Latest news and insights from various sources relating to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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Mon 4 June 2018 – Carbon emissions from airlines are forecast by IATA to grow to 897 million tonnes (Mt) in 2018 as a result of an historically high fuel consumption of 94 billion US gallons.
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Mon 17 Sept 2018 – Transatlantic airline fuel efficiency between 2014 and 2017 improved by an average 1 per cent per year as a result of the use of new aircraft with lower fuel burn but is less than the industry goal, finds a new study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).
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Thu 27 Sept 2018 – Research commissioned by UK air traffic service provider NATS shows just over half (52%) of 1,000 people polled by Ipsos MORI agreed that reducing aircraft carbon emissions should be the top priority from any reworking of the UK’s airspace.
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Tue 4 Dec 2018 – Heathrow Airport has signalled its intention that by the time its proposed third runway begins operations in 2026 all new growth will be carbon neutral. This would mean that growth in emissions from additional flights after expansion would be offset through carbon credits.
Tue 2 May 2017 – Los Angeles International (LAX) and London Gatwick airports have started recycling initiatives to turn waste into either natural gas fuel or onsite energy use. In partnership with the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation (LASAN), LAX is beginning a 90-day pilot programme involving the collection of food waste from a targeted sample of airports restaurants and concessionaires, which will then be transported offsite for conversion into natural gas using an anaerobic digestion process. Solid and liquid organic waste that cannot be converted into methane gas will be converted into commercial-grade fertiliser. Gatwick Airport and DHL Supply Chain, meanwhile, have opened a new waste management plant, which they claim makes the airport the first in the world to turn both food and packaging waste into energy onsite.
Tue 27 Jun 2017 – Although there has been recent speculation over the possibility of the United States not joining the voluntary phase of ICAO’s CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme as a result of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, there are other implications for global aviation emissions. Pledges made by countries under the agreement must take into account reductions in domestic aviation emissions, which are not covered by CORSIA. Globally, domestic aviation emissions make up around 38 per cent of all aviation emissions, with the US responsible for nearly a half. According to research by Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment (CATE), US domestic aviation emissions could rise by 33 to 50 per cent over 2005 levels if the US does not carry out its CO2 reduction plans and so heavily impact the sector’s overall emissions.
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Fri 1 June 2018 – The business aviation sector has come together to raise awareness and encourage adoption by business aircraft owners, operators and fuel suppliers of sustainable alternative jet fuels (SJAF).
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Mon 24 Sept 2018 – As part of plans to be carbon neutral by 2020, Heathrow Airport is to invest £94,000 ($124,000) in a peatland restoration pilot project in the north-west of England.
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Fri 30 Nov 2018 – With just a month to go before airlines and business aircraft operators with international flights must start monitoring and reporting their CO2 emissions under the CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme, the sector says it is firmly on track to meet its commitments.
Tue 27 Jun 2017 – Following a slowdown in the overall fuel efficiency of its fleet in 2015, Virgin Atlantic Airways has rebounded with an impressive 8 per cent annual improvement last year, according to the airline’s latest Sustainability Report 2017. This is largely down to the positive impact of Boeing 787 aircraft entering the fleet in 2016, improved passenger load factors and other operational gains. Total CO2e aircraft emissions fell from 4.43 million tonnes in 2015 to 4.08 million tonnes in 2016, from a high of 5.22 million tonnes in 2007 when Virgin Atlantic set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 per cent per revenue tonne-kilometre (RTK) by 2020. The 22 per cent reduction since 2007 is matched by a 17 per cent fall in CO2 per RTK and a 22 per cent drop in CO2 per passenger km over the past 10 years. This, says the airline, puts it well ahead of the industry’s annual fuel efficiency improvement target for the period up to 2020.