It doesn't take an environment summit in Geneva anymore or a president to hold a dramatic press conference under the sea for one to realise that the planet has begun reacting to the harm being caused to it. If some of us aren't losing our lives in earthquakes, then hurricanes are ripping through our towns and tsunamis are bringing nations to their knees. The need of the hour is clear.
With the Dubai Airshow upon us and the fact that the transport industry is the second-highest offender in terms of man-made carbon emissions worldwide and aviation being a part of it, GN Focus investigates if there really is such a thing as green aviation or is this too, pegged to the dollar?
The most obvious place to start was at the headquarters of world leading aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, in Toulouse, France.
Rainer Von Wrede is head of environment at Airbus. Having been with the company for 21 years, he has gained a lot of experience in the field from propulsion systems dealing with acoustics and gaseous emissions in all aircraft, to product integrity and certification and research and technology. He feels there is a pressing need to continue investing in sustainable methods for air transport. Globally the aviation sector is expanding and with passenger demand doubling eve ry 15 years, according to research carried out by Airbus, the year 2050 could witness 16 billion passengers and 400 million tonnes of cargo annually.
Commitment issues
The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) have set targets that includes an overall 50 per cent reduction in noise, fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions and 80 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions, by the year 2020. Von Wrede says Airbus is committed to achieving this, but it will only happen if all other big carbon emitters equally play their parts.
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, deforestation accounts for around 17.4 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the third largest source of anthropogenic GHG emissions after energy supply and industrial activity. With the aviation industry only responsible for 2 per cent of man-made carbon emissions globally, why are governments not concentrating on the bigger offenders?
The EU recently announced plans to implement an emission cap and trading system for airlines in 2012, which wasn't met with much enthusiasm by many other nations. Does the aviation industry have more money to throw around than others?
Mahesh Mankodi, the financial director at Oman Airports Management Compan, feels there are many misconceptions about aviation. "There is a general impression that airlines have a massive carbon footprint and that they make a lot of money," he says. "But this couldn't be further from the truth. The airline business is so vast and such an everyday need that it is constantly in the public eye. I'm a finance man and aviation at the moment, is not a very lucrative business to be in. If you are looking at man-made carbon emissions from airlines, it is less than 2 per cent of the world total. Basic traffic on the roads produce ten times more carbon.
Von Wrede seemed equally confused at the EU's announcement on the emission cap. "I don't know why this is being done," he says, "putting a cap on emissions on one part of the world is not going to do anything for the planet as a whole; it's only going to give other areas one up on Europe, which is certainly not good for the economy.
"Yet, we are targeting zero emission or reaching a state of what they call carbon-neutral, by 2020 and onwards. By 2050 we aim to be emitting 50 per cent less than what we were in 2005, which is a huge reduction. Our planes today have managed to cut back 70 per cent emission than those 40 years ago."
The figures sound a little ambitious, so how does one go about achieving this?
"There are several ways of doing this," continues Von Wrede, "even though I must admit that we might first have to offset emissions before we actually begin to see a reduction.
"The most important things are the changes made to the aircraft and the way it is operated. Then there are the traffic management systems, the airports etc. But this is still not sufficient, so we try and improve on bio-fuels. With all these elements put together, I think we can meet the 50 per cent reduction," he adds.
He went on to say that through new technology Airbus is looking to make a few changes to new aircraft prototypes to produce greener airplanes. He listed changes being made in the aerodynamics of the aircraft's wings, where the laminar flow will reduce the air-drag, making for a smoother flight. He said the manufacturer was also working on reducing the weight of the aircraft by using more and more composite material. "Almost 53 per cent of the new A350 will be made up of composite material and this formula is only going to increase as we go into the future," he adds.
Reducing emissions and noise
The other means to reduce emissions is to make the operating systems within the aircraft more efficient. Key developments here are going to be the use of more hydraulics and a new source of electricity on board the aircraft that takes the load of the engines. Research is also under way as to where the engines of the aircraft should be placed in order to work more efficiently. Engines will get bigger and new technologies involving the rotor are being researched on.
Von Wrede added that Airbus is committed to Flightpath 2050 (The European Aviation Vision 2050) which outlines a significant commitment to cutting emissions. There will be 75 per cent CO2 emissions reduction, 90 per cent NOx emission reduction and 65 per cent noise reduction.
But with fuel being the life of any aircraft, what developments can we expect there?
Is it possible to power aircraft with energy derived from a sustainable source of plants or algae, which can then be used in combination with conventional airplane fuel? How long will this take to come into the market and will it ever be priced affordably?
"When we talk about biofuels, we're talking about alternative ways to make kerosene," says Von Wrede in a matter-of-factly. "Make kerosene in an environment-friendly way from bio-mass, and we're there. We have flown with alternative fuels, but the most environment-friendly ones have been the ones made from biomass," he adds.
Biomass can be a mere vegetable, from which one takes out hydrocarbon molecules — the same two elements that provide energy when extracted from fossil fuels.
"Today we have managed to certify synthetic fuels, a 50:50 blend of kerosene from oil and that from biomass. We are now working on 100 per cent synthetic kerosene for aviation but it will take a long time," says Von Wrede.
This will open some pretty mighty doors for fuel makers, but the availability of biomass to make fuel seems to be the next big problem.
However, there is still hope and funnily enough, it is in our very own backyard. Qatar Petroleum is producing the slightly more environment-friendly kerosene, which is made from gas rather than from oil. So in most parts of the Middle East, synthetic fuels are being used in aircraft that take off from the region. The pollution emitted from engines burning synthetic fuel is less harmful.
