I always took with a strong pinch of salt the aviation industry’s claims that they are working to become environmentally friendly. In this profit-ridden, ruthless business, the point is to get more people flying. And thus increase carbon emissions.
So it’s no surprise that a report that had been ‘suppressed’ (an euphemism for censored), and which has now come to public attention, has revealed that climate change emissions by the airline industry, airport noise, and local air pollution are all trending sharply upwards. All this according to a report based on information contained in U.S., European and UK government databases maintained by regulatory agencies. The technical report was submitted to the 7th US/Europe Air Traffic Management Research and Development Seminar held in Barcelona, Spain last summer.
It was not accepted for publication by seminar organizers and remained unpublished until released to the public on April 24 by the Aviation Environment Federation, the principal UK nonprofit concerned with the environmental effects of aviation. The report says that emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from aviation are forecast to more than double – from 572 million metric tonnes in 2000 to 1,229 million metric tonnes in 2025.
In contrast, the latest UK Department for Transport’s projection of future aviation emissions, released in November 2007 contains a 2050 figure for aviation carbon dioxide of 60.3 million tonnes – way below the figures in the ‘suppressed’ report. Talk about frugality with figures.
Emissions of nitrogen oxides, which cause air pollution around airports and at high altitude, are predicted in the report to more than double – from 2.5 million tonnes to 6.1 million tonnes.
‘We urgently need to look at demand management through tough green taxation and behavioral change messages to start to control and reduce all of these negative environmental impacts,’ said Jeff Gazzard of the Aviation Environment Federation, AEF, who presented the report to the UK All-party Parliamentary Sustainable Aviation Group on April 23. ‘More aircraft noise, worsening air quality around airports and growing climate change emissions are totally unacceptable!’
