The picture above shows Neil Robinson and Penny Coates (Managing Director) of East Midlands Airport in the UK  planting the first seedlings in a new willow tree plantation - the first in a UK airport. These trees will be used as a sustainable source of fuel to power a bio-mass boiler which will heat their terminal and the airport reckons that it will reduce carbon emissions by 350 tonnes from its current fuel source. The 26-acre willow farm will be complete by 2013 and the trees will be grown in rotation to ensure a continuous supply.

This is certainly not the first carbon-reduction project from East Midlands Airport - it was the first airport in the UK to commit to carbon neutrality and is one of the launch participants in the ACI Europe Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. It has also gained consent to build a set of wind turbines at the airport which will generate up to 10% of the airport's electricity needs.

Another project undertaken last year saw the first six month trial of an airport passenger transfer bus powered by liquid biomethane fuel, a carbon neutral fuel. The bus uses gas produced by the decomposition of biomass (ie. organic waste, such as food byproducts) which is created by extracting the natural gas produced by biomass in landfill or by digestion of the biomass byproducts of industries, such as food manufacture and retail.

Neil Robinson, who is the airport's Director of Sustainability, explains the business case behind these projects in the following video:

Today, a group of airline chief executives will sit down with government and environment leaders at the UN in New York at one of a series of pre-events before December’s Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen.

By all accounts, the negotiations for the next Kyoto Protocol are not going as well as they should be and today’s event has been described as ‘shock therapy’ for getting the stalled talks going again. The aviation industry also hopes that, this time, we will be included in the international agreement. So today in New York, industry leaders such as Willie Walsh from British Airways and Mats Jansson from SAS will be presenting the industry’s plan for dealing with our emissions.

Importantly, this plan is from across the aviation industry. While airlines will be in the room today in New York, the plan is backed by airports (through ACI), airlines (through IATA), air navigation service providers (through CANSO) and aircraft and engine manufacturers (through ICCAIA). This is, as far as we know, the only global industry able to stand up together and point to one plan for dealing with our emissions.

So what is our plan?

• From 2020, we will cap emissions – CO2 from aviation will continue to grow until 2020, at which point it will be capped.
• In an aspirational goal, by 2050, we will work towards producing half the net emissions we produced in 2005 – the equivalent of around 320 million tonnes of CO2.

So, how can we achieve this while passenger numbers continue to grow? The reductions come from a number of areas which all begin to add up to some significant savings. Early last year, the entire sector signed up to the Aviation Industry Commitment to Action on Climate Change. This document layed out a four-pillar approach which will see reductions through technology, operations, infrastructure and economic measures.

In the technology section, for example, replacing old aircraft with newer, more efficient places will reduce emissions by 21% over ‘business as usual’ in 2020. The introduction of sustainable biofuels could shave off a further 5% (based on a low but realistic penetration of biofuel into the jet fuel supply – with governments really getting behind a sustainable biofuel industry, this could bring a bigger saving).

The huge range of operational measures available to the industry, such as reduced auxiliary power unit usage, more efficient flight procedures, and weight reduction measures, could achieve another 3% cut in emissions.

An additional 4% cut in emissions will come from improving the efficiency of air traffic control through government-led infrastructure projects such as NextGen in the USA and Single European Sky in Europe.

And the rest? To ‘plug the gap’ once we have reduced emissions as much as we can, the industry will need to engage in economic measures. This could include, for example, emissions trading. But whatever form this part takes, the industry is united in agreement that it must be worldwide in nature. Doing things country-by-country, or one region at a time causes competitive distortion and doesn’t provide a global solution for what is the most global of industries.

The most exciting announcement (and the most immediately challenging) from my point of view is for us to achieve carbon neutral growth from 2020. It will require an enormous effort by everyone across the industry (from aerodynamic specialists to ramp agents, pilots to chief executives and everyone in between), but our industry rarely shies away from a challenge. And we are up for this one!

I’m at the ACI Europe Annual Meeting in Manchester, where the European airports association has just launched its Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. This is a significant step in the standardisation of emissions reduction across airports and follows a goal set down by ACI for its airports worldwide to move towards carbon neutral operations.

The programme allows airports to take inventory of their current carbon emissions (mapping) and then presents a rigorous series of steps at which they must reduce the emissions under their own control (reduction), work with suppliers and partners such as airlines and air traffic control to reduce overall airport emissions (optimisation) and then work towards carbon neutrality through verified offsetting of those emissions that can’t be eliminated (neutrality).

A large number of airports around the world have already started to undertake a few of these steps, particularly mapping and reduction. However, there has never been a standard to follow and so airports have many times had to rely on how other businesses have undertaken similar projects, or start a plan from scratch. Airports are fairly unique environments, with a number of different organisations operating under some fairly ‘strange’ conditions when compared to other industries.

Airport terminals have to be built to accommodate close to peak passenger numbers, even if those numbers are only reached at high season and for certain hours during the day. They also have to be built years in advance, taking into account passenger growth and other traffic considerations. So new and innovative solutions have to be found to heat, cool and light such structures in a smart way.

There are also multiple players that have to be taken into account – airlines, retailers, ground handlers, government agencies, air navigation service providers, car rental companies, catering companies, postal services, freight businesses and many others all operate on an airport site and must play a part in an overall airport emissions footprint, even though the airport company itself may be directly responsible for a small proportion of those emissions.

What impresses me about the ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation programme is just how rigorous it is. Airports apply for accreditation and move up the four steps towards carbon neutrality, but each step is very demanding and overseen by independent assessors – the details that airports must provide are significant and each process is overseen by a third party.

The 31 airports that have signed up so far range from very large to mid-sized airports in Europe but together they account for some quarter of passenger traffic across the continent – this is very significant and I expect that other airports in Europe (and other parts of the world) will soon take the plunge and join the project.

The full list of airports embarking on the programme (as of today) include:

• Aéroports de Paris (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly) in France.
• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands.
• Athens International Airport in Greece.
• Avinor (Oslo, Trondheim/Værnes and Ålesund/Vigra airports) in Norway.
• Dublin Airport Authority (Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports) in Ireland.
• Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia.
• Fraport (Frankfurt-am-Main Airport) in Germany.
• LFV Airports (Göteborg, Landvetter, Kiruna, Luleå, Malmö, Ronneby, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stockholm-Bromma, Umeå, Visby and Åre Östersund airports) in Sweden.
• Manchester Airport Group (Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports) in the UK.
• SEA Milan Airports (Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate) in Italy.
• TAV (Istanbul Atatürk International Airport, Ankara Esenboğa International Airport, İzmir Adnan Menderes International Airport) in Turkey.

Today we launch The Beginner’s Guide to Aviation Biofuels – a look at the opportunities, challenges and next steps in the exciting world of aviation biofuels.

In fact, we think that this will become another major milestone in the history of flight – we’ve gone from the age of the flight pioneers over a hundred years ago, we have seen the age of flying boats, the jet age and the age of democratisation of air travel. In the next few years, we are preparing to welcome the ‘biofuels age’ of flight.

We believe this Beginner’s Guide will be a valuable tool to help everyone – pilots, cabin crew, executives and the passengers who fly with us – understand a little bit more about how we can make a big contribution to the industry goal of carbon neutral growth.

Please feel free to download the guide at www.enviro.aero/biofuels.

Just over a year ago, at the Aviation & Environment Summit 2008, a group of the biggest names in the aviation industry gathered in Geneva and produced a commitment to aviation action on climate change. The cornerstone goal of that commitment was a pathway to carbon neutral growth. At the time, no one knew how long that path was. Well, today at the IATA Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, it was announced that the industry would meet that goal of carbon neutral growth by 2020 – just ten and a half years away.

The announcement today was the culmination of months of analysis work to figure out what the carbon emissions growth would be and the potential for new technology and particularly biofuels to bring down those emissions. It means that, as we reach the year 2020, the number of passengers carried can continue to grow as the industry’s overall carbon footprint remains the same.

Significantly, the announcement was accompanied by another goal – that by 2050, aviation would produce half the emissions it did in 2005 (that’s 50% of around 640 million tonnes of CO2). This is a target in line with many country targets and, as far as I am aware, no industry sector has outlined such an ambitious goal.

The 2020 goal of carbon neutral growth is a framework into which the aviation industry can fit the progress being made in technology, operations and new fuels. We are serious and we are committed to reducing our environmental impact – the enormous amount of work that will now have to be done to meet this goal is testament to that.

These were the words of Alexander ter Kuile, Secretary General of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation at the opening of the Aviation and Environment Summit 2009 in Geneva. This philosophy was confirmed by other leaders in the aviation industry as they came together to review their progress on last year's commitment towards carbon neutral growth. As Paul Steele, Executive Director of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), put it 'declarations are only words and declarations must be translated into actions.' From airlines to manufacturers, airports to international associations, the aviation industry remains committed to carbon neutral growth. And with the exciting new developments in biofuels, in the words of Billy Glover Managing Director, Environmental Strategy for Boeing,'the future's so bright, you've got to wear shades...'

As a Brit living in Geneva I always enjoy my trips to London. This week I popped into the Science Museum to see its exhibition on aviation and the environment called 'Does Flying Cost the Earth?'

I hadn't been to the Science Museum since I was an eight year-old living in London and I had forgotten how impressive it is. I became completely absorbed in the 3rd floor exhibition on flight, which includes Amy Johnson's airplane Gipsy Moth. 

Anyway, I found my way to the far end of the ground floor where the exhibition sits. It looks at how aviation impacts on climate change and what can be done to reduce aviation's 2% share of global carbon emissions. The Science Museum exhibition also has a complementary website that makes the same information about aviation and the environment available online. 

The exhibition looks at how we can save fuel and reduce emissions right now, but what I enjoyed was its take on some of the technologies that could be available in 20 to 30 years time.

Many of the technologies highlighted focus on saving weight. Less weight = less fuel used = fewer emissions. Engine makers are developing lighter but stronger turbine blades, and plane makers are combining carbon fibre with traditional materials like plastic to make lighter planes.

There are also some visionary ideas to make planes more aero dynamic. One such is the blended wing aircraft. The aircraft becomes one big flying wing, improving airflow to save fuel, which would significantly reduce emissions. But there would be fewer windows.

And the exhibition looks at alternative fuels to traditional jet fuel. Various possibilities are discussed including liquid hydrogen and making fuel from algae.

I thought the exhibition was very balanced. It doesn't try to hide the fact that planes contribute to climate change, and explains exactly what causes aviation's climate change impact. The exhibition has some excellent animations that bring the complexities of climate change to life. It takes a realistic view of whether the new technologies will be feasible or not and highlights the problems as well as the benefits.

There is also a great interactive game where you upgrade your fleet with the latest technologies and it shows if you are reducing emissions in the light of increasing passenger numbers.

I disagreed with some things. I thought the exhibition undersells many of the amazing technological advances being developed. For instance, it downplays the potential of algae as a replacement for kerosene. I think algae offers very real possibilities for a carbon-neutral industry and would not compete for land with food crops. It also doesn't deal with the technological advances in navigation and operations that enable planes to fly more efficiently and use less fuel.

But all in all a great exhibition and anyone who flies and is concerned about the environment should go and see it.

The exhibition runs until 2nd November so if you are passing through London and are interested in aviation and climate change go take a look.

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