Bisignani lays down design challenge for clean aircraft
The International Air Transport Association director general Giovanni Bisignani has thrown down an ambitious challenge for the industry to develop a zero emissions aircraft within 50 years.
"Let me start the debate by aiming high," he told the association's annual general meeting in Vancouver. "Climate change will limit our future unless we change our approach from technical to strategic. Air transport must aim to become an industry that does not pollute - zero emissions," said Bisignani.
He went on to challenge the USA, Europe, Canada, China, Brazil, Russia and Japan to coordinate basic research on a zero-emissions aircraft and then compete to develop products based on this research.
"Clean fuel is also critical. Governments have cut alternative fuel funding while oil companies are busy counting the $15 billion in increased refinery margins that the airline industry is now paying.
"The first target is to replace 10% of fuel with low-carbon alternatives in the next ten years. And the second is to begin developing a carbon-free fuel from renewable energy sources. It's time for governments and the oil industry to make some serious investments," said Bisignani.
He added: "This will not be achieved overnight. And nobody has all the answers. But the airline industry was born by realising a dream that people could fly. We can already see the potential building blocks for a carbon-free future: fuel cell technology, solar powered aircraft and fuel made from biomass. By working together with a common vision, a green industry is absolutely achievable."
He added that the 12% inefficiency in air traffic management worldwide had to be cut in half by 2012 to save 35 million tonnes of CO2 annually before being completely eliminated.
He said three "mega-projects" could deliver quick results: an efficient Pearl River Delta in China a next generation air traffic system for the USA and a Single European Sky. He also challenged ICAO to deliver a fair, voluntary and effective global emissions trading scheme.
Commenting on Bisignani's vision, a senior source in one UK aerospace association said: "Great, that's all we need. Another bloody stick that any loony NGO can hit us with."
He insisted that the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) which set out an ambitious 20-year vision for aeronautics over the medium to long-term in 2001, targeting substantial reductions in aviation-related emissions, was delivering tangible results in steering European research efforts.
"The ACARE approach is one with which the European industry is happy to work. Everything goes through a peer review process with a high level of debate about the process, scale and plotting of the direction. It's not a denial or a refusal to move forward but it's a desire to work to achieve real and sustainable achievements in emissions reductions," he said.
One ACARE official said: "Actually, it's useful for these more "political" people to make such statements, set goals, ask questions. It frames the debate about what industry really has to set its sights on and it could be a way to inspire the young enterprising engineers of the future with an exciting industry challenge."
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Source: FlightGlobal.com
