Eco Watch –Boeing/Airbus, ATA Initiative

President Outlines GHG Policy President George Bush announced goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and called for a regulatory regime that would set limits on GHGs. The policy includes identifying initiatives for reducing carbon emissions including alternative fuels, increased fuel, lighting and...

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President Outlines GHG Policy
President George Bush announced goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and called for a regulatory regime that would set limits on GHGs. The policy includes identifying initiatives for reducing carbon emissions including alternative fuels, increased fuel, lighting and appliance efficiency and the promotion of green building codes as well as efforts to increase the use of renewable power. The White House indicated that the combination of such efforts and accelerating the phase out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons prevents six to 10 billion metric tons of GHGs through 2030. The Administration opposes any cap-and-trade proposals now under consideration in Congress in favor of business incentives for technology development for reducing GHGs, saying they would impose new costs on American business and families at a time when they can least afford it.

Boeing, Airbus Agree on Environmental Pact
During the third Aviation and Environmental Summit in Geneva, Boeing and Airbus signed an agreement to work together to ensure global interoperability in air traffic management as part of an effort to help reduce the impact of aviation on the environment. The companies will seek the acceleration of improvements to the world's air transportation management systems in order to increase efficiency and eliminate traffic congestion.
"I am convinced technology and innovation hold the key to reducing aviation's environmental impact and increasing eco-efficiency," said Tom Enders, Airbus president and CEO. "And competition is a great motivator for this. Where Boeing and Airbus share a common position on the environment and safety, it is in all our interests that we cooperate to achieve our common goals more quickly."
In the last 40 years, the aviation industry has made significant improvements in aircraft efficiency with reductions of 70 percent in CO2, 90 percent in noise and 90 percent less unburned hydrocarbons. The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) targets reductions of 50 percent in CO2 and 80 percent in NOx by 2020. A modernized air traffic management system will be a key contributor to reaching this goal.
Improvements to the global air transportation system that provide more efficient routing, better arrival management and speed control will reduce inefficient delays and time in the air, which will save fuel and reduce emissions. Such air traffic management improvements represent the greatest short-term opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions.

ATA Introduces Best Practices for Alternative Fuels
The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) released its guiding principles for reducing carbon output, conserving fuel and finding jet fuel alternatives. The principles, titled “Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels: The ATA Commitment,” are designed to bring cleaner jet fuel alternatives to market while ensuring safety, increasing reliability and promoting economic feasibility.
“U.S. passenger and cargo airlines improved their fuel efficiency by 110 percent from 1978 to 2007, the equivalent of taking roughly 17 million cars off the road each of those years,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May. “ATA member airlines are committed to improving fuel efficiency an additional 30 percent by 2025 and the use of alternative fuels will be an important element of our overall efforts to achieve even greater emissions reductions. We have an inherent obligation to protect our planet today and for generations to follow. We have an equal responsibility to make decisions that will protect the economic welfare of this country, which is enhanced through plentiful and sustainable commercial air service.
“We must stay uniquely focused on further reducing the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions and on helping America enhance its energy security,” May continued. “With jet fuel prices reaching unforeseen highs on a daily basis – so high that now one-third of an average ticket goes to pay for fuel alone – and given the environmental challenges associated with traditional fossil fuels, the airline industry is even more committed to implementing alternative fuels on a broad scale.”
ATA said its alternative fuels commitment serves as a call to action to prospective suppliers and is available online at www.airlines.org/economics/energy/altfuelsprinciples.htm. ATA also is encouraging fuel suppliers to work with the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), a consortium of manufacturers, airlines, airports, government agencies, universities and fuel suppliers, to promote the research and development of alternative jet fuels. CAAFI, which ATA actively cosponsors, has working groups dedicated to every aspect of bringing alternative jet fuels to market, including those expressly dedicated to environmental, specification, production and distribution issues. Among the CAAFI goals are certification of a 50 percent synthetic fuel by the end of 2008 and certification of bio-jet fuels by 2013.