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a daunting challenge, delegates hear at London forum. Ian Taylor reports ‘We need to
learn more about non-C02 effects’
The non-CO2 effects of flying appear to multiply aviation’s impact on global warming, adding to the challenge of decarbonising. Department for Transport
(DfT) deputy director for aviation decarbonisation Holly Grieg said: “It’s not just about addressing CO2 emissions. We’re learning more and more about the non-CO2 effects – contrails, nitrogen oxide, water vapour, sulfur aerosols. These can have both cooling and warming effects. [But] overall, the impact is thought to be significant warming.” The DfT established a non-CO2 sub-group of the Jet Zero Council
Contrails’ impact is being assessed
‘Availability and cost are issues raised by the UK’s SAF mandate’
last year “to look at how to address the entire climate impacts of aviation” and Grieg said: “We’re undertaking a huge piece of work to help better understand those impacts and start to get a grip on mitigating actions. “We have to make sure that,
as we’re dealing with the carbon effects of aviation, we’re also dealing with the non-CO2 impacts and not inadvertently increasing one while trying to reduce the other.”
There are “increasing concerns” about sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the UK government’s SAF mandate, details of which were confirmed in April. That is according to Helena
Bennett, head of climate policy at the European Climate Foundation, who told the Westminster conference: “There are issues with feedstock availability and scaling up the feedstocks required under the mandate. There are questions about how the ‘lifecycle emissions’ [of SAFs] are calculated.” She noted: “There is no
significant cap on HEFA [derived SAF] – from used cooking oil
– when there is only a certain amount available globally [for] scaling up to the levels required under the SAF mandate.” Bennett suggested this “calls
into question how seriously the mandate will be implemented”. She also asked: “How will all
this be paid for? The vast majority of flights are taken by a small proportion of the population globally. Is it fair to ask the taxpayer to prop up the costs of SAF for travel primarily by frequent flyers?” Bennett suggested: “This is an
opportunity to start talking about aviation taxes – taxing private jets or introducing a frequent-flyer levy.”
‘Clean fuels pose big challenges’
Governments and industry need to focus on what can be done now to cut aircraft emissions and not underestimate the technological challenges of developing new fuels, a senior figure at Rolls-Royce has warned. Professor Herve Morvan, the
engine manufacturer’s chief of future platforms, told the Westminster conference: “We need to recognise the importance of acting soon. “Every element of carbon we
put in the atmosphere just keeps accumulating. While it’s attractive to look for a perfect solution, if it comes late, it will have a limited impact by 2050. We need to consider what we can do now.” He insisted: “Efficiency is key,
followed by steps towards drop-in fuels – sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs).” Morvan argued: “For the
foreseeable future, we’re reliant on gas turbine power [for flying].
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So, continuing to invest in these technologies is key because driving efficiencies is the strongest tool we have available in reducing emissions.” Rolls-Royce is developing a new
generation of gas turbine engines, UltraFan, which it says offers a 25% improvement on the emissions of its current generation of engines. Morvan told the conference:
“We’ve run all our engine families on SAF, either in ground tests or in flight, [and] in collaboration with easyJet we’ve run a modern gas turbine engine on 100% hydrogen.” He said it would be a mistake to
view SAF and hydrogen as alternatives, explaining: “We’ll need significant amounts of hydrogen to ramp up SAF.” However, he warned: “We
shouldn’t underestimate the technical challenges. There is a step change [required]. Rolls-Royce has looked at hydrogen since the 1970s. But integrating this into a product will
A Rolls-Royce aircraft engine
take significant time. Investment in a [new] aircraft costs in the order of $30 billion-plus [and] it takes easily seven years for something to come through [to commercial use] based on known technology.” Morvan added: “It takes 20-27
years to renew a fleet [and] the shortest life of an airframe can be 16-18 years. Hydrogen is unlikely
to be ‘the answer’ by 2050, which is why getting started on SAF is important. It’s something we can make happen relatively soon.” He suggested decarbonising
aviation had to be “part of a much- broader energy transition”, saying: “Decarbonising the grid to produce low-cost, low-carbon electricity and hydrogen is what we need.”
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PICTURE: Shutterstock/pixelschoen
PICTURE: Rolls-Royce
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