Latest news and insights from various sources relating to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Wed 22 Mar 2017 – A year after issuing a joint Request for Information (RFI) from parties interested in supporting the development and production of sustainable aviation fuel in the region, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia say they have had strong interest both locally and from abroad. The airlines have now completed an extensive review of more than 30 responses from organisations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe and the United States. When announcing the RFI, the airline partners said that while the aviation biofuel development was accelerating internationally, it was not the case in their region. A roadmap report published in 2011 by the Australian government science research agency CSIRO found that by 2020 a 5 per cent bio-derived jet fuel share could be possible in Australia and New Zealand, expanding to 40 per cent by 2050. Despite both airlines having engaged in a number of early alternative fuel initiatives, progress so far has been slow however.
Mon 20 Mar 2017 – Using biofuels to help power jet engines reduces particle emissions in their exhaust by as much as 50 to 70 per cent and so can help reduce contrail formations that produce climate warming effects, say research scientists led by NASA. The findings, published in the journal Nature, follow a series of flight tests undertaken in 2013 and 2014 as part of the Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions Study, or ACCESS, in which NASA partnered with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the National Research Council Canada (NRC). The tests involved flying NASA’s workhorse DC-8 as high as 40,000 feet while its four engines burned a 50/50 blend of conventional jet fuel mixed with camelina-derived biofuel. A trio of research aircraft took turns to fly behind the aircraft at distances ranging from 300 feet to more than 20 miles to take measurements and study contrail formation.
Mon 12 Jun 2017 – North America has a higher potential for the production of sustainable alternative jet fuels than other regions of the world because of its available resources but it is unlikely that switching to low-carbon fuels alone can make the necessary reductions in carbon emissions projected by ICAO to ensure the carbon-neutral growth goal after 2020, concludes a US study. Due to the high expense of alternative fuels relative to the projected low costs of offsets under the ICAO CORSIA scheme that starts in 2021 and the delayed transition from collective to individual offset responsibility, the incentive to switch is greatly reduced for an airline, particularly in the early years. The study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) says robust policy support will therefore be needed to spur alternative fuel deployment at the scale needed to make a substantial contribution to CORSIA commitments.
Thu 8 Jun 2017 – ICAO and the airline industry have moved to dampen fears that the Trump administration’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement could damage the global CORSIA CO2 scheme. During a keynote address on Monday to the IATA Annual General Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, ICAO Council President Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said the scheme was on track and any concerns over "recent developments" should be dispelled. IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac described the US withdrawal as "disappointing" but said it was not a setback for CORSIA as the the two agreements were "completely separate". US airline trade body Airlines for America (A4A) said its members remained committed to both the CORSIA and ICAO aircraft CO2 standard agreements. The IATA AGM also passed a resolution calling for governments to adopt policies in support of sustainable aviation fuel deployment.
Thu 1 Jun 2017 – SkyNRG has completed deliveries of sustainable aviation biofuels on behalf of Bombardier Business Aircraft and Swedish airport operator Swedavia. Bombardier’s demonstration fleet was refuelled with a biofuel blend at the KLM Jet Center in Amsterdam while en route to the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva. The biofuel was produced by AltAir Fuels at its California biorefinery and SkyNRG was partnered in the delivery by aviation jet fuel supplier AEG Fuels. AltAir also produced the sustainable fuel supplied by SkyNRG and Air BP to Swedavia at Gothenburg Airport. The airport operator was receiving its first volume in 2017 of the fuel through its partnership with the Fly Green Fund that enables organisations and individuals in the Nordic region to reduce their carbon footprint by flying on sustainable aviation fuel.
Thu 1 Jun 2017 – Lufthansa Cargo has received the 2017 DQS German Award for Excellence in the Environmental Responsibility category for its data collection tool OMEGA that provides key information for reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. It was one of a number of awards made to businesses by global management systems certification body DQS for a commitment to sustainability practices. Developed by aviation software specialist Honeywell Aviaso together with Lufthansa, the Ops Monitor and Efficiency Gap Analyser (OMEGA) uses data collected during cargo flights to make future flights more fuel efficient by comparing projected, actual and optimal values. Pilots can use the analysis to best prepare for a flight and identify any deviations from the plan early on. The cargo carrier has a goal to reduce specific carbon emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 from a 2005 baseline.
Wed 31 May 2017 – London Gatwick and Lyon-Saint Exupery have become the latest European airports to achieve the highest carbon-neutral level of the industry’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. This brings the total of carbon neutral airports in Europe to 27, over half way to reaching an industry goal of 50 by 2030, with four other airports in Asia and one in North America also having reached Level 3+ neutrality. Lyon initially entered the programme at the first ‘Mapping’ level of the programme in 2013 and has since worked its way up through the four levels. To coincide with its announcement of reaching carbon neutrality status, Gatwick has published its ‘Decade of Change’ report for 2016 which charts progress against 10 environmental and community-focused targets the airport has set itself for the 2010-2020 period.
Fri 26 May 2017 – With barely 18 months before all countries with aircraft operators undertaking international flights are required to start monitoring carbon emissions, ICAO faces a major challenge in finalising the important standards that will underpin its global CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme. While 69 States have so far agreed to participate from the beginning of the pilot phase in 2021, many more will be affected by the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) requirements of the scheme. However, the ICAO leadership is confident that the draft standards are on course to be formally adopted in a year’s time, although concedes additional resources will be needed for the development and implementation of the scheme. The UN agency’s environment chief, Jane Hupe, told a recent seminar in Montreal that CORSIA should not be seen as a ‘carte blanche’ which allowed the sector to increase its emissions unchecked and the aim was to do everything possible to reduce aviation’s climate impact.
Tue 23 May 2017 – Fuel efficiency gains at Europe’s second-largest airline easyJet have resulted in carbon emissions per passenger kilometre falling below 80 grams for the first time and are on track to be reduced by a third in 20 years, it says. The low-cost carrier attributes the milestone to improving technology and a continued long-term focus on reducing weight and improving operating efficiency. Since it began reporting on carbon emissions in 2000, easyJet’s emissions have reduced from 116.2 grams to 79.98 grams – a reduction of 31 per cent. It is now targeting a further reduction to around 77 grams by 2020 as new Airbus A320neo aircraft join the fleet.
Tue 23 May 2017 – Hawaiian Airlines has achieved a key fuel and carbon emissions objective of having all its wide-body aircraft arriving at airports on a single day to be connected with electrical power at the gate. In the past year, the carrier has been working towards a goal of having gate power available to its entire wide-body fleet within three minutes of arrival as aircraft fly between Hawaii, 11 US cities and 10 international destinations. Through significantly reducing usage of onboard auxiliary power units (APUs) by an estimated 30 minutes a flight, Hawaiian estimates it could save around 620,000 gallons of fuel annually and cut CO2 emissions by 5,933 tonnes – roughly enough fuel to fly the airline’s wide-body fleet for a day.
