Aircraft manufacturers and aviation experts have expressed concern about the environmental impact of their operations especially in regards to climate change.
It has been acknowledged that air travel experiences the fastest growth among all modes of transportation. Therefore, environmental issues such as noise, emissions and fuel burn (consumption), for both airplane and airport operations, have become important for energy and environmental sustainability.
Furthermore, major technological elements were identified to sustainable aviation, especially by continuing to develop aircraft and engine design and technology in a relentless pursuit of improvements in fuel efficiency and reduced carbon (CO2) emissions for the sake of the environment.
Reviewing aviation industry sustainability the SAFRAN Group published a Statement by the Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) of seven of the world’s major aviation manufacturers, following the Paris Airshow Le Bourget, in June 2019.
Each of the CTOs is said to be “working at an unprecedented level to ensure the industry meets these aggressive and necessary commitments.”
The CTOs equally expressed “a unified commitment” since aviation connects our world by efficiently and rapidly moving people, opening new economic opportunities and transporting food and goods all over our planet. Aviation promotes global understanding, generating rich cultural exchanges and thereby contributing to peaceful co-existence.
However, they noted that climate change has become a clear concern for the society, saying: “Humanity’s impact on the climate requires action on many fronts,” adding that “the aviation industry is already taking significant action to protect the planet and will continue to do so.”
The Airshow observed that aviation contributes to two percent of human-made carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, “The industry has challenged itself to reduce net CO2 emissions even while demand for air travel and transport grows significantly.”
Through the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), the aviation industry became the world’s first industrial sector to set an ambitious target: reduce CO2 emissions to half of year 2005 levels by 2050, and to limit the growth of net CO2 emissions by 2020.
“We are on track to meet those near-term commitments, including the 2019 implementation of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) programme as agreed upon by the nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),” the CTOs said.
Besides reducing CO2 emissions, other strategies to make aviation more environmentally friendly include: supporting the commercialization of sustainable, alternate aviation fuels. Around 185,000 commercial flights have already proven that today’s aircraft are ready to use them.
Developing radically new aircraft and propulsion technology, and accelerating technologies that will enable the ‘third generation’ of aviation.
Efficient air traffic management and aircraft routing that minimizes fuel consumption also have a vital part to play. “Our industry has demonstrated significant progress on reducing noise and other environmental impacts and will continue to do so.”
In terms of aircraft and engine design and technology, the CTOs stated that for the last 40 years, aircraft and engine technology has reduced CO2 emissions by a yearly average of over one percent per passenger mile. “This has been the result of significant R&D investments in materials, aerodynamic efficiency, digital design and manufacturing methods, turbomachinery developments and aircraft systems optimization.”
For instance, targets set by the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe call for a 75 percent reduction in CO2, a 90 percent drop in NOX, and a 65 percent decrease in noise by 2050, compared with year 2000 levels.
To help achieve these aggressive goals, global agreements reached through ICAO call for a fuel-efficiency performance standard to be part of the certification process applied to every airplane.
“We remain committed to improving existing aircraft and engine designs to continue the trajectory of improving efficiency as much as possible. Concurrently, we note the tremendous technological challenges ahead of us and the likely need to include more radical ‘third generation’ approaches.”
In the area of fostering the energy transition for sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), the manufacturers said aviation will continue to rely on liquid fuels as the fundamental energy source for larger and longer-range aircraft for the foreseeable future.
They added that even under the most optimistic forecasts for electric-powered flight, regional and single-aisle commercial airplanes will remain operating in the global fleet with jet fuel for decades to come.
“Therefore, the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) which use recycled rather than fossil-based carbon and meet strong, credible sustainability standards is an essential component of a sustainable future. Five pathways for production of SAFs have already been approved for use, with commercial scale production of one of these pathways already in place.
“We believe that accelerating production scale-up of all commercially viable pathways, while simultaneously developing additional lower cost pathways, is the key to success. This work is already underway at research institutions and within companies in various industrial sectors. What is needed is an expansion of government support for technology development, production facility investment, and fuel production incentives around the world.
“We are fully supportive of any fuel, which is sustainable, scalable, and compatible with existing fuels. We will work closely with fuel producers, operators, airports, environmental organizations and government agencies to bring these fuels into widespread aviation use well ahead of 2050,” they said.
