TECH TALK Aviation has been guilty of
underestimating its role in climate change, and the efforts around the world to do so have been very uneven. Some of this is driven by pure inertia (after all, we are only human), but also by the lack of interest in many governments to use market-driven economic means to prod aircraft operators, aircraft OEMs, and airports to find ways to clean up their act faster.
Some of this is illustrated by specific locations not taxing aviation fuel, which is a debate in a much larger issue on taxing fairness and taxpayers subsidizing businesses, but for the sake of our highly-focused topic here, takes away the incentive for operators to purchase alternative fuels. More on this later.
EMISSIONS TRADING Efforts such as market-based emissions trading have been ratified in the European Union, with their EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) since 2012. This system forces all airlines operating in Europe (European and non-European alike) are required to monitor, report and verify their aircraft emissions, and to surrender allowances against those emissions. Each airline is given tradeable allowances annually, which cover a certain level of emissions from their flights. Per the NBAA (National Business
Aviation Association), there is an exemption for commercial aircraft operations that have fewer than 243 flights per period for three consecutive four-month periods or commercial aircraft flights with total annual emissions lower than 10,000 metric tons per year. The EU claims that this mechanism alone has reduced the carbon footprint of the aviation sector by more than 17 million tons annually.
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The EU also prodded stalled efforts at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to launch the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to address CO2 emissions from international aviation in 2016. The goal of CORSIA is to stabilize net CO2 emissions from international civil aviation at 2020 levels. Offsetting is an action by a company or individual to compensate for their emissions by funding a reduction in emissions somewhere else. This effort was the first time
that any single industry sector had established a global market-based measure addressing climate change. Due to the launch of CORSIA, the EU has decided to maintain the geographic scope of the EU ETS limited to intra-European flights. But offsets are simply a way to
incentivize airlines and operators to use macroeconomic means to move forward on this issue, but other factors are in their control as well.
AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT One of the notable improvements is the launch of FAA’s NextGen and EASA’s SESAR air traffic management efforts since these will affect each and every flight by operators large and small. While NextGen and SESAR each have a much broader focus, each of these will are expected to save time and fuel, decrease aircraft emissions, and improve safety overall. These and similar efforts in other
parts of the world are government- driven, and work hand-in-hand with industry, forcing all aviation industry operators to upgrade their capabilities to optimize aircraft operations. These efforts are underway and are already improving aircraft operations for those who were early adopters. Consider this a success already. This includes better ground operations as
aircraft taxi around (e.g. using only one engine where possible) and other airport-related advances out of scope of this article.
MODERNIZED AIRCRAFT
AND ENGINES From an aircraft or engine OEM perspective, electric, hybrid, and turboelectric propulsion system aircraft are a long way off from commercial use by larger transports, and no other viable technology has presented itself so far. There is room to improve upon existing technology gas turbine engines. Some claim that the possibility that enhanced engines may be able to reach overall efficiencies of up to 30% higher than the best engines in service today, with an associated reduction in CO2 emissions. This could be achieved via new technologies targeting the thermodynamic and propulsive efficiency of engines. But even this is not a short-term solution since it takes years for the development and launch of such engines. The industry is already rolling out
current-generation aircraft that offer double-digit gains in fuel savings from those they replace due to modernized engines, expanded use of lighter materials, as well as various aerodynamic modifications such as winglets. It has been reported that today’s new aircraft are approximately 80% more efficient than the first commercial airliners produced back in the 1960s.
SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUELS Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the label given to advanced aviation biofuels used in jet aircraft and certified as being sustainable by a trustworthy independent third-party. This in addition to the safety and performance certification provided by the global standards body ASTM International since all jet fuel must
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