GREEN OPERATIONS
Per de la Motte, director of training for OAA. Image credit: OAA.
OAA And SAS Present A Greener Rationale For The Future Aviation receives a disproportionate share of blame for pollution. There is broad agreement that it emits between 2-3% of global CO2. This compares with a similar figure for the IT industry, for instance, about which the public hears very little, writes Chris Long.
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t is imperative that the aviation industry actively pursues a dramatic reduction in current emission levels, particularly in light of the predicted growth in global travel. At a recent series of presentations at the Stockholm site of Oxford Aviation Academy, OAA and SAS outlined their proactive stance on embracing the environmental responsibilities of the aviation industry. Christian Hylander, vice president, international areas for SAS, pointed out that the corporate strategy of SAS is not to be content with simply being a follower in the challenge to meet environmental concerns. SAS has been at the forefront of research and cooperation in seeking new ways of dramatically reducing its environmental impact, for instance by being a founder member of the Sustainable Renewable Fuel Group. Lars Andersen, director environment and sustainability, noted how remarkable it is that aviation is the only business discipline to have presented a coherent global strategy for consideration at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009. He illustrated the wide range 36
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of activities to have come under review by SAS, believing that targets for reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by year 2020 are achievable. This would be as a result of, where necessary, changes to the fleet as older, less eco-friendly aircraft are exchanged for newer, more efficient transports. This year alone 21 older aircraft will be withdrawn from service and gradually, the new fleet of 12 fuel-efficient, quieter Bombardier CRJ 900s will be introduced. A vigorous programme of weight reduction, for instance with the new seats being fitted, will also contribute to lower fuel burn; a hard look at the infrastructure and support facilities will further identify ways to reduce the carbon footprint.
Eco Training Key to managing that essential reduction in emissions is lower fuel burn where possible. Per de la Motte, director of training for OAA has worked with his team to complete detailed research into ways to achieve that during normal aircraft operation. The start point is that safety should never be compromised. However, sensible adoption of suitable techniques,
which individually may only contribute a half to one percent reduction, can cumulatively add up to a significant improvement in fuel burn on any routine flight. There are of course airlines, which are already employing some of these methods, but very few are using all of them routinely, and many simply do not think along these lines at all. For instance, taxiing with engine(s) shut can have a significant reduction, particularly where long taxiing distances or delays are encountered. Selecting a lower flap setting (lower drag) for take-off where operationally possible, and adopting a lower acceleration altitude where noise abatement procedures permit can also help. Continuous descent profiles obviously contribute as well, as do direct routing and level changes to achieve more favourable conditions. When all these and other measures are put together the result is impressive. The appeal of the OAA initiative is that there is no requirement for changes to existing hardware or software, only in the way of operating it, and this can be achieved through a short training course. The course starts with getting the airline management fully committed to the programme. For operating crews the tailored approach will consist of a theoretical refresher on aircraft operation to explain the rationale behind various actions. There is then a very convincing practical phase in the FFS, in which a normal short flight profile is flown using standard procedures. Fuel burn at various key points is noted. An identical profile is then flown using these favourable techniques and fuel burn noted at the same points in the profile. The demonstration profile observed in the three simulators during this visit was a 20-minute flight between Gothenburg and Copenhagen, in which the economies varied between 18% and 20%. In the real world, of course, immediate operational imperatives may mean that all of these actions cannot necessarily be employed together on a single flight. However, research has shown that it is reasonable to expect a fuel burn reduction of 4-6% on any routine flight. Thinking about that level of annual fuel saving throughout an airline’s fleet is bound to bring a smile to the CEO and the accountants. It would seem that this course and way of thinking are worth looking into. cat