Frost And Sullivan Releases Report On Aviation Fuel
Consumption, Emissions
The relationship between emissions
produced by the aviation industry, be it from aircraft, ground
transportation, or related activities, their contributions to air
pollution and its effect on the climate, and carbon reduction in
this arena, has long been an area of research. In 2008 alone, U.S.
passenger and cargo airline operations required 16.1 billion
gallons or approximately 382.4 million barrels of jet fuel.
According to a report recently released by Frost & Sullivan,
an aerospace research firm, commercial aviation worldwide consumes
3.0 million barrels of jet fuel every day, which is close to 3.4%
of entire global liquid fuel consumption. This is only going to
increase with 21,400 new aircraft to be delivered and included in
the future fleet that will consist of 27,720 passenger aircraft and
4,280 freight aircraft. In order to curb CO2 emissions of this
large fleet, the report concludes, a cleaner fuel will be
needed.
Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Consultant of Aerospace &
Defense Practice Amartya De says that an A380 consumes less than a
gallon per 160 miles averaged across all OECD countries, and
that for the average car is 2 gallons per 160 miles. "A
Boeing 737 burns about (750 gallons) of fuel and emits
6.5 tons of CO2 every flight hour. This is as good as the pollution
caused by 1,540 small cars for a day. This is just a rough estimate
as under actual conditions, fuel consumption depends on a number of
factors including fuel usage during take-off and landing, winds and
jet streams that affect an aircraft's fuel efficiency."
Presently the airline industry contributes only 2.0% of the
overall man-made global CO2 emissions compared to other forms of
transport that contribute 16.0% of the global manmade CO2
emissions. However, this 2.0% contribution to CO2 emissions is
likely to touch 3.0% by 2050.
Amartya says that this large volume
of jet fuel needs to be replaced by an alternative fuel as the
financial impact and CO2 emissions are set to increase in the
future. "This is due to the ever increasing commercial aircraft
fleet numbers which are expected to almost double from its present
strength of 16,800 to reach 32,000 by 2025", he explains.
"Green Aviation is all about efficiency gains as well as
reducing the absolute emissions by aircraft. Hence part of the
solution to the problem is to find alternative fuels which would
not need any modification to existing aircraft designs or fueling
infrastructure in the short run, emit less carbon than traditional
crude oil based kerosene and yet prove to be more economical than
fossil fuels," he says.
Amartya says that Green Aviation is a continuous process,
milestones can be achieved only by collective efforts from various
spheres such as better aerodynamics in aircraft design and
manufacturing; alternative and greener fuel sources such as fuel
cells and biofuels; efficient engines; route optimization and
network development; efficient air traffic management; coercive
legislative policies; and positive economic measures.
"Technological advances over the last forty years in the
commercial aviation sector have reduced fuel consumption and CO2
emissions by 70%, noise by 75% and unburned hydrocarbons by 90%,"
says Amartya.
He also identified biofuels as an important step in achieving a
greener aviation industry as biofuels are the only fuel type which
plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere when they are burnt to derive
energy, helping to offset the emissions produced.
"The solution does not solely lie in providing an alternative,
clean biofuel and showing the world that the concept works. Rather,
the solution lies in evaluating its marketability and economic
feasibility over the long run," Amartya says.
He adds, "Another important aspect of biofuels is that it should
not compete with food crops because if they do so then it will lead
to increased clearing of rain forests and that would in fact
aggravate global warming. Biofuels such as jatropha do not compete
with food or fresh water resources or cause deforestation and can
be grown on marginal land in arid conditions. Alternative green
fuels could be derived from algae or halophyte, which are known as
second generation biofuels."
The International Air Transport Association's hopes the
certification of sustainable biofuels can be achieved by 2010.