Report says flight management changes could cut emissions by up to 95%
01.02.10
The quickest way to cut aviation emissions would be to implement better flight management rather than back new technology, an Oxford University study reports. Better air traffic control and other measures determining how, when and where planes fly could cut aviation emissions by up to 95%, it suggests. These would include more direct flight paths to airports and less time waiting to land.
Dr Chris Carey, aviation expert at Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, said flight management changes are the ‘low-hanging fruit’ compared to technology improvements and existing biofuels, adding that ‘they are measures that Governments could make a condition of using their airspace.'
Better air traffic control systems could help aircraft reduce the time spent with their engines running while still on the tarmac. At the same time, better flight control systems should help them spend less time flying.
He said: ‘The inaccuracy of current air traffic control systems mean planes must be given a wide berth to avoid collisions. If they were improved, landing and take-offs would be quicker, stacking reduced and planes could fly closer together by taking advantage of prevailing winds, just as Concorde did.’ Such improvements would be cheap to introduce quickly, and ‘should be implemented as soon as possible if we are serious about cutting aviation emissions,’ he said.
In contrast, technological advances, such as better engines or reduced weight, take a long time before they have an impact, because aircraft have lifetimes of 30 years or more. In the long run, innovations that help reduce drag will help reduce emissions, as might a shift away from fossil fuels towards biofuels made from algae, ‘but none of those measures can be introduced quickly and most new technology is not retrofitable. These are all long-term innovations that we won't see for at least 30 years,’ he said.
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