European green flight demonstrations delivered impressive results in 2009, and must now be put into practice in day-to-day operations. That is the view of the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU), which was delivering the results of the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) at the ATC Global 2010 conference in Amsterdam this week.

In total, 1,152 flights were performed within the framework of AIRE. Analysis of the data collected shows that 400 tonnes of CO2 could be saved, which corresponds to the annual CO2 emission of 100 passenger cars. The green approach procedures also enabled lower noise pollution, and improve local air quality in and around airports.

Six projects have been initiated under the sceme, taking place in Paris (ground movements, green arrivals and departures), Madrid and Stockholm (green approaches and climbs), Portugal and Iceland (oceanic flight optimisation).

Another defining success of AIRE is that it has proven that environmental benefits and economic reasoning “are no contradictions”, according to Patrick Ky, executive director of the SJU. “The results shown in AIRE are very promising. They represent not only substantial improvements for the greening of air transport but the motivation and positive commitment from the teams involved created momentum to continue and make progress on this important issue,” said Ky. “The SESAR goal of 10 per cent savings per flight are still far away, but the AIRE approach, exploiting the full potential of today’s technologies, shows that we will get there. The value of working together with common goals is enormous. This is the partnership spirit in practice.”

jason.holland@ubmaviation.com

Brian Haines has joined TIMCO Aviation Services as VP sales and marketing.

The US Navy and GE Aviation are to begin work on an ambitious metal reclamation project. They aim to recover rhenium-bearing aircraft engine components from out-of-service F404 and F414 engines, and then incorporate the precious metal, one of the key materials that make up engine "hot sections”, back into the manufacture of new engine parts. Dubbed the GE/Navy Reclamation Program, the aim is to reduce raw-material requirements, lowering dependency on foreign sources of rhenium and providing financial "credits" the Navy can apply to future engines and hardware. US Navy captain Ted Fink said: "Our focus is, and always will be, to provide our sailors and Marines the best products and weapon systems to defend our country and cause. But we also realise the role we have in helping to preserve and protect the environment. This reclamation effort proves that the two don't have to be mutually exclusive."

Airbus is to support the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity by featuring its official logo on an A380. The aircraft will carry the logo throughout 2010 during its scheduled activities. Airbus says it is also using its global outreach to back the UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Green Wave initiative, designed to educate young people about the importance of biodiversity, its role in their future and the steps they can take to nurture the nature around them.

The world's first CO2-neutral filling station is to be built at the planned Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI), according to project organisers. A wind farm in the immediate vicinity of the airport site will provide an emissions-free power supply for the filling station and facilitate the CO2-free production of the hydrogen offered there. The amount of CO2 saved compared to conventional electricity generation will also be sufficient to fully offset the indirect CO2 emissions of the filling station arising from the conventional fuels sold there, according to Berlin Airports, ENERTRAG, and TOTAL Deutschland. The start of construction work for the filling station with the attached wind farm is planned for June 2011, and it is expected to enter service in October 2011.

EVA Air has launched a website outlining the environmental measures it has initiated. From 2006 through 2009, EVA says it has taken environmental steps that combined have reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 114,721 tons and provided the estimated air quality benefits of planting 9.6 million trees. In 2009, EVA cut electrical use in its buildings by 3,131,899 KWH from 2008. It also saved 20,779 tons of water over the previous year, and recycled 232,000kg of used material, 25,015kg of cooking oil and 1,398,880kg of food waste. EVA says it has also established a Fuel and Emission Reduction Committee (FERC), resulting in a “pattern of achievements” such as improved flight crew operations, more efficient flight routes, aircraft weight reductions and fuel-saving loading procedures.

The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) entity has announced that 1,400 engineers across member organisations are already involved in the modernisation of the European sky. SESAR is the technological pillar of the European Union's Single European Sky legislative package; the SJU is the management entity co-founded by Eurocontrol and the European Commission. Speaking at the ATC Global 2010 conference, Patrick Ky, executive director of the SJU, said: "The mindset of SESAR is crystal clear. We work with a distinct implementation goal in mind, in the short, medium and long term. For this reason end-users of the SESAR systems need to be involved in all the steps of the programme."

The Association of European Airlines (AEA) has set out its vision for the Single European Sky (SES) programme at an EU High Level Conference in Madrid. Antonio Vazquez, CEO of Iberia and a member of the AEA supervisory board, says “there should no longer be any reasons to delay” the programme, and urged speedy progress. “The Single Sky means higher performance at lower cost – the airlines benefit, their customers benefit, the environment benefits and a key element for European competitiveness runs more smoothly – how can it be other than a great deal? And yet there is a downside: the length of time it is taking to realise the project,” he stated. Vazquez stressed the importance of the SES Performance Scheme, which is based on ambitious targets for safety, flight and cost efficiency, capacity and delays, and the reorganisation of a multitude of individual national and regional control areas into just nine ‘functional airspace blocks’. He added that the SESAR technical programme should be recognised as a key element of European transport infrastructure, eligible for public funding.

ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) is aiming to have a carbon dioxide standard for commercial aircraft ready in 2013. It also recommended new standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx) that are up to 15 per cent more stringent than current levels. These NOx standards would be applicable to new aircraft engines certified after December 31, 2013, with a cut-off point of December 31, 2012 for engines produced under existing NOx standards. The suggested standards will now be reviewed by the ICAO Council.

Up to 100 million people could go hungry if European states commit to increases in biofuel consumption in order to meet EU targets, according to charity ActionAid. The EU wants at least 10 per cent of transport fuels to come from renewable sources within the next 10 years. ActionAid says the majority of the biofuels that will be used to meet these targets will come from developing countries, where production has already led to food shortages and deforestation. The increased use of biofuel will therefore drive up food prices, according to the charity. Report author Tim Rice stated: “Biofuels are driving a global human tragedy. Local food prices have already risen massively. As biofuel production gains pace, this can only accelerate. Poor people can spend as much as 80 per cent of their income on food. Even small increases in the price of staples such as maize and wheat mean that many more will become increasingly desperate.” The report calculates that if all global biofuel targets are met, food prices could rise by an additional 76 per cent by 2020, forcing an extra 600 million people into hunger.