Latest news and insights from various sources relating to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Rocky Mountain Institute signs partnership deal with The Good Traveler carbon offsetting programme

Fri 10 Nov 2017 – The Good Traveler carbon offsetting programme is to be administered by the global non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) under a multi-year partnership. The programme is a non-profit collaboration among US airports and transportation authorities that includes San Diego International Airport, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the Port of Seattle and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. RMI will join their Advisory Member Group to help shape future strategy of the programme, with an objective to grow the market for high-quality carbon reduction options and to cultivate new travel-based emissions-reduction projects.

The Good Traveler programme was launched in September 2015 by San Diego International, which issued a Request for Proposals earlier this year from parties interested in operating the programme and supplying carbon offsets (see article).

“The programme is an important part of our efforts to address the impact of carbon emissions on climate change,” said the airport’s CEO, Kim Becker. “We are proud to see it grow and expand to other airports across the country.”

Under the programme, 100% of funds are directed to reducing the carbon impact of the aviation sector and airport communities. Offsets are verified and retired through the Climate Action Reserve, Verified Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard or American Carbon Registry.

The programme’s portfolio currently supports regional climate mitigation projects in the US that includes the Arcata Community Forest in Northern California, the Big Smile Wind Farm at Dempsey Ridge and Water Restoration Certificates by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

“The Good Traveler is a great way to help our travellers reduce their footprint, ensuring carbon offsets are verifiable, traceable and invested in projects that benefit our economy,” said Christine Weydig, Director of the Port Authority of NY and NJ’s Office of Environmental and Energy Programs.

RMI says it plans to incorporate in-sector travel emissions-reduction projects over time, such as projects involving sustainable aviation fuels.

Founded in 1982, RMI’s mission is to “transform global energy use to create a clean, prosperous and secure low-carbon future and to engage with others to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables.” In 2014, the Carbon War Room initiative started by Virgin’s Richard Branson was merged with and now operates as part of RMI.

“We’re thrilled to join these airport leaders advancing sustainable travel and we are committed to ensuring The Good Traveler drives carbon reduction innovation,” said Adam Klauber, Director of RMI’s Sustainable Aviation programme, commenting on the new partnership. “We look forward to expanding its customer base and to integrating in-sector offset projects. This will be a game-changer for decarbonising the fast-growing aviation industry.”

Added Port of Seattle Commissioner Stephanie Bowman: “Visitors and citizens of the Seattle region care deeply about the environment and we are responding with our own commitment to reduce the Port’s carbon emissions by 50%. The Good Traveler is a perfect complement to these programmes. Passengers can be personally involved in reducing their carbon footprint through an easy-to-use, intuitive offsetting programme designed specifically for air travellers.”

Travellers can purchase credits from The Good Traveler website or retail outlets and works on a simple basis of a payment of $2 for every 1,000 miles flown. As of July 2017, the programme is reported to have offset nearly 20 million air miles equivalent to 3,352 tonnes of CO2.

The airport partners say the programme is also working towards more efficiently investing airport revenue into offsetting carbon emissions from ground operations through the industry’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

KLM signs agreement with Costa Rica to explore potential for sustainable biofuel flights from San Jose

Tue 7 Nov 2017 – KLM has entered into a cooperation agreement with the government of Costa Rica to research the possibility of flights out of the capital San Jose using sustainable aviation fuel. The Dutch carrier said it was the first time such an agreement had been made by an airline with a government. The two parties signed a letter of intent last week that will see KLM share its knowledge and expertise with the government in close cooperation with partner SkyNRG. The move coincided with the KLM launch after a 20-year break of a direct twice-weekly return service between San Jose and Amsterdam that will be operated by a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner.

“This cooperative effort is a new step in making civil aviation more sustainable,” said KLM COO René de Groot. “The greater the production – and therefore the greater supply of biofuels – the lower the price will be and the more businesses will use it. KLM and Costa Rica are taking the lead now. It would be great if other airlines, governments and the entire biofuel supply chain took such steps.”

In 2009, KLM became the first airline in the world to operate a flight using sustainable biofuel, which it followed with its first commercial flight in 2010. Since then, the carrier has operated more than a thousand flights using bio-based jet fuel. From October 2016, it started using sustainable biofuel derived from recycled cooking oil that is produced by AltAir and delivered by SkyNRG on all flights from Los Angeles for a period of three years. The Los Angeles biofuel is delivered directly to the storage tanks at the airport, which also hold the conventional jet kerosene supply. Oslo Airport was the first airport to supply a percentage of sustainable fuel through its regular fuelling process, with KLM purchasing biofuel there for a series of 80 flights.

KLM operates a Corporate BioFuel Programme through which a variety of companies contribute to stimulate the use of sustainable biofuel and help bridge the cost gap with conventional fuel. However, says KLM, the market for sustainable biofuel remains far from mature and the price is three times higher than that of fossil fuel.

Except for El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala, Costa Rica is the only country in Latin America to volunteer so far to join the ICAO CORSIA global carbon offsetting scheme from the start.

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

IAG achieves highest ‘A’ rating in 2017 CDP climate list of global company performance

Mon 6 Nov 2017 – International Airlines Group (IAG) has achieved a coveted ‘A List’ status in this year’s CDP ratings of leading environmental performances by the world’s leading organisations. Formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, the global disclosure system enables companies to measure and manage their environmental impact and the data is used by investors and purchasers, as well as policy-makers. The Climate A List was established in 2011 and introduced for water and forests in 2015 and 2015 respectively, with IAG one of 112 companies worldwide making the 2017 climate change A List, the only representative from the aviation sector. It was also awarded ‘most improved’ UK organisation in 2017. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Willie Walsh said last week IAG would take an equity investment in its new sustainable aviation fuels venture with Velocys.

The A List achievement is down to a number of measures IAG says it has taken in a commitment to make it the world’s leading environmentally sustainable airline group.

“This is great news and a recognition of our efforts to lead the industry in tackling climate change,” said Walsh, responding to the CDP top listing. “IAG was the first airline group worldwide to set its own carbon emissions targets and we’re very proud of our role in securing the first global carbon offsetting scheme.

“We’re investing in modern and more efficient aircraft and have created innovative operational procedures to reduce CO2 output. Developing sustainable fuel is also crucial and we’re working to convert domestic waste into jet fuel, which is an amazing innovation to cut emissions while reducing landfill.”

The group, which currently comprises British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, says it has integrated climate change targets into its business strategy and improved its reporting on how environmental risks are mitigated and the opportunities to enhance its airlines’ performance.

Speaking at last week’s UK Airport Operators Association annual conference, Walsh said IAG’s venture with waste-to-fuel technology company Velocys could see first supplies of renewable fuel by 2021. “The focus just now is on producing the fuel for British Airways but in time it could be for other members of the group,” he told delegates.

British Airways was involved in a previous project called GreenSky to build a biorefinery in east London with Solena but pulled the plug two years ago (see article), citing poor economics and a lack of government support. The UK government has now signalled its intention to incentivise renewable aviation fuels through its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation scheme and is providing funding towards projects to produce renewable aviation fuel (see article). It is also backing an initiative to create a sustainable aviation fuels group called SAF SIG to build a UK industry supply chain (see article).

“The technology exists but the challenge has been to create a commercial model that works and now we have that with the government’s recent support,” explained Walsh.

“We are prepared to invest – we are very clear about that. We see this both in terms of equity and also taking the supply of fuel. It will be a multi-million pound investment although we’ve not put a limit on it at this stage but initially it will be in the tens of millions rather than hundreds.”

He said IAG was committed to using alternative fuels produced from waste. “There are a lot of environmental concerns over the use of crops and competition with food supply to make biofuels, which in our view is not sustainable. The good news is that there is pretty much no limit to the amount of waste in the UK at the moment that can be used. It doesn’t have to be new waste either – it could be waste from old landfill. There is a lot of potential.”

List of airlines, airports, aviation and aerospace companies in CDP Climate List 2017:



Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

Provisional agreement reached to continue limiting EU ETS scope to intra-EEA flights until end of 2023

Trilogue meets to discuss Aviation EU ETS derogation extension

Thu 19 Oct 2017 – The EU Council Presidency and the European Parliament have reached a provisional compromise agreement that will extend the EU ETS derogation of international flights to and from Europe until the end of 2023. The Council had supported a European Commission proposal for an indefinite exemption of such flights pending a future review of ICAO’s CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme, whereas Parliament had voted for the derogation to finish at the end of 2020. The derogation extension will align with the end of the initial three-year pilot phase of CORSIA. The two sides also agreed to a future review to consider a declining year-on-year cap, the so-called linear reduction factor, on aviation emissions under the EU ETS from 2021 onwards. Earlier today, a Commission official briefed Environment Committee (ENVI) MEPs on CORSIA progress.

The derogation on international flights from the EU ETS, known as ‘Stop the clock’, lapsed in December 2016 and a new regulation is needed to avoid an automatic snap-back to the full scope of the scheme, which would have required all aircraft operators with flights to and from, as well as within, European Economic Area (EEA) countries to surrender permits to cover their carbon emissions from the beginning of 2017. ‘Stop the clock’ was introduced to allow ICAO States to reach an agreement on implementing a global scheme for international aviation CO2 emissions.

While the EU and its Member States have formally backed the CORSIA scheme finally approved at the ICAO Assembly in October 2016 and have agreed to join its voluntary phases from the beginning in 2021, MEPs have been doubtful over the still to be determined rules on the scheme’s environmental effectiveness. By extending the derogation only until the end of 2020, before CORSIA starts, they hoped this would persuade ICAO to take a more ambitious approach with the scheme’s design.

“We are not very convinced that the ICAO agreement will deliver enough benefits for the climate, but we want to both support the process and put pressure on international partners rather than give in too early,” said MEP Dr Peter Liese, the Parliament’s former rapporteur on the Aviation EU ETS file, after the trilogue meeting.

The Commission, on the other hand and backed by the Council, argued that such a move would create international friction and the scope of the EU ETS should remain restricted to intra-EEA flights indefinitely. The scope should be reviewed at a later date when clarity over the ICAO scheme, how it was working and which countries were participating was better known, it proposed.

The compromise reached in the trilogue negotiations yesterday would enable the adoption of the new regulation extending the derogation before the end of the year, said a Council statement. The dates for reporting and surrendering allowances from emissions in 2017 would be 31 March and 30 April 2018 respectively, it confirmed.

Provisions will also be established for a review once ICAO decisions on CORSIA have been finalised and how to incorporate the scheme into the EU ETS directive. This review will also consider whether to apply from 2021 the 2.2% linear reduction factor that applies to other industrial sectors in which the quantity of allowances linearly decreases each year, so tightening the overall emissions cap. Under present rules, the aviation sector cap remains the same in each year up to 2020, the end of the current trading period. The cap is 5% below the average annual level of aviation emissions in the 2004-2006 base year.

Parliament had also voted for the number of aviation allowances auctioned be increased from the current 15% to 50% from 2021, also to bring the sector into line with other industries, but a decision on this appears to have been put off pending the future review.

A Parliament proposal to exempt diverted flights from the EU ETS is believed to have been dropped.

The provisional agreement reached with the Parliament by the current Estonian Presidency will now be submitted to EU ambassadors for approval by the States. The two institutions will then be called on to formally adopt the regulation before entering into force.

“The EU believes all flights must contribute to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. We fully support ongoing ICAO negotiations for the development of comprehensive and unified international rules to turn this into a reality,” commented Siim Kiisler, Estonia’s Minister for the Environment, after the trilogue meeting. “In the meantime, adopting this regulation is crucial. We will provide legal certainty to aircraft operators and make sure European flights keep cutting emissions beyond 2016.”

Endorsing the provisional agreement as “the right step for a transition to a global offsetting scheme to address international aviation carbon emissions,” Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E), said it was crucial the new regulation was adopted by the end of 2017.

“We welcome that policy-makers took into account the industry’s concern that there can be no double burden for European airlines which would put them at a competitive disadvantage,” he added. “A4E also supports the decision to stay away from a hasty change to the auctioning percentage without any comprehensive analysis of the market or assessment of CORSIA’s impact.”

A4E said it expected the ICAO scheme to be the only measure applicable to international carbon emissions from flights within the EEA as of 2021.

Environmental groups found little enthusiasm for the agreement to prolong the derogation by three years longer than originally called for by Parliament.

“Stalling European climate action in the aviation sector because of a weak international deal doesn’t do justice to the climate,” said Kelsey Perlman, Aviation Policy Officer at Carbon Market Watch. “To address the soaring emissions from flying, we urgently need other policies, including an end to subsidies, tax breaks and generous state aid.”

Brussels-based Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomed though improvements to the original Commission proposal to permanently remove international flights from the EU ETS and to ensure greater scrutiny of the CORSIA scheme.

T&E Aviation Manager Andrew Murphy said the provisional deal ensured there was no blank cheque for ICAO and recognised the need for aviation to remain inside a reformed EU ETS after 2020. However, he said, “A reformed EU ETS is also only part of the puzzle and the EU must continue to promote complementary measures such as ending tax exemptions and phasing out state aid to the sector. The Commission must also follow through on the commitment to address non-CO2 emissions.”

In his briefing to ENVI MEPs this morning, Peter Vis, Senior Adviser at the Commission’s transport directorate (DG MOVE), said the trilogue agreement would help facilitate the ongoing CORSIA discussions at ICAO.

“Europe has wanted a global market-based mechanism for longer than other States and has worked strenuously to maintain the environmental integrity of CORSIA,” he said. “CORSIA represents the best chance we have of a mechanism to complement other measures being undertaken by the international civil aviation sector to attenuate and eventually reduce its emissions.”

He reported an ICAO CAEP steering group had agreed last month on a draft CORSIA package to be recommended for adoption by the governing ICAO Council at its next meeting that runs October 30 to November 17. The package consists of draft Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), supporting information and documentation, and an environmental technical manual. The package was also under consideration by the Council’s Advisory Group on CORSIA and ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission. If agreed by the Council, the package would then be sent to States for comment and a final adoption is planned for June 2018, taking effect from the beginning of 2019.

He said some development work outside the package was still in progress and technical experts would be meeting in Brasilia next week on practical details such as registry functions, a simplified monitoring and reporting tool for small emitters and further work on sustainable aviation fuels.

“The focus will now be on implementation rather than the design of the instrument itself,” he said. “The basic design is settled but further refinement of some elements is still needed. It should be mentioned that CORSIA will evolve over time in the light of reviews – the first in 2022 – that will be informed by experience and new information.”

He reminded MEPs the EU was an observer and not a full member of ICAO but European negotiators had paid particular attention to ensuring the environmental integrity of the emissions unit criteria and the sustainability criteria for alternative aviation fuels under CORSIA.

Vis noted that aircraft operators will have to submit monitoring plans to their national authorities for approval during 2018. For 2019 and 2020 all States engaged in international civil aviation activity will have to ensure that airline operators monitor and report their emissions from international aviation.

“This is a very tight deadline and will require considerable effort both by States and by airlines, even those States that have not opted in to the voluntary phase,” he said.

Link:

EU Council press release on provisional agreement

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

United States adopts ICAO Chapter 14 noise stringency standard for new aircraft designs

(photo: Boeing)

Wed 18 Oct 2017 – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has passed a rule that requires newly designed aircraft to harmonise with the ICAO Chapter 14 noise standard that came into effect in July 2014. In keeping with FAA numbering of aircraft noise standards, the new standard will be adopted as Stage 5 in the US. The agency believes the standard will ensure that the latest available noise reduction technology is incorporated into new aircraft designs. It represents an increase in stringency of 7 Effective Perceived Noise decibels (EPNdB) relative the previous ICAO Chapter 4 standard, or Stage 4. It will apply to new larger aircraft type designs with a maximum certificated take-off weight (MTOW) of 55 tonnes submitted for certification on or after 31 December 2017. For smaller aircraft with a MTOW of less than 55 tonnes, the standard will apply on or after 31 December 2020. The standard was passed into European Union law in January 2016.

According to the FAA, there were around 200 million passengers flying in the United States in 1975, with about 7 million people on the ground exposed to what is considered significant aircraft noise. A study it carried out in 2015 showed the number of people flying had quadrupled yet the numbers exposed to aircraft noise had dropped to around 340,000, or a 94% reduction in aircraft noise exposure.

“Reducing aircraft noise is important to the FAA because it’s an important quality of life issue for surrounding airport communities,” said FAA Michael Huerta, commenting on the adoption of the new noise standard. “We will continue to do our best through new technologies, procedures and community engagement to make aircraft operations quieter.”

The agency says it is committed to a balanced approach to the noise issue through reduction of noise at source, improved land use planning around airports and a wider use of aircraft operating procedures and restrictions that abate noise.

The background and justification for the new FAA rule, which becomes effective as of 3 November 2017, is published in the Federal Register. It notes that aircraft manufacturer Boeing and trade association Airlines for America had “supported all aspects” of the rulemaking proposal.

Current US operating rules require that jet aircraft meet at least Stage 3 (ICAO Chapter 3) noise limits. The Federal Register document says two organisations in proximity to Los Angeles International Airport, an airport community roundtable group and a municipality, had requested a phase-out of Stage 3 aircraft as part of the adoption of the new Stage 5 standard. However, the FAA says changes to the noise operating rules would have to be subject to full notice and comment rulemaking procedures, which have not been proposed. The previous elimination of Stage 2 operations had been required under two separate statutory provisions by Congress, it points out.

“The proposed Stage 5 rule does not provide any basis to attach an operational restriction, and none is included in the final rule,” it stated.

The ICAO noise certification requirements involves the measurement of noise levels at three different measurement points – approach, lateral and flyover – in order to characterise the aircraft noise performance around an airport. The EPNdB metric represents the human ear’s perception of aircraft noise. The requirements define noise limits that shall not be exceeded at each of the three measurement points and additional cumulative limit based on the sum of the three noise levels.

The ICAO noise standards are published in the Standards and Recommended Practices of Annex 16, Volume 1, with each new standard published as a new chapter, which becomes the shorthand designation of the new stringency. The new Chapter 14 follows the three other noise standards: Chapters 2, 3 and 4 – the jump to Chapter 14 is as a result of Chapter 5 already used for a different standard and the next available was 14.

The Chapter 4 standard came into force in January 2006 with an improvement on the previous standard of a little over 3dB on average at each measurement point.

Links:

FAA – Noise and emissions

ICAO – Reduction of noise at source

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

Geneva Airport partners with local energy utility to install 50,000m2 of solar panels

Wed 18 Oct 2017 – Geneva Airport has entered into a contract with public energy utility Geneva Industrial Services (SIG) to install solar panels on 50,000 square metres of roof space – the equivalent of about eight football pitches. The array will produce around 7.5 GWh of electricity per year, the equivalent of the annual power consumption of 2,500 local homes. The photovoltaic solar panels will be installed on 10 roofs located around the airport, with an expected completion date of 2020. SIG will build and own the panels for 25 years and has committed 13 million Swiss francs ($13.2m) in funding for the project. The electricity produced by the facility will primarily be used to power the airport, which already boasts solar panels covering 10,000 square metres.

“Sustainable development has been defined as a strategic objective in all activities of the airport,” said André Schneider, Director General of Geneva Airport, announcing the project.

Since 2012, the airport has purchased a combination of renewable energy – solar and biomass – and hydropower from SIG. A solar heating installation enables hot water to be produced for the airport fire brigade building and in 2006 a solar power plant was installed on the main hangar roof and operated by Edisun Power. Hot water for domestic and heating use by more than half the airport is produced by an extra light oil-fired thermal station. In 2010, two solar panel arrays were installed on airport buildings that are now supplying 470 MWh of electricity.

Following a Swiss referendum in May, the country plans to decommission its nuclear power plants over time and shift to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal power, with the aim of generating 20% of the country’s electricity through solar alone.

SIG currently owns and manages 39 solar power plants in the canton of Geneva with a production capacity of 48 GWh, and by 2025 expects to ramp this up to 150 GWh of solar power per year.

Last month, Geneva Airport announced it was collaborating with Finland’s Neste to supply renewable jet fuel from late 2018 to airlines serving the airport (see article).

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

Qantas and Virgin Australia agree to purchase renewable jet fuels from US companies

Tue 17 Oct 2017 – Qantas has announced that its flights from Los Angeles will be powered by biofuel from 2020 as a result of an off-take agreement with US bioenergy company SG Preston. The Australian airline says it will purchase 8 million gallons (30 million litres) of renewable jet fuel per year for a 10-year period. The fuel will be a 50/50 blend of conventional jet fuel and renewable fuel produced from non-food plant oils that is claimed to emit half the comparable amount of carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis. Last year, SG Preston entered into a similar off-take agreement with JetBlue in which the US carrier will purchase more than 33 million gallons of blended jet fuel per year for at least 10 years, with the renewable jet fuel portion making up 30% of the total blend. Meanwhile, Qantas rival Virgin Australia has announced it will shortly start trialling the use of renewable jet fuel supplied by Gevo through Brisbane Airport’s existing fuel supply system.

Qantas and JetStar operated Australia’s first biofuel trial flights in 2012, which both used fuels derived from used cooking oil blended 50/50 with conventional jet fuel. The agreement though with SG Preston is the first of its kind in Australian aviation history, said Gareth Evans, CEO of Qantas International and Freight.

“The partnership with SG Preston is part of our commitment to lowering carbon emissions across our operations and sees us becoming the first Australian airline to use renewable jet fuel on an ongoing basis,” he said. “As an airline group we are constantly looking for ways to become more fuel efficient and embrace new technologies and this partnership is a significant step on that journey.

“Our agreement allows us to secure a supply for our Los Angeles based aircraft where we have a large fuel demand and where the biofuel industry is more advanced.”

The Virgin Australia trial is a reverse situation in which US renewable alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel company Gevo will ship four batches of jet biofuel to Brisbane, Queensland, over the two-year course of the trial, with the first batch expected this month. The Virgin Australia Group is responsible for coordinating the purchase, supply and blending of the ATJ into the fuel supply system at Brisbane Airport. The ATJ will be shipped from Gevo’s hydrocarbon plant in Silsbee, Texas, having been derived from isobutanol produced at its commercial plant in Luverne, Minnesota.

“This initiative builds on Virgin Australia’s commitment to be a leader in the commercialisation of the sustainable aviation fuel industry in Australia,” said CEO John Borghetti. “The project is critical to testing the fuel supply chain infrastructure in Australia to ensure that Virgin Australia and Brisbane Airport are ready for the commercial supply of these exciting fuels.”

Queensland is looking to exploit locally abundant carbohydrate-based feedstocks to support building renewable jet fuel production plants in the future and the Queensland government is supporting the Gevo/Virgin Australia venture as a first step.

“We believe Queensland offers huge potential for low-cost, biomass-based feedstocks to produce biofuels,” said GEVO CEO Dr Patrick Gruber.

Qantas said it was exploring renewable jet fuel opportunities in Australia and working with suppliers to develop locally produced biofuels for aviation use.

Virgin Australia had partnered with Air New Zealand in issuing a request for information (RFI) in March 2016 seeking companies interested in meeting the long-term biofuel goals of the two airlines (see article). Although still intending to share knowledge and information, they have since gone their separate ways.

This past August, Air New Zealand said it had narrowed the field from an initial list of around 30 to two companies, one of which was US-based Fulcrum BioEnergy. The municipal waste to renewable jet fuel provider has United Airlines and Cathay Pacific among its shareholders. The other unnamed company is believed to be based overseas and interested in bringing its technology to New Zealand to locally produce biofuels from, most likely, wood waste from the timber industry.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited the Fulcrum waste-to-fuels plant in Nevada on a trade visit to the United States in June.

Links:

Qantas – Environment

Virgin Australia – Renewable Jet Fuel

Air New Zealand – Sustainability

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

States agree not to set targets as ICAO unveils its long-term vision on sustainable aviation fuels deployment

Mon 16 Oct 2017 – ICAO concluded its second Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/2) held in Mexico City with an agreement on a long-term vision for the development, production and supply of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) through to 2050. Delegates from Member States, industry and environmental groups had initially been asked to support ICAO’s Vision 2050 proposals for short, mid and long term goals that would ensure a 2% share of SAF in international aviation fuel demand by 2025, rising to 32% in 2040 and 50% by 2050. However, a number of States, along with industry and NGOs, failed to back the setting of targets and the conference settled instead for wording that calls for a “significant percentage” of SAF by 2050. The aviation industry said it welcomed the emphasis on developing robust sustainability criteria as a central component of alternative aviation fuels deployment.

Opening the conference, ICAO Council President Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said current progress on reducing aviation emissions through technological innovation and streamlined operations was not sufficient to meet ICAO 2020 targets.

“Even after these have been accounted for, we are still left with a significant mitigation requirement,” he said. “Sustainable alternative fuels are critical to closing this gap.”

He noted that more than 40,000 flights had been conducted using sustainable fuels since they were first introduced and a number of airports were now offering such fuels to airlines interested in purchasing them.

“Through these numerous actions, the aviation sector has now supplied the proof of concept for sustainable aviation fuels, confirming their operational viability and the feasibility of producing them in sustainable ways which lessen the impact of aviation on the climate,” he told delegates.

The proposed ICAO Vision 2050 targets represented 5 million tonnes (Mt) per year of SAF being used by airlines in 2025, 128 Mt per year at the mid-term 2040 waypoint and 285 Mt/year by 2050.

ICAO figures show that international aviation consumed around 142 Mt of conventional jet fuel in 2010. By 2050 the UN agency estimates fuel consumption will reach 860 Mt if considering only rising demand for air travel and natural fleet renewal. If the potential contribution of advancing technology together with air traffic management and infrastructure use improvements are taken into account, the estimated fuel consumption could decrease to 570 Mt in 2050, representing a 71% share of the expected global – international plus domestic – aviation annual fuel burn. The ICAO Vision therefore only considers SAF usage on international flight routes.

Given accepted significant uncertainties in predicting the long-term contribution of SAF, ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) evaluated 120 SAF deployment scenarios for 2050, taking into consideration the global availability of resources, economic conditions, financial investments and policy decisions required to reach the assessed levels of global SAF production. The associated CO2 emissions reductions were calculated for each scenario.

The short-term goal of 5 Mt per year of SAF by 2025 is considered by the ICAO Secretariat as a “reasonable assumption”, based on current off-take agreements reached by airlines with biofuel producers of around 0.9 Mt per year. It sees recent policy decisions in countries like Norway, India, France and the UK to end the sale of gasoline and diesel cars by or before 2040 as driving large quantities of ‘green diesel’ – a current global capacity of 3.45 Mt/year – from road transport towards the aviation sector.

The Secretariat also believes international agreement on the SAF sustainability criteria under the ICAO CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme will address some of the uncertainties faced by industry and foster confidence in SAF investment.

CAEP narrowed down its 2050 forecast to four scenarios: low (4% SAF share of jet fuel consumption), illustrative (28%), intermediate (50%) and maximum (100%). Although 100% was possible, it says in a paper (WP/6) presented to CAAF/2, this would require 170 new biorefineries to be built annually from 2020 to 2050, at an approximate cost of $15-60 billion per year if growth occurred linearly. If investment and growth began slowly and ramped up over time, it estimates over 500 new biorefineries would have to be constructed every year in the late 2040s and almost 1,000 new biorefineries would be required in 2050, requiring capital investments of $1-3 billion per year in 2025 and $80-340 billion per year in 2050.

Achieving a 100% SAF consumption by 2050 could reduce net CO2 emissions by about 63%, determined CAEP. However, this would require the realisation of the highest assumed increases in agricultural productivity, highest availability of land for feedstock cultivation, highest residue removal rates, highest conversion efficiency improvements, largest reductions in the GHG emissions of utilities, as well as a strong market or policy emphasis on bioenergy in general and SAFs in particular.

“This implies that a large share of the globally available bioenergy resource would be devoted to producing aviation fuel, as opposed to other uses,” says the ICAO Secretariat.

The intermediate 2050 scenario with 50% substitution by SAF – the scenario proposed by the Secretariat – assumes improvements in fuel production efficiencies and high availability of bioenergy feedstocks, the production of which would need to be significantly incentivised by favourable markets or policy mechanisms.

The three targets, however, met with resistance from a number of States attending CAAF/2, with some calling into question whether biofuels provided a solution to the carbon neutrality of the aviation sector. In a paper to the conference (WP/20), the Russian Federation said the lack of land resources required in order to meet the world’s energy needs using biofuels was “a major concern”, adding: “Thus, since forested areas need to be cleared, vast amounts of carbon will be released, creating a carbon debt requiring centuries to repay.” The paper argued biofuel production posed a serious global risk to food and water resources.

In its paper (WP/26), China said it had proactively pursued the adoption and deployment of SAF since the first CAAF in 2009 and welcomed initiatives to maximise the contribution of such fuels to the environmentally sustainable future of international aviation. However, it had “serious concerns” with the goals set out by the Secretariat that had been “developed without full political and technical consultations among States”. It also said the uncertainty over the contribution of SAF to emissions reduction from international aviation made the ICAO carbon-neutral growth target (CNG2020) “impracticable”.

Supporters of the deployment goals put forward by the Secretariat, Brazil and Indonesia said in a joint paper (WP/18) that to ensure the long-term take-up of SAF, a mechanism should be developed and incorporated into the CORSIA review process that guaranteed a smooth transition from the use of market-based measures to the use of SAF. This, they suggested, could be achieved by establishing a ceiling that would be lowered year by year on the total amount of the growth in emissions post-2021 that could be neutralised through offsetting. The two countries expressed their concern that under present conditions, policies and mechanisms, it will be cheaper for aircraft operators to offset their emissions by purchasing emissions units than by covering the price gap between fossil fuels and SAF.

The United States’ view is that the role of ICAO in the global deployment of SAF should be as a facilitator rather than coming up with policies that direct State action. What might be a successful policy in one State may not be applicable to another and development and deployment will vary among States and regions, it argued in WP/16. “Thus, while we agree with a defined goal, we would not support specifying the means to achieve that goal,” it said.

It was important that States learn from one another, it added, and ICAO was ideally situated to facilitate information sharing and coordination.

ICAO’s facilitating role was supported in a joint paper submitted on behalf of industry (WP/25), which also encouraged States to put in place policy frameworks that strongly incentivised SAF development, production in use. While supporting the Secretariat’s aspirational 2025 goal of 5 Mt per year of SAF, the paper said there should be a focus on identifying pathways to achieve it, which should articulate the requisite policy drivers. However, industry believes there is too much uncertainty at present, particularly concerning the costs of SAF, to define a long-term goal.

“For that reason, we believe it would only be appropriate to consider defining a mid-term SAF aspirational goal, including identification of pathways for striving towards the goal, once progress and achievement of an aspirational 2025 goal can be assessed,” said the paper.

In its submission (WP/21) to CAAF/2, the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation (ICSA), which represents environmental groups at ICAO, urged States to avoid endorsing volumetric targets for SAF. “In effect, the targets maximise the volume of SAF utilised rather than the amount of carbon abated,” it said. “This could result in substantial policy support going towards fuels that either increase aviation sector emissions or, at best, provide marginal benefits.”

It added that the CAEP scenarios relied heavily on optimistic assumptions on land availability for feedstock cultivation and did not take into account indirect land use change and other sustainability considerations.

The three-day conference, which included representatives from 29 Member States, concluded with an agreement on the 2050 Vision that replaced the initial reference to the aspirational goals with text that States “will seek to ensure that a significant percentage of current conventional aviation fuels would be substituted with sustainable alternatives by 2050.”

ICSA commended the States for rejecting the targets. “The version of the Vision that countries accepted is more reasonable and better reflects the risks of forging headlong into alternative fuels without putting climate change and sustainability concerns first,” said Brad Schallert, Deputy Director at World Wildlife Fund in an ICSA statement.

“Producing alternative fuels at scale globally is inherently risky and should be approached with caution. In ICSA’s view, the Vision should primarily inspire innovation and technological breakthroughs at a level required to meet the challenge of mitigating international aviation’s climate impact.”

Although supportive of a short-term aspirational goal, industry too was pleased that the targets were dropped and greater emphasis had been placed in the Vision on sustainability criteria, which industry representative Michael Gill of the Air Transport Action Group told the conference “should be at the heart of any vision on sustainable aviation fuels.”

He added in a statement after the conference: “Most importantly, delegates confirmed that any alternative fuel deployment should follow sustainability criteria currently being developed by a task force at ICAO, including representatives of environmental groups. Aviation industry representatives strongly supported this, as sustainability should be a central component of any deployment of these new fuels.

“The ICAO Vision represents a commitment from stakeholders meeting at ICAO to follow a path towards increasing deployment of sustainable aviation fuel, one of the key components of our industry’s climate action plan. Periodic reviews of the Vision should look to ramp-up ambition, including at the next conference before 2025. We can then look at the longer-term prospects with the hope that sustainable aviation fuel will make up a significant proportion of our fuel mix in 2050, bringing down emissions and diversifying our energy supply.

“We now urge governments all over the world to join with industry to promote and develop this new source of energy that can bring up to an 80% reduction in CO2 compared with traditional jet fuel. The Vision will need to be developed further over time, but it also sets industry and governments a challenge we will meet together.”

ICAO stressed the Vision was “a living instrument”, with progress towards achieving it regularly assessed through a stocktaking process.

“The new ICAO Vision agreed at the Mexico event will now help guide international civil aviation stakeholders as they work to employ sustainable fuel alternatives and significantly reduce aviation emissions,” said the UN agency in a statement.

Links:

2nd ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels – Documentation and working papers

ICAO and Aviation Alternative Fuels


Update Oct 24:

ICAO has now released its CAAF/2 Declaration that defines the ICAO Vision on Aviation and Alternative Fuels and Future Objectives. It can be downloaded here

Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

Zunum Aero reveals details of its 12-seat hybrid-electric passenger aircraft that it hopes to be operational by 2022

Fri 13 Oct 2017 – US-based Zunum Aero has revealed more details of its hybrid-electric 12-seat regional aircraft that it claims will be operational by 2022. In April, Zunum announced it had received backing from Boeing HorizonX and JetBlue Technology Ventures (see article). The aircraft is being designed to have a maximum cruise speed of 340 miles an hour and a take-off distance of 2,200 feet (670m), and the company believes it can open up fast and affordable travel for thousands of communities across the United States. It is expected to have up to 80 per cent lower emissions compared to comparable jet aircraft, and over time Zunum’s quest is to eliminate emissions with an all-electric version. UK low-cost carrier easyJet recently unveiled its support for an electric regional aircraft in development by US start-up, Wright Electric (see article).

The US has many thousands of small airports yet Zunum says around 96% of air traffic travels through 1% of its airports, leaving a large untapped market on short routes where it is unprofitable for private jets and commercial airlines to operate. The company believes that with advances in battery technology, lightweight electric motors and carbon composite airframes, direct costs could work out at eight US cents per seat-mile, or $250 per hour – about one-fifth that of a small jet or turboprop plane. Many smaller airports also have environmental constraints that Zunum says its aircraft can overcome.

The aircraft would be powered by two electric motors and a supplemental jet-fuel engine to ensure the plane has a range of up to 700 miles – about two hours of flight – and so well beyond current battery technology capability. The motor being designed by Zunum will drive a fan similar to the bypass fan on a conventional jet engine but without combustion. These quiet electric propulsors with their variable pitch fans would enable a 40% reduction in runway needs and a 75% drop in community noise. Wing-integrated batteries would enable tailoring of onboard battery capacity and quick-swap or recharge at airports.

The company says it is discussing with aircraft manufacturers about building the airframe. It is planning to open a second development in the Chicago area and start ground tests ahead of first flights planned for 2019.

With projected advances in battery technology Zunum is setting its sights on a larger 50-seater plane with a range of 1,000 miles by the end of the next decade.

“Regional travel is ripe for reinvention,” says JetBlue Technology Ventures, which backs travel and technology early start-ups. “Options for journeys up to a thousand miles are far from ideal, limited to slow travel on the ground and air service consolidating to large hubs. As a result, door-to-door times have not improved for decades, and the only alternative, high-speed rail, is limited by heavy capital needs for a few dense corridors. Zunum Aero aims to change that.”


Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications

Flights in all world regions at greater risk of severe turbulence incidents as a result of climate change

Tue 10 Oct 2017 – In May, 27 passengers on board an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok were injured when the Boeing 777 encountered clear-air turbulence. Because the plane was unable to detect the turbulence ahead, passengers had not been warned to fasten their seat belts. There is evidence that clear-air turbulence (CAT) has already risen by 40-90% over Europe and North America since 1958 and studies by researchers from the universities of Reading and East Anglia in the UK have shown that as a consequence of climate change, the frequency of turbulence on flights between Europe and North America could double by 2050 and the intensity increase by 10-40%. The same researchers have since extended their previous work by analysing eight geographic regions, two flight levels, five turbulence strength categories and four seasons, and found large increases in CAT.

“While turbulence does not usually pose a major danger to flights, it is responsible for hundreds of passenger injuries every year,” said Luke Storer, a researcher at the University of Reading and co-author of the new study. “It is also by far the most common cause of serious injuries to flight attendants. Turbulence is thought to cost US air carriers up to $200 million annually.”

Previous research focused on turbulence over the North Atlantic region – one of the busiest air routes in the world – and suggested climate change will increase high-altitude wind instabilities in the jet stream in winter, generating stronger and more frequent pockets of CAT. Using supercomputer simulations of the future atmosphere, the new study analysed changes to CAT over the entire globe by the second half of the century.

The researchers found strong increases in CAT in all regions, in particular the mid-latitudes in both hemispheres where the busiest flights are in operation, and some regions may experience several hundred per cent more turbulence. They also found that of the five turbulence strength categories, the strongest turbulence will increase the most.

Flights to the most popular international destinations are projected to experience the largest increases, with severe turbulence at a typical cruising altitude of 39,000 feet becoming up to two or three times as common throughout the year over the North Atlantic (180% more common), Europe (160% more common), North America (110% more common), the North Pacific (90% more common) and Asia (60% more common).

The study also makes the first ever turbulence projections for the Southern Hemisphere, finding the amount of airspace containing severe turbulence is calculated to increase over South America by 60% and over Australia and Africa by 50%.

“Air turbulence is increasing across the globe, in all seasons, and at multiple cruising altitudes. This problem is only going to worsen as the climate continues to change,” said Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading and lead author of the study.

He said the results highlighted an increasing need to improve operational CAT forecasts and to use them effectively in flight planning. “Despite containing useful information and demonstrably improving the safety and comfort of air travel, these forecasts continue to include a substantial fraction of false positives and missed events,” he added.

The study points out that future aeronautical advances, such as remote sensing of CAT using onboard light detection and ranging (lidar) technology, might be able to mitigate the operational effects of the worsening atmospheric turbulence. For example, Boeing is collaborating with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to develop a system that will detect CAT more than 60 seconds, or about 17.5km, ahead of the aircraft (see Wired article). Even if it does not give pilots enough time to divert round the threat, it would alert crew and minimise the risk of injuries.

“Our findings may have implications for aviation operations in the coming decades,” say the researchers. “Many of the aircraft that will be flying in the second half of the present century are currently in the design phase. It would therefore seem sensible for the aircraft manufacturers to prepare for a more turbulent atmosphere, even at this early stage.”

The study, ‘Global response of clear-air turbulence to climate change’, is published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.


Copyright © 2017 GreenAir Communications