Aviation Sustainability and the Environment, CAPA 16-Mar-2020

ICAO Council adopts important environmental standard 

The ICAO Council adopted a new standard this week which will reduce civil aviation impacts on local air quality and human health. 

Applicable to engine designs of rated thrust greater than 26.7 kN, the new non-volatile Particulate Matter (nvPM) mass and number engine emission standard will govern both new and in-production engines from 2023 onwards. 

“Council’s adoption of this important standard was made simpler by the fact that ICAO’s 193 Member States have been in unanimous agreement on its scope and relevance,” highlighted ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. “It demonstrates important sectoral leadership with the completion of the full suite of environmental technology standards for subsonic aircraft engines, and it will also ensure that only the latest and most effective nvPM reduction technologies are employed in post-2023 aircraft engine designs.” 

Contained in Volume II to Annex 16 of the Chicago Convention (Environmental Protection), the new nvPM standard’s development was supported by a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis which took into account its technical feasibility, economic reasonableness, environmental benefits, and interdependencies with other environmental factors. 

It also benefitted from the very close collaboration between the government organization and NGO experts who compose ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), in addition to the ICAO Secretariat and the experts on the ICAO Air Navigation Commission. 

“This substantial accomplishment reflects the deep commitment of ICAO and the civil aviation community to address the environmental impacts of international air transport,” commented ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu. “I will look forward to monitoring the nvPM standard’s contributions to UN SDG 3, on human health, and to further opportunities for ICAO and aviation to play their part in global sustainability.” 

ICAO Council adopts CORSIA emissions units 

The ICAO Council approved the eligible emissions units for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) today, reaching another important milestone toward CORSIA global implementation supporting worldwide efforts against climate change. 

The Council’s decision follows on recommendations it received from the Technical Advisory Body (TAB) it established for this purpose, and establishes a set of eligible emissions units complying with offsetting requirements in the 2021-2023 pilot phase of CORSIA from the following six programmes: 

• American Carbon Registry 
• China GHG Voluntary Emission Reduction Program 
• Clean Development Mechanism 
• Climate Action Reserve 
• The Gold Standard 
• Verified Carbon Standard 

The emissions units are issued to activities which commenced as of 1 January 2016, and in respect of emissions reductions occurring through 31 December 2020, subject to each programme’s respective scope of eligibility. The list of eligible emissions units will eventually be publicly available on the ICAO CORSIA website. 

“Today’s decision is the result of a robust assessment of emissions units programmes against a set of criteria agreed by ICAO Member States,” noted ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. “It will ensure that CORSIA is both practical and robust, and represents an important environmental milestone.” 

“CORSIA remains on track and we’re encouraged that this latest Council progress will bring clarity to the requirements to be placed on airlines,” stressed ICAO Secretary General Fang Liu. “ICAO will continue its efforts to drive further CORSIA progress and prepare our member States for its pilot phase through the assistance, capacity-building, and training for CORSIA currently being conducted through our ACT-CORSIA programme.” 

“With the Council’s approval of eligible emissions units, ICAO now has all of the pieces in place to implement CORSIA,” said ICAO Deputy Director of Environment, Jane Hupe. “We have come a long way in a short amount of time and continue to encourage greater commitment from our member States toward climate action.” 

BAE Systems conducting modifications to Airbus E-Fan X hybrid-electric demonstrator

BAE Systems Air chief engineer E-Fan X Bob Gilfillan reported the company is modifying a BAe 146 to be used as the base for the AirbusE-Fan X test aircraft so that it can perform an accurate assessment of the hybrid-electric system fitted to the demonstrator (Aerospace Testing International, 11-Mar-2020).

The demonstrator conducted baseline testing in Feb-2020 with normal turbofan engines and is undergoing structural modifications and changes to its electrical and hydraulic systems, including the installation of the 2MW electric propulsion unit (EPU) to replace engine number three and a 2.5MW generator to power the EPU.

BAE Systems is also installing flight test instrumentation, including specialist equipment to measure the performance of the electrical system. The aircraft is due to commence its test campaign from late 2021.