Detailed monitoring of rail and road fuel consumption as well as vehicle emissions is needed to help reverse the erroneous view of air transport as the heaviest polluter, environmental experts were told this month.
Delegates at the first Aviation & Environment Summit in Geneva were told by industry groups including Airports Council International (ACI), the International Air Transport Association, Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) and International Civil Aviation Organisation that little has been done to educate the public and policymakers about the enormous strides taken by the aviation industry to reduce noise by 70% and halve fuel consumption in the last 40 years.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA director general, said the industry "needs to communicate better".
Civil aviation is responsible for only 3.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet is portrayed as one of the largest contributors, said Assad Kotaite, president of the ICAO council.
Airbus executive vice-president for government relations and external affairs Philippe Delmas said that despite the "perceived wisdom" that trains are more efficient than aircraft, there is no data to back that up, especially in the case of high-speed trains.
"Train stations take up far more space across Europe than airports do, plus what is the energy cost of transporting a TGV from Paris to Marseilles?" said Delmas.
Airlines are obliged to publish actual fuel consumption figures calculated by dividing total fuel consumption by load factors to reach a figure for fuel per 100 passenger-kilometres. In contrast, said Delmas, automobile manufacturers publish figures only for individual cars, and no accurate figures for other modes of transport exist.
Delegates at the conference were united in their opposition to a kerosene tax, with many coming down in favour of aircraft being included in emissions trading schemes. Kotaite urged a moratorium on calls for a tax until the next ICAO council meeting, saying: "A global issue needs global standards."
Bisignani said: "Airlines pay for their own infrastructure to the tune of $40 billion a year, whereas train travel is actually subsidised in many European countries."
He added that, with current levels of fuel consumption at around 5 litres/100 passenger kilometres and newer designs such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 coming in at under 3 litres/100 passenger kilometres, there is a likelihood that aircraft are the most fuel-efficient forms of public transport and therefore the least polluting, contrary to public opinion. He called for a publicity campaign to stress this misperception.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE/GENEVA
Source: Flight International
