EUROCONTROL has released a new study that sets out what actions need to be taken in order to make every air journey as close to a ‘perfect green flight’ as possible. The paper examines why it isn’t possible to fly a perfect green flight today, which measures have the greatest potential to improve the sustainability of aviation and what needs to be done to make every flight greener.
Eamonn Brennan, the Director General of EUROCONTROL, commented “The EUROCONTROL Think Paper shows that, by better using existing technology, every flight operating in Europe, by 2030, could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 25.8% – through a combination of measures including increased use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), better use of fuel-efficient airspace and technological solutions by all European ATM network stakeholders, fleet modernisation by airlines and of course the implementation of the Single European Sky. Looking further ahead, emerging aircraft technologies in the form of hybrid, fully electric and hydrogen airplanes will then allow aviation to meet its climate-neutrality goal by 2050.”
The Think Paper sets out six key findings on how to drive sustainability in the aviation sector over the coming 30 years. These focus on better use of fuel-efficient air traffic management; more advanced aircraft technology using hydrogen and electric power; increased use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF); airlines to modernise their current fleets to remove less efficient aircraft older than 15 years; reducing ‘economic fuel tankering’, whereby aircraft carry more fuel than they need to reduce or avoid refuelling at their destination airport; this could save a further 89 kg or 0.54% of emissions; working with airports to use Ground Power Units rather than aircraft Auxiliary Power Units on the ground, saving 0.3% or 50 kg; and optimising the fuel efficiency of their existing fleets, building on a massive 25% improvement over the last 15 years that has seen aviation prove more fuel efficient than cars at 3 to 4 litres per passenger 100km. The report also suggests that more attention needs to be paid to noise and non-CO2 impacts, such as contrail avoidance.