Regional Aviation News :: ATA Urges Support for R&D, Alternative Fuels and Modernized Routes

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In recounting aviation’s environmental record before House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, the Air Transport Association (ATA), set forth its plans for further enhancing airline efforts to protect the environment and urged Congress to support research and development into reducing carbon emissions as well as alternative fuels. At the same time, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Assistant Administrator for Aviation Policy, Planning, and Environment Dan Elwell recounted FAA initiatives as well as the creation of international emissions reduction organizations.
Both FAA and ATA opposed emissions trading schemes saying increasing costs by paying for emissions would rob airlines of the ability to re-equip with more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft. Elwell also expressed concerns about carbon offset programs now offered by many airlines. Both organizations also pointed to route and air traffic control modernization as offering the greatest opportunity to reduce emissions in the short to medium term. A full accounting of both the industry record as well as the complex proposals for emissions trading schemes was part of a special Regional Aviation News series Special Report: Aviation and Climate Change.
"Commercial aviation in the United States has a decidedly strong environmental track record that is often overlooked or misstated," said ATA President and CEO James C. May during last weeks hearing. "U.S. commercial aviation contributes just two percent of domestic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), compared to 25 percent for the balance of the transportation industry. Today's airplanes are not just smarter – they are quieter, cleaner and use less fuel than ever before – but we also fly them smarter."
U.S. commercial airlines improved their fuel efficiency by 103 percent between 1978 and 2006, the equivalent of taking roughly 17 million cars off the road, he told legislators, adding that ATA carriers committed to improve their fuel efficiency by an additional 30 percent by 2025. They also are dedicated to developing commercially viable, environmentally friendly jet fuels. While May focused primarily on airline-driven initiatives, he added that the commercial aviation industry can achieve an additional 15 percent in fuel efficiency if NextGen, the FAA-led initiative to modernize air traffic control, is approved by Congress.
"Congress should ensure that our outdated air traffic control system is modernized to permit more direct routes, thereby saving fuel and emissions," he said.
Further, May called for reinstatement of funds that have been cut from environmental research and development programs, which, for decades, have been vital to the development of technologies used not only by the airlines but also by NASA and the armed services.
"We urge Congress to reinvigorate NASA and FAA environmental aeronautics R&D programs. Additional revolutionary advances in airframe and engine technology can only come through government-led R&D, which also serves to preserve American leadership in aeronautics,” said May, urging Congress to "calibrate" any climate change-related legislation, including the apparent leading cap-and-trade legislation in the U.S. Senate, S. 2191, commonly known as the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, so that it does not undermine the industry's ability to invest in new technologies.
"To continue our fuel efficiency and other advances, we must have the capital to invest," May said. "Indeed, FAA estimates that 90 percent of the fuel efficiency and emissions improvements that the airlines have achieved come through the airlines' own investments in technology. Punitive economic measures that siphon funds out of our industry would severely threaten our ability to continue that record."
Citing fuel prices, which even prior to the most recent spikes constituted the airlines' single greatest cost center, May emphasized the industry's relentless efforts to increase fuel efficiency.
"Even in the highly constrained financial environment in which we now find ourselves, ATA airlines are expending billions to upgrade their fleets" to further strengthen environmental performance,” said May. "A vibrant, competitive and growing aviation sector is a key part of the solution – not an impediment to ensuring a future where a strong economy, freedom from foreign oil and cleaner air are the order of the day. We are not asking you [Congress] to work for us; we're asking you to work with us in addressing these important environment and energy concerns."

The FAA’s Take
FAA’s Elwell provided legislators a brief overview of the FAA activities that help to minimize the environmental impacts, observations on the current international discussion on emissions trading, and how Congress can help move forward efforts to address aviation GHGs.
“There appears to be a disconnect between perception and performance on aviation emissions, at least in the United States,” said Elwell. “In some quarters there is a perception that aviation GHGs are growing out of control and that it needs to be reigned in by emissions caps and taxes. Worldwide, aviation represents less than three percent of total man-made GHGs. EPA has measured domestic aviation emissions at approximately three percent of GHG emissions. When you compare today to 2000, U.S. commercial aviation is moving 12 percent more passengers and 22 percent more freight while burning less fuel, reducing our carbon output by a million tons. This compares favorably with the U.S. economy overall and aviation has clearly outperformed passenger vehicles in improving its energy efficiency in the past few decades.” (Report continues below)

He compared U.S. performance with that of the European Union, saying between 2000 and 2006, aviation CO2 emissions in the U.S. declined by about four percent while during the same period in Europe, emissions increased by around 30 percent. In part, this explains our different perceptions of the problem across the Atlantic. (Report continues below)

Elwell noted that commercial jet aircraft fuel efficiency has improved 70 percent over the last 40 years. “On a per passenger mile basis, Boeing’s new 787 will be as fuel efficient as today’s subcompact hybrid car,” he said. “In just the past four years (2003-2007), U.S. airlines have improved their fuel efficiency 11 percent. Since 2000, the restructuring of U.S. airline fleets in the aftermath of September 11th, the rise in fuel costs, utilization of fuel efficient operational procedures, and improvements in air traffic management have all contributed to these savings. Further, given the weakness of the dollar, the price of fuel for U.S. airlines is about 50 percent higher than their European counterparts.”

RVSM Contributions
The introduction of Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM), has been very successful, saving about three million tons of CO2 annually, said Elwell, explaining it is an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) approved concept that reduces the aircraft separation standard at certain high altitudes, allowing aircraft to safely fly more optimum profiles, gain fuel savings and increase airspace capacity. He also said that as important as RVSM is the redesign of the Northeast airspace and similar initiatives but explained they are far more difficult to put in place.
Elwell also said the scientific understanding of the impacts of aviation emissions must be improved beyond simply CO2 impacts, adding that for other emissions, especially at altitude, understanding ranges from fair to poor. (Report continues below)

“We must ensure that we identify the harmful emissions, accurately measure their impact and design appropriate technologies, or procedures to mitigate or eliminate their effects,” he said, adding that the same strategies for CO2 reductions make reduction of nitrogen oxides more difficult. “As part of our NextGen effort to advance our understanding in this area, we recently launched the Aviation Climate Change Research Initiative (ACCRI) in partnership with the NASA and other agencies. This initiative will help accelerate our scientific understanding to inform policy decisions in this area.”
He called for the acceleration of air traffic management improvements and efficiencies. “Through the use of Required Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology, aircraft will be able to use descent procedures that burn less fuel and result in quieter operations,” he said. “In addition, satellite-based air traffic control paired with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology on aircraft allow for safer but closer separations between aircraft and more direct routing, which will improve fuel efficiency and also reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
“In essence, NextGen itself will improve environmental performance,” he continued. “We are already achieving early gains at a test program at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where American Airlines’ use of NextGen-related procedures is reducing carbon dioxide emissions by levels equivalent to removing 15,000 cars from the road for a year. A good example of emissions reductions from aviation operational improvements is Continuous Descent Arrival (CDA), allowing an airplane to fly a continuous descent path to land at an airport, rather than the traditional ‘step downs’ or intermediate-level flight operations. The airplane initiates descent from a high altitude in a near ‘idle’ engine (low power) condition until reaching a stabilization point prior to touch down on the runway. Trials in Louisville have shown a fuel savings (and thus GHG savings) averaging about 12 percent for the arrival portion of the flight. And testing at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport of continuous descent arrivals shows savings of 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide for each and every flight. All this has environmental and operational benefits that can reduce noise, emissions, and fuel burn, as well as flight time.”

Improving Aircraft Technology
Both the House and Senate have included a number of environmental proposals in pending aviation reauthorization bills (H.R. 2881 and S. 1300) including a proposal to create a research consortium, to be called CLEEN – Continuous, Low Energy, Emissions, and Noise – focused on accelerating the maturation of lower energy, emissions and noise technology for aircraft.
“While action on that legislation is not completed, we already have in place a cooperative working relationship with NASA and broad participation of outside stakeholders through our research advisory committee, the Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER) Center of Excellence advisory board, and our NextGen Environmental Working Group,” he said, adding the majority of improvements come from airframe and power-plant enhancements.
Elwell also recounted the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), the industry/government research partnership on alternatives fuels. “CAAFI’s participants, including a cross-section of airlines, manufacturers, airports, fuel producers, federal agencies and international players, are implementing a road-map to explore the use of alternative fuels for commercial aviation,” he said, reporting that participants have already used coal-to-liquid and gas-to-liquid fuels in jets, and most recently completed a bio-fuels flight demonstration. “We are keenly aware production processes could increase the overall carbon footprint, so CAAFI is doing careful life-cycle carbon emissions analyses and focusing on approaches that will lead to overall reductions.”
He also reported that low sulfur synthetic and bio-based fuels promise significant health benefits from reductions in Particulate Matter (PM) emissions, explaining certain fuel options also promise to reduce carbon emissions. “To begin to measure these, FAA sponsored a life-cycle analysis of the ‘well-to-wake’ greenhouse gas emissions of multiple alternative fuels in a study due this spring that addresses the feasibility of alternative fuels for aviation,” he said.

Emissions Trading
He recounted a variety of market-based measures may offer assistance in managing aviation emissions growth such as tax incentives but admitted emissions trading or carbon offsets can pose challenges in design and implementation.
“Carbon offsetting is a scheme which allows airline passengers to pay for carbon reductions accomplished somewhere else to compensate for the emissions generated by the aircraft flight they took,” he said. “While offered by several airlines, a number of questions have arisen related to calculations of carbon emissions (calculations of the same flight can produce carbon numbers that vary by a factor of three) and how the funds collected are spent. More recently in the U.S. we are looking for market-based measures to increase utilization of congested airspace, so that we can simultaneously increase efficiency and drive down emissions per passenger.” Related Story
Elwell also noted that the U.S. participated in the development of emissions trading guidance for aviation under the auspices of ICAO. “The overwhelming majority of countries — developed and developing, Kyoto signatories and non-Kyoto signatories — all agreed emissions trading should only be applied to another country’s airlines on the basis of agreement between States,” he said, alluding to the European initiatives to apply it unilaterally on all European-bound airliners starting in 2012. “The U.S. has significant concerns about the European Union (EU) legislation. On top of the legal issues with respect to the Chicago Convention and our air services agreements, recent discussions with EU officials made clear that adoption of emissions trading for aviation has become an end in itself, rather than improving environmental performance. The facts that U.S. airlines pay substantially more for their fuel than their European competitors, that the U.S. has a domestic fuel tax unlike their EU competitors, and that U.S. airlines have actually reduced their emissions unlike the substantial growth from EU airlines, were dismissed.
“As ICAO recognized in its work, an emissions trading system is only one approach and it remains the decision of a State whether to employ such a measure,” he continued, “market based measures can reduce emissions at lower costs. However, the price of fuel already provides both airlines and manufacturers strong market incentives to reduce fuel consumption. Between 1985 and 2004, aviation outperformed every other transport mode in reducing its emission intensity. Between 2000 and 2006, the price of fuel more than doubled. Consequently, U.S. commercial carriers bought 750 million fewer gallons in 2006 than they purchased in 2000 even while carrying 12 percent more passengers and 22 percent more cargo. This lends support to the 2001 finding of ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) that the price of fuel obviates the need for CO2 emissions standards for aviation. Poorly designed and implemented emissions trading system could actually hamper the ability of aviation to become cleaner and quieter.” (Report continues below)

Elwell participated in the first meeting of the 15-nation Group on International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC), conceived during last year’s ICAO Assembly and developing an international plan to address international aviation greenhouse gas emissions. “Our hope is to take the approach I have outlined here — a balanced approach derived from the recognition that operational and technological environmental performance improvements, coupled with market measures, where necessary, can form the basis to derive data-driven, challenging, aspirational goals for the international community in reducing the growth of aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions impacts,” he said.
He also recounted FAA participation in In addition to FAA’s work in the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions, or AIRE a collaboration between the FAA and European Commission (27 countries) to accelerate the ability of airlines and air navigation authorities to employ enhanced air traffic procedures that reduce aviation’s emissions and noise footprint on either side of the Atlantic. The U.S., Australia and New Zealand also just launched a similar initiative in the Pacific — ASPIRE — or the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions.

ATA Urges Support for R&D, Alternative Fuels and Modernized Routes

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