Aviation after Copenhagen: ICAO must now develop a bold strategic vision Fri 5 Feb 2010 - With the dust now settling on the UNFCCC COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen, Chris Lyle takes a strategic look at the implications for aviation. Whilst the aviation industry has tried to put a positive spin on the result, it did not achieve some of the key goals it set for a post-Kyoto framework, notably treatment of aviation as a sector. ICAO's aims for Copenhagen were less defined but there was a lack of progress towards reconciliation of the divergence between the UNFCCC principle of CBDR amongst countries and principles in aviation's Chicago Convention of non-discrimination amongst operators. To sustain credibility, ICAO must now be bold and wrest back leadership by developing workable economic instruments and specific targets within an unambiguous framework. Read more ...

NEWS & ARTICLES FROM THE WEB

EU draws up plans for first direct tax with fuel levy Daily Telegraph, UK, 4 Mar 2010 - Proposals expected to be announced next month would give the EU its first funding which would not come from national governments. Algirdas Semeta, the new European commissioner for taxation, is planning a "minimum rate of tax on carbon" across the whole EU as a "priority". The idea of using fuel duties and eco-taxes to give the EU a direct and independent source of income has long been demanded by the Commission. Proposals currently circulating in Brussels could mean that all airline tickets, shopping and petrol station receipts in Britain list the amount of aviation tax, VAT or fuel duty that goes directly to Brussels as an "EU tax". Read more ...

Jet stream: Special Biofuels Digest report on aviation biofuels Biofuels Digest, USA, 3 Mar 2010 - "If 2009 brought us the "summer of Algae", 2010 is certainly looking to usher in "Jet Spring", with a series of stunning developments in the commercialization of aviation biofuels - shaping up as the first breakout, blockbuster end user segment for advanced biofuels," says online publication Biofuels Digest in a wide-ranging rundown of the latest developments in aviation biofuels. Read more ...

Fly the poplar skies - Research teams developing processes for carbon-negative renewable jet fuel Biofuels Digest, USA, 1 Mar 2010 – In Wisconsin and Maryland, teams are working independently on processes that, when paired, may lead to the direct conversion of poplar trees into jet fuel as well as other high-density biofuels. The Maryland project is seeking to radically improve the nitrogen efficiency of poplars by discovering, defining and enhancing the switching mechanisms in the poplar genome nitrogen cycle, thereby improving the plant's already considerable reputation for fast growth. The Wisconsin project is now reporting results on the direct conversion (in two steps) of cellulose to jet fuel. Read more ...

Aviation biofuels: the bumpy road to scale production Flight International, UK, 22 Feb 2010 - Both of the major commercial airframers have joined forces with industry peers to pursue new biofuel research initiatives, reflecting an intensification of concern about future availability of alternative fuels in the quantities required by aviation. In January, Qatar Airways revealed plans to work with Airbus and other Qatari state entities to draw up "a detailed engineering and implementation plan for economically viable and sustainable biofuel production". At an event marking the launch of the Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform consortium, airline chief Akbar al Baker hailed its European project partner as "more proactive than Boeing in experimenting with alternative fuels". Read more ...

Leaving the trash behind - recycling efforts at US airports New York Times, US, 22 Feb 2010 - The aviation industry is often criticized for contributing to global warming through airplane exhaust. But waste of a different kind also has the potential to create environmental problems. Even before they board, air travellers throw away trash of all sorts - including paper, plastic and food waste - and airports and airlines recycle only a small portion of it. An estimated 7.5 million pounds (3,400 tonnes) of trash is generated every day. While the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, says that 75 percent of that trash is recyclable, it has found that only 20 percent reaches a recycling centre. Read more ...

What you must know about flying green Environmental Leader, US, 19 Feb 2010 – Brighter Planet, a US company that helps people reduce and manage their carbon footprints, provides tips to help air travellers. Says CEO Patti Prairie: "It's no coincidence that airlines have been ratcheting up the baggage fees as oil prices rise. The heavier the load, the more fuel a plane burns. It turns out that leaving your golf clubs at home may make a big difference. If all passengers on US domestic flights packed five pounds less, it would save 64 million gallons of jet fuel each year and have a climate impact equivalent to grounding all domestic flights for three days, or shutting down all the dirty power plants in the US for four hours." Read more ...

EU approves revised ETS rules to combat cyber crime EurActiv, EU, 18 Feb 2010 - Representatives of member states yesterday approved a revision of the registries that audit emissions permits under the bloc's trading system to enhance Internet security. The new rules were originally proposed by the European Commission to prepare for the aviation sector's entry into the EU ETS from 2012. But they also include measures to combat fraud in the aftermath of recent cyber attacks on national registries. Last month, Internet fraudsters sent fake emails to companies that use the registries, directing them to a rogue website where they were asked to enter their identification code and password. They then used the codes to obtain emission allowances and sold them on. Read more ...

Greening air travel to reduce its environmental impact EurActiv, EU, 18 Feb 2010 - Amid steady growth in air traffic and related polluting emissions, the aerospace industry is rolling up its sleeves to ensure that the sector grows in a carbon-neutral manner as of 2020. Greening air transport means developing cleaner technologies and new flight management systems to reduce the environmental impact of aviation. The EU objective is to halve, by 2020, CO2 emissions and perceived noise pollution, and reduce NOx emissions by 80% from 2000 levels. There are no legally binding targets to reduce CO2 emissions from aviation. But both political concerns over climate change and simple economics (reducing fuel cost to increase profit) are pushing the industry to seek more fuel-efficient ways of flying. Read more ...

Foreign Office's 10:10 plan takes off with economy flights for ambassadors The Guardian, UK, 17 Feb 2010 - Few jobs have the glamour of ambassador but even the lifestyles of Her Majesty's representatives abroad are to be curtailed by the UK government's drive to reduce its contribution to carbon emissions. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff have been asked to downgrade flights to economy class - even for the top men and women and their families. The shift is part of the FCO's plan of action after joining the '10:10' climate change campaign. Like more than 61,000 other members, the government department has pledged to reduce carbon emissions from its 291 posts around the world by 10% in 2010. Read more ...

Aerospace chief: Industry on track to deliver 'greener' aircraft EurActiv, EU, 18 Feb 2010 - Industry is on track to ensure carbon-neutral growth in the aviation sector from 2020, but strengthened European Union support for research and development is vital to help manufacturers deliver the green technologies required, said François Gayet, Secretary-General of the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD). He said he expected the first biofuels to be certified in 2012 or later and massive investment was required to bring the fuels out of laboratories and scaled up to millions of litres and distributed around the world to each airport and airplane. He warned against ambitious targets on biofuels and said it was necessary to keep on investing in reducing aircraft weight and fuel consumption. ACARE 2020 industry targets were still on course, he maintained. Read more ...

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

For more details on the following events, click here Aviation and Shipping 10 March 2010 London, UK World Biofuels Markets 2010 – Biofuels and Aviation 15-17 March 2010 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Passenger Terminal Expo 2010 23-25 March 2010 Brussels, Belgium Algae World Europe 22-23 April 2010 Brussels, Belgium CAFE Electric Aircraft Symposium 23-24 April 2010 Sonora, CA, USA Advanced Leadership Biofuels Conference 27-29 April 2010 Washington, DC, USA European Biomass Conference & Exhibition 3-7 May 2010 Lyon, France New posting ICAO Environmental Colloquium 11-14 May 2010 Montreal, Canada  Read more ...

RECENT NEWS

Noise action plans submitted by UK airports dismissed as a sham by environmental campaigners Wed 17 Feb 2010 - A report by campaign group the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) concludes that Noise Action Plans submitted by all 22 UK airports affected by UK and EU legislation on environmental noise will fail to tackle impacts on local communities. AEF says that the minimum requirements of the EU Environmental Noise Directive - which was passed in 2002 (2002/49/EC) and enacted in the UK in 2006 - have not been met by the NAPs submitted to the relevant authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The legislation is designed to help protect communities against excessive noise from airports, railways, roads and built-up areas. Read more ...

Marketing high-speed rail as an environmental solution on short-haul routes is wrong, argues study Wed 17 Feb 2010 - Switching passengers from air to high-speed rail on short-haul routes is a growing mantra but a new study concludes that the principal benefits of high-speed rail are time savings and additional capacity, not a reduction in greenhouse gases. Traffic diverted to high-speed rail from other forms of transport over a route of 500km would save around 90,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year, assuming 10 million single journeys. However, the construction emissions alone for a line of this length may amount to several million tonnes of CO2. Therefore, says the study, in cases where anticipated journey volumes are low it is not only difficult to justify investment on economic grounds, it may also be hard to defend a project for environmental reasons as it would take too long for traffic to offset the emissions caused by building the line. Read more ...

Biofuels are essential to reducing EU ETS carbon costs and meeting carbon-neutral growth goals, says report Tue 16 Feb 2010 - Although not commercially viable yet, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) offers a strong financial, as well as environmental, incentive for the adoption of jet biofuels, says a new report by EQ2. Based on industry assumptions of 15 percent and 30 percent consumption of biofuels in 2020 and 2030 respectively, they could contribute to potential savings for airlines involved in the EU ETS of $2.01 billion in 2020 and $5.84 billion in 2030 on the purchase of carbon credits. Based on the current EU ETS carbon price for 2012 of 15 euros and the 2009 average jet fuel price of $1.69 per gallon, every gallon of jet fuel burned would incur carbon costs of an additional $0.21, equivalent to a premium of 12.4 percent. Read more ...

Additional carbon taxes may need to be introduced to constrain air travel demand, says UK's climate advisor Mon 15 Feb 2010 – David Kennedy, CEO of the UK's Committee on Climate Change (CCC), has said biofuels and fuel efficiency improvements could allow a 60 percent increase in UK passengers up to 2050 but demand would most likely reach around 115 percent without further measures such as a carbon tax and restrictions on airport expansion and slots. The Government's climate advisor forecasted biofuels would only contribute 10 percent towards an anticipated overall 35 percent industry fuel intensity improvement by 2050 and said biofuels should not be regarded as a 'silver bullet'. UK policy is for aviation carbon emissions to be no more in 2050 than they were in 2005 - around 37 million tonnes. Read more ...

British Airways partners with Solena to build Europe's first sustainable biojet fuel production facility Mon 15 Feb 2010 - British Airways is set to become the first major European airline to use commercial-scale sustainable jet biofuel in its daily operations. In partnership with Washington, DC-based Solena Group, the airline anticipates using 16 million US gallons of biofuels produced annually from a new plant to be sited in east London. The $280 million self-contained plant, which is due to open in 2014, will convert 500,000 tonnes of waste per year when fully operational into enough jet fuel to meet BA's entire needs, and more, at London City Airport. Under the Letter of Intent, Solena will construct the plant and BA has agreed to take the entire output. BA CEO Willie Walsh said the partnership would help the airline realize its goal of reducing net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.  Read more ...

Air traffic control improvements are key to cutting aviation emissions in the short term, finds new Oxford study Wed 10 Feb 2010 - Biofuels could reduce pollution and better technology boost efficiency but neither will have the global impact that improved flight management could achieve, says a new report by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Dr Chris Carey, the Smith School's aviation expert, says the most obvious target for improving efficiency in aviation is engines - the source of emissions - but major technological innovations are a massive financial risk and new, more efficient aircraft are slow to reach the market. However, in a best-case scenario, which foresees major advances in aircraft technology, a high take-up in jet biofuels and a fully integrated global air traffic management system, aviation emissions could be cut by up to 95 percent by 2050. Read more ...

Eurocontrol to conduct feasibility study of integrating GHG emissions assessments into air traffic flow management Tue 9 Feb 2010 - French-based Egis Avia has been awarded a contract by Eurocontrol to study the integration of a greenhouse gas emissions assessment feature for the optimization of Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management (ATFCM) network operations provided by Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU). The CFMU acts as an interface between the airspace users - who file the flight plans - the airports and the air navigation service providers (ANSPs) that provide Air Traffic Control (ATC) and other related services. The objective of the study is to raise the CFMU's role in allowing all stakeholders to understand the impact of their decisions on the environment, particularly emissions. Read more ...

Munich Airport's first sustainability report outlines plans to achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2020 Tue 9 Feb 2010 - FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, has published its first-ever sustainability report, which lays out its goals and measures to reach a carbon-neutral status by 2020. Entitled 'Perspectives', the 110-page report documents FMG's concept for a sustainable business policy based on balancing ecological, economic and social objectives. In order to achieve both carbon-neutral growth and handle the expected increase in traffic, the airport will have to reduce carbon emissions by over a third, and FMG has developed numerous energy-saving measures to meet the challenge. Meanwhile, Frankfurt Airport has just started construction of its first carbon neutral building, a new fire station. Read more ...

Aerospace giant EADS enters into algae jet fuel research collaboration with Singapore's ICES Thu 4 Feb 2010 - EADS, parent company of Airbus, has signed a 12-month collaboration agreement with Singapore's Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES) to assess the potential for microalgae as a renewable source of fuel for aircraft and to investigate the conversion of algae oil for use as a jet fuel. As microalgae are much more efficient than plants at converting solar energy and carbon dioxide into fixed biomass, there is significant interest across multiple sectors in their long-term potential as an energy source. ICES and EADS say that the rapid growth of microalgae - doubling in biomass in as little as a few hours - means that nearly 90,000 litres of oil per hectare can be produced annually. Read more ...

Singapore Airlines completes first ASPIRE multi-sector green flight and saves over 33 tonnes of CO2 emissions Wed 3 Feb 2010 - The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has revealed that the multi-sector demonstration flight from Los Angeles to Singapore via Tokyo conducted by Singapore Airlines saved 10,686kg of fuel and cut carbon emissions by 33,769kg compared to normal practice, as well as achieving a reduction in flight time of 33 minutes. The arrival of the flight on Monday coincided with CAAS formally joining the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) that aims to accelerate the development, implementation and harmonization of air traffic management procedures, technologies and best practices on key routes in the region. With the Singapore Airshow also starting this week, IATA announced that in 2009 intra-Asia-Pacific travel had eclipsed the number of travellers in North America as the world's largest aviation market. Read more ...

Emissions from UK-based international aviation continued on downward path in 2008, reports DECC Tue 2 Feb 2010 - Final 2008 results for UK greenhouse gas emissions released by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show a fall in emissions from international aviation fuel from 35.8 million tonnes to 34.4 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), a decline of 3.7 percent. However, between 1990 and 2008 the level of these emissions has more than doubled and do not include a greenhouse effect caused by high altitude aviation. Between 2007 and 2008, emissions from domestic aviation decreased by an even higher 5.0 percent. Between 1990 and 2008, emissions from this sector increased by 62.5 percent. Read more ...

Reuters: Environment (Last updated Sunday, March 14, 2010 9:20 am CDT)

NY water plan could cost power generators billions NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York environmental regulators this week released a plan to protect aquatic life in the state's rivers that could cost power generators billions to upgrade their facilities. Posted Friday, March 12, 2010 5:43 pm CST

Kenya strongly opposes resumption of ivory trade NAIROBI, March 12 (Reuters ) - Kenya Friday underlined its strong opposition to any move to lift a ban on trading ivory ahead of a meeting on endangered species. Posted Friday, March 12, 2010 1:46 pm CST

China's Wen says not to blame for Copenhagen problems BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Premier Wen Jiabao hit back on Sunday at critics who blamed China for the feeble outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference, saying he was not even invited to a key meeting he was accused of skipping. Posted Sunday, March 14, 2010 1:35 am CST

White House finalizing rules to cut car emissions WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is finalizing rules on the first U.S. greenhouse gas emission standard for automobiles, which would raise average fuel economy 42 percent by 2016 in a bid to slash oil imports and fight climate change. Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:35 pm CST

British Columbia OKs 19 projects in clean power push OTTAWA (Reuters) - British Columbia has given the green light to 19 private-sector clean energy projects that will generate enough power to supply nearly 218,000 homes in Canada's Pacific Coast province. Posted Friday, March 12, 2010 1:41 pm CST

More Americans say global warming exaggerated: poll WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A growing number of Americans, nearly half the country, think global warming worries are exaggerated and more people doubt that scientific warnings of severe environmental fallout will ever occur, according to a new Gallup poll. Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 4:08 pm CST

Sushi chef, restaurant charged with serving endangered whale WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California sushi chef and the restaurant in which he worked have been charged with illegally serving meat from an endangered Sei whale, the Justice Department said on Thursday. Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:05 pm CST

EU to exceed 2020 green energy target: forecasts BRUSSELS (Reuters) - New forecasts suggest the European Union will exceed its target of getting 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020, the European Commission said Thursday. Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:18 am CST

Activist arrested over boarding Japan whaling ship TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's coastguard on Friday arrested an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand who boarded a whaling vessel in the Antarctic following clashes between hunters and environmentalists, a spokesman said. Posted Friday, March 12, 2010 6:35 am CST

U.S. judge rules for Chevron in Ecuador case NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chevron Corp may pursue an international arbitration claim over environmental pollution allegations in Ecuador, a judge ruled on Thursday, part of a long-running case that carries a potential $27 billion liability for the second-largest U.S. oil company. Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:17 pm CST