and Hawaiian Airlines. There is even work being undertaken into the possibility of retro-fitting them on to 777 aircraft.
Another idea that has been floating around the aviation industry for a little while is the use of these exotic 'spiroid' wingtips, which help decrease drag even further...
Image: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiroids
I will leave it to you to decide whether or not they are sexy, but as Air New Zealand alone believes its normal 767 winglets will save over $7.5 million worth of fuel and 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year on its 767 fleet , we can certainly call winglet technology a good investment.
