Business Aviation and the Environment

By Kirby J. Harrison

Aviation International News >> August 2008
Environment

Reducing the industry’s CO2 impact will require more than just changes to technology.

Aviation has an image problem in this age of climate change as a major contributor of CO₂, even if the reality is that as a CO2 producer the segment is responsible for just 3 percent of greenhouse gases (GHGs) globally. Business aviation emits just two-tenths of 1 percent of global GHGs from all sources, but this is cold comfort for a segment of aviation that, unlike the airlines, is closed to the public and therefore particularly vulnerable to scrutiny and hostility by that same excluded general public and the politicians they elect.

Business aircraft OEMs and engine manufacturers are aware that the huge strides in fuel efficiency over past decades are history now; the world’s populace expects further, massive cuts in emissions. Another avenue of attack on fuel burn is to make ATC a more efficient operational matrix from engine start to shutdown, but modernization here continues to be a contentious process slow to reap potential rewards. There’s a certain irony in the fact that some of those clamoring for aviation to clean up its act are the same loud voices who protest ATC reroutings over their backyards.

As predicted earlier in the pages of this magazine, climate change as a catalyst for global conflict is just beginning to warm up, and aviation is on the front lines.

'Business Aviation and the Environment.pdf'

Back

Flexjet Launches Carbon Offset Program Saturday 01. of November 2008 Flexjet, Bombardier’s fractional ownership subsidiary, has launched a carbon-offset program for its fractional owners. The company has selected... [more]
European ATM changes seek to lower CO2 emissions Saturday 01. of November 2008 With the goal of saving as much as 470,000 metric tons of fuel each year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched a... [more]
Business aviation targets CO2 emissions Tuesday 07. of October 2008 “It’s not that easy being green,” sang Kermit the Frog in the first season of Sesame Street in 1970. Nearly four decades later, “being green”... [more]
Dassault touts ‘green’ Falcons Tuesday 07. of October 2008 As more business jet buyers worry about the damage their airplanes are potentially causing the environment, French business jet maker Dassault... [more]
EBAA offers ETS alternative Tuesday 07. of October 2008 The impact of the European Union’s plans to include aviation in its emission trading scheme (ETS)–a CO2 cap-and-trade system that has been in... [more]