Greening of the Airlines

In the late sixties an advisory committee to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) was established to consider the impact of noise on the environment. Comprising the world’s leading airlines, this advisory function was later formally constituted as a task force with the added responsibility of establishing engine emission standards. Qantas, as a member of the task force, is actively involved with fifteen other airlines in considering practical measures in noise and emission controls.

1989 saw a further attempt to answer global questions of commercial aviation’s impacts on the environment, when IATA formed the Environmental Task Force. The task force would also study the resultant sociological side effects of aviation activities on the communities directly affected by pollutants and noise.

Two of the world’s pioneering airlines, British Airways and Lufthansa, became the first members to join this task force. Ironically, both airlines had recently established their own informal committee and had been meeting prior to the forma- tion of IATA’s task force to jointly formulate strategies for the respective airlines to counter the effects of their operations on the environment.

The ability of this environmental task force to form strategies that are globally applicable is crucial to the individual success of an airline’s programmes in limiting ecological damage. Close cooperation between governments, airlines and aircraft manufacturers is encouraged by the Committee to achieve an attainable, acceptable and beneficial strategy that requires operators to act in unison to control their varied impact on the environment.

One of the main criticisms of airline activities over the years has been the noise created by older generation engines. The introduction of newer high bypass engines has been a major blessing for airport neighbours, with the new technol- ogy resulting in a noise reduction of up to 90%. The area affected by aircraft noise at takeoff in many cases has been reduced from the early 727’s 14. 2sq/km to under 1. 5sq/km with the CFM56 equipped 737s and Airbus A320s. The IAE V2500 is even quieter.

Eating aboard aircraft is one of the more pleasurable ways to pass the hours of long haul flights. However, sitting in the economy class cabin of an aircraft at meal time, the amount of plastic wrapping and containers piling up around the single gastronomic surprise on the meal tray is indeed a nuisance.

Concerted strategies to limit excessive waste from catering are quickly winning points with passengers whose growing awareness of environmental issues, and the need for airlines to reduce costs, are applying pressure to airline management. The by-product of reducing waste also often creates better service with the removal of plastic implements and dishes in favour of longer lasting steel and china.

And as many operators are discovering, strategies that are ecologically sound are also creating better economies of operation.

The Lufthansa Experience For the German national carrier, the importance of environmental issues arose comparatively early in the development of the industry’s concern with noise and emissions. The German environmental lobbyists were already well advanced in their efforts to educate the community about the deteriorating state of European natural resources, and this effectively provided Lufthansa with a head start on the development of environmental management strategies.

In 1989 Lufthansa appointed a commissioner for environmental issues to deal directly with the company’s impact on the environment, and the means to be able to minimise its adverse environmental and sociological impacts on the communities in which it operates.

As a state owned and (until recently) highly profitable organisation, Lufthansa was in the enviable position of being able to update its fleet as new technology arrived on the market. In nearly every case it has been involved in the design of airframes, systems and powerplants to some degree, and new models have been placed into the airline’s service within months of the new aircraft’s certification. Answering the demands of the industry’s critics for quieter and more efficient aircraft was nearly always possible as new technology was introduced to the fleet.

The replacement of older aircraft such as the 1972 delivered Boeing 727-200s with the Airbus A320 has brought about a reduction in fuel consumption of 40%. This represents a saving of 110,000 tonnes of kerosene per year, a quantity that would meet the heating needs of a city of 100,000. When fuel accounts for 40% of total operational costs, savings of this magnitude represent a significant boost to the airline’s financial viability, and allow it to further invest in technology which limits adverse impact on the environment. Additionally, the A320’s CFM56 powerplants are responsible for the emission of 40% less carbon dioxide, 90% fewer unburned hydrocarbons and 73% less carbon monoxide, making them more efficient than a car motor with a three way catalytic converter. Many of the world’s airlines are similarly creating better cost savings and environmental standards.

In line with the company’s corporate plans to minimise noise, Lufthansa’s remaining older generation 737-200s are being hushkitted, which will meet the ICAO’s Chapter III noise requirements from 1994. The $US2 million per aircraft cost of the retrofit is being pursued even though it is anticipated that the 737-200s will be largely disposed of by the time the Chapter III rules apply, affirming the company’s commitment to its own stringent corporate environmental plans. Part of Lufthansa’s policy to reduce waste saw it become the first airline to perform a survey to determine the volume and types of items disposed of by passengers during the course of operations. The findings resulted in a number of innovations which enabled the carrier to simultaneously reduce waste, reduce costs and improve passenger service.

On short haul domestic services, the airline now operates a ‘gate buffet’ where passengers help themselves to a wide selection of snacks before boarding the aircraft. This ensures passengers may choose the type of food they desire and in the quantity they wish. Packaging is minimised by the use of a recyclable carry bag which may be disposed of at the destination or kept by the passenger for future use.

The gate buffet has reduced waste by nearly 1700 tonnes, or around 7% of Lufthansa’s total waste per year. The introduction of reusable coffee cups alone has saved 300 tonnes of waste, and has lowered the cost of the airline’s domestic catering substantially.

Recently the German carrier spent nearly $A260 million in research, development and initiation of programmes and facilities to lessen the burden of everyday aircraft operations on the environment, and the communities affected by aircraft noise and pollutants.

The removal of aircraft paint every six to eight years has traditionally required the use of highly toxic and hazardous stripping agents which are both ecologically harmful and a major safety risk to workers.

More recently, however, water has been replacing these caustic agents in a process developed by Lufthansa known as Aquastripping. After paint is peeled away by high pressure water through six rotating jets, the used water is collected, filtered and recycled within the system, while the paint is collected and disposed of as special waste. The process, which has won the airline major awards, is an important advancement for both water and soil protection. Investments such as these are not designed to reap imme- diate financial rewards. In fact, any airline’s commitment of substantialfinancial resources to environmental programmes places a strain on the airline’s economies of operation. The Qantas Experience Although isolated from the intensity of ecological problems faced by the European communities and airlines, Qantas has been at the forefront of international environmental manage ment, and is pioneering new methods of reducing waste and the by-products of operations.

While a number of major airlines are investigating the use of Lufthansa’s new Aquastrip system, many airlines such as Qantas are further developing more conventional means such as paint stripping agents. While older style paint strippers traditionally contained phenol, acid, methylene chloride and ammonia based products, the newly developed paint remover being adopted by Qantas is an alcohol based gel that lifts the layers of paint off aircraft in a matter of hours. The airline recently completed tests of the new CeeBee product on two of its 747-200s, and this world first has created interest from airlines who do not have the capital necessary to purchase and further develop facilities such as the aquastrip system.

The CeeBee product was first developed in the United States as a paint softener for Lufthansa and further development found that the thixotropic benzyl alcohol reacted better in warmer climates as a paint remover. Despite the longer acting time of the CeeBee stripper, the major advantage of the new product is that it is nontoxic, which has significant benefits for occupational health and safety. Unlike previous caustic strippers that required the aircraft to be isolated from all other work and personnel, it allows other maintenance work to be carried out simultaneously with paint removal, thereby reducing the total downtime of the aircraft.

Once the paint is removed it can be gathered for disposal as landfill waste with substantially reduced cost because of its non toxic and biodegradable nature.

Waste reduction and recycling is an integral part of Qantas’s environmental management programmes. The company now saves millions of dollars each year by separating its fluid waste at a recycling centre on the JetBase, and is in fact now able to generate income from waste products by selling expended fluid back to the supplier for recycling.

Ken Lewis, head of Qantas’ safety and environment unit is clearly proud of the airline’s change in attitude to environmental practices since the appointment of an environmental manager in 1991. The staff, who are in favour of the improved working conditions as a result of the new management practices and the removal of a large number of hazardous chemi- cals used in routine maintenance work, have been instrumental in effecting the company’s policies of environmental management practices.

As Qantas is involved in ground waste management, it is also developing a means of separating inflight waste and has already been successful in its domestic 737, A300 and 767 operations. On international services, however, pests and diseases can potentially be harboured and propagated in food and plant materials that are not treated immediately upon arrival in Australia. This limits Qantas’ opportunities to develop onboard waste segregation and collection programmes for recycling, since this method by its nature does not presently allow for the immediate destruction of potential imported bacterial health risks.

New Technology, New Problems As technology advances in powerplants to increase fuel efficiency, the higher combustion temperatures and higher cycle pressures that create the enhanced fuel efficiency of the latest engines also create higher proportions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Per kilogram of fuel burned, NOx emissions have increased with new technology engines, since the production of NOx is directly associated with high temperature single stage combustion.

The effects of NOx are still largely unknown. At some altitudes, such as in the stratosphere (60,000ft to 80,000ft) some theories suggest that the oxides of nitrogen cause the breakdown of ozone, while others state that it actually promotes the formation of ozone. At the typical cruising altitudes of subsonic transports (30,000ft to 37,000ft) NOx may encourage the formation of ozone, which at this level could ironically add to photochemical smog.

A variety of solutions has been proffered including altering the burning processes within current single stage combustor designs. The BMW/Rolls-Royce BR170’s specifications suggest it will emit NOx some 30% below present ICAO requirements. A second possibility is to incorporate multiple stage combustors in engines, a design which is presently being developed by leading engine manufacturers including General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and International Aero Engines. These engines would reduce NOx emissions by a further 30% Countering the emission of NOx, though, will adversely affect fuel efficiency, since multiple stage burners require more parts which increase weight which proportionately increases fuel burn. Such complex engines would also require higher maintenance levels and perhaps be more susceptible to technical difficulties.

And while engines for the new generation jets such as the 777’s RR Trent are single stage designs, they will provide substantial reductions in NOx and meet all ICAO requirements. Airlines, and particularly those in Europe, require even more stringent controls of all emissions. This will present the single greatest challenge for powerplant manufacturers in the coming decade, as a reasonable balance of lowering fuel consumption and decreasing NOx emissions needs to be achieved.

The Future

Mother nature has played a somewhat curious role in one development which has seen ‘sharkskin’ saving kerosene. Scientists have noted that the skin of especially fast species of sharks have fine grooves running lengthwise along the fish. From this observation, the idea developed of covering aircraft with a foil that would imitate this effect, improving airflow and reducing the burden of drag. With riblets only a few hundredths of a millimetre wide and deep, one of Lufthansa’s Airbus aircraft was covered with the foil to test its operational suitability. Aerodynamic tests so far show drag reductions of 8%, corresponding to a fuel saving of 2% in operations. If successful, the foil could be fitted to all aircraft, enabling the airline to consume 50,000 tonnes less kerosene each year.

Whilst it is often assumed that electric trains are one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transport, seldom given to the energy, and pollutants, generated to provide the electricity. Aircraft are able to carry more passengers over longer distances more efficiently and economically than any other form of transport. Air traffic contributes only one half percent of total fossil fuel consumption worldwide, similarly producing only one half percent of total carbon dioxide emissions.

Another aspect to commercial aviation which is seldom considered is the habitat airports provide for a wide variety of flora and fauna. Airport sites are free from the high density construction that plagues urban areas and the wide expanses of vegetation surrounding buildings and taxiways play host to nesting and feeding birds, reptiles and rodents. At many airports reserves are established to protect native wildlife, and Sydney Airport is home to a vast number of bird, fish, mammal and invertebrate species. The airport also boasts Australia’s only airport based nursery, which holds around 3800 plants which are propagated from seed and cultivated for the diverse range of growing conditions within the airport boundary.

The airport’s recent runway expansion program has all but displaced Little Tern nesting sites, but with efforts from the state’s National Parks & Wildlife Service and the Federal Airports Corporation, it is anticipated that the colony can be established in a similar environment within Botany Bay, not too far from the original nesting sites. The airport is also involved in substantial land regeneration programs including revegetation and watershed management within its 914 hectare boundaries.

The airlines operating in and out of airports all aim to have the most modern fleets available. However, at up to $A200 million apiece, airliners such as the 747-400 are an increas ingly difficult commodity to finance in the current days of economic turbulence.

Airlines must remain profitable to be able to afford modern fleets. As Lufthansa’s commissioner for environmental issues so poignantly admits, “We must be financially fit to afford environmental laws”. Qantas admits that investment in the protection of the environment does consume large amounts of capital, but it places these financial commitments in the context of being able to recover the outlays in the course of operations, many times over.

In the increasingly market driven climate, airlines are becoming less motivated by government environmental regulations, but more by consumer and community demand. As tive instrument to get things done”, and it is the demands of a one Lufthansa member says, “The market is the most effec- more environmentally conscious market that will continue to ensure that airlines aren’t just creating hot air when it comes to protecting the world in which we travel.