The Green Wing

UK ministers quash rumours of Heathrow u-turn

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:41:45 +0000

Rumours were flying around over the weekend that the government is planning a u-turn on its decision to rule out building a third runway at Heathrow. But the FT yesterday quoted one of George Osborne's aides as saying "there is no softening" of the government's position. So what's going on?

The rumours seemed to kick off (not for the first time) on Saturday after Tim Yeo, Tory chairman of the energy and climate change select committee, said he had "completely changed his mind" and now believed a third runway at Heathrow was the only way to tackle the UK's capacity issues.

Speculation was already growing: some had interpreted David Cameron's recent comments on the need to expand capacity in the southeast of England as a sign that the government's stance was weakening, even though he quite clearly excluded Heathrow from the list of options.

John Stewart, a transport and environmental campaigner, argues in the Guardian today that the rumours are simply spin on the part of the aviation industry - as if, by using the power of suggestion, lobbyists could somehow pave the way for a u-turn.

Perhaps he's right. Nevertheless, shouldn't the government listen to the third runway yay-sayers - some of whom are, apparently, senior Tories - and keep all options on the table?

Lufthansa's CEO loses patience with EU over ETS

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:34:37 +0000

Lufthansa's CEO is the latest industry leader to call on the European Union to suspend the inclusion of aviation in its controversial Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) - despite the EU's insistence that this is not a legal possibility.

Talking to the media as Lufthansa released its annual report for 2011, Christoph Franz said any system for regulating aviation carbon emissions "must be introduced worldwide" rather than at a national or regional level. Otherwise it would distort competition for European carriers and put them at risk of retaliatory action from nations opposed to the scheme, he said.

Franz was one of nine chief executives, including the CEO of Airbus, to write joint letters to European leaders earlier this week asking them to step in and stop the escalating trade conflict, after Airbus warned that the unilateral European position was already threatening deliveries of its long-haul aircraft to China.

Franz said this kind of punitive action against European businesses was "exactly what we had feared". He added that, in the face of paying EU ETS charges, German carriers should no longer be required to pay air passenger taxes.

Flightglobal Pro subscribers can read an analysis of Airbus's perceived isolation from China due to the EU ETS here

Photo by Action Press/Rex Features

Data: How much will the EU ETS cost airlines in 2012?

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:31:34 +0000

UK-based environmental campaigners Sandbag have used 2010 emissions data to estimate the cost to carriers of the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in 2012. Shown along the bottom axis are the UK's top 20 emitting airlines, ranked highest to lowest starting from the left (scroll over the graph itself to see all 20).

View the original data here

Public split between Heathrow expansion and new hub

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:31:23 +0000

If it came down to a choice between the two, the public would be fairly evenly split between supporting a third runway at Heathrow or a new airport in the Thames Estuary, according to a poll by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

A quarter of the 1,000 people asked said they would favour the expansion of Heathrow as a way to tackle the UK's airport capacity crunch, while 21% said they would back the new estuary hub.

When asked if they believed the government was right to block Heathrow's third runway, 35% thought it was the right decision and 32% the wrong one.

Meanwhile the ES reports that Ken Livingstone (pictured) has made the Thames Estuary airport a central focus of his campaign for re-election as Mayor of London.

Livingstone reportedly said current mayor Boris Johnson would cause the "total collapse of the west London economy" if he succeeded with the plans.

Photo by Richard Gardner/Rex Features

Struggling to get your head round emissions trading?

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:21:55 +0000

Perhaps these little cartoon people can help:

Special report: Aviation and the environment

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:27:43 +0000

Flight International's latest special report on the environment is out. Highlights include:

Airlines turn to alcohol as potential jet fuel replacement
Pricing and supply key to unlocking large-scale US biofuel use
Manufacturers aim for electric taxi EIS by 2016
And my favourite (because I wrote it): Political storm continues to rage over ETS

How nations opposed to the EU ETS could respond

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:00:31 +0000

More detail has emerged about next week's meeting in Moscow of nations opposed to the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Twenty-six countries are expected to take part in the meeting to discuss joint action against the EU's emissions trading scheme, which they say creates competitive distortion and breaks international law. Until now, all we knew was that were going to discuss taking "retaliatory measures" against the ETS. But a draft agenda has been leaked, which outlines some of the measures under consideration. According to the NY Times, those include:

Following China's lead in banning its airlines from paying the charges without permission
Imposing punitive levies on European airlines when they fly over other countries' air space
Reviewing bilateral and open skies agreements covering such things as landing rights and market access
Freezing consideration of any new routes or capacity

Photo of Moscow by Keystone USA-ZUMA/Rex Features

Only ICAO has the answer (apparently)

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:18:52 +0000

You think only Smarties have the answer? Think again

Pressure is mounting on the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to come up with a global framework for tackling carbon emissions - and fast. Some people think this is the only way now to avert a trade war between Europe and the rest of the world over the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS). Speaking ahead of the Singapore Airshow earlier today, IATA's Tony Tyler said: "In Brussels last week, I sensed a growing recognition that a global scheme, developed and implemented through ICAO, would provide a superior solution to the problem of airline emissions."

But what is ICAO actually doing about it? Mark Watson is head of environmental affairs for Cathay Pacific and involved in UN climate change processes within ICAO. He says ICAO is in the process of assessing which market-based measures could form the basis of a global scheme, and has been doing work to quantify the potential emissions reductions and market distortions that may result under each scenario.

The measures under discussion include: a global departure levy, setting fees for all departing passengers and for cargo; a global carbon levy, charged on fuel consumption; a global offsetting scheme; a global carbon levy and offsetting scheme combined; and finally, a global emissions trading system.

"ICAO is undertaking a more detailed evaluation of the options by June this year in order to submit these proposals to council in 2013," says Watson. ICAO's secretary general, Raymond Benjamin, has also vowed to produce a proposal by the end of this year.

Lovely. Except, doesn't ICAO have around 190 member states? Many of whom will have directly opposing views on how carbon emissions should be regulated? It'll be interesting to see if Benjamin can actually achieve this within a year.

Photo by Dave Penman/Rex Features

ETS 'could kick start US advanced biofuels industry'

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:43:14 +0000

Interesting blog post from one of the US Department of Defense's energy advisors, Kate Brandt, this weekend on how the EU ETS could kick start the American advanced biofuels industry.

The industry has made some significant process, Brandt points out, but there are still no commercial scale advanced biofuel plants in the US. (Advanced biofuels, or "drop in" fuels, can be used in existing engines, but are cleaner burning than traditional jet fuels - oh and they can be made from things like municipal waste, hence the lovely photo of a dump in Mumbai.)

Now, she argues, airlines have an incentive to purchase biofuels to avoid paying a tax every time they fly to and from Europe. "In the short-term, airlines may see passing on the cost of the ETS to the customer as the easy solution but this would be a very unpopular long term solution."

On a related note, this paper prepared for the 27th roundtable on sustainable development, held at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) headquarters last week, has a good breakdown of the arguments for and against biofuels, including advanced biofuels.

Photo by KPA/Zuma/Rex Features

Aviation bad for the environment? Nonsense!

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:48:39 +0000

Just came across this viral video from 2006 via @AviationBlogs on Twitter. Apparently green campaigners created Sir Montgomery Cecil, spokesman of the spoof pro-aviation lobbying group SPURT, to highlight government policy on aviation and airport expansion. Terrifying.

Environmental impacts of new UK hub 'as significant as' third runway at London Heathrow

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:16:42 +0000

The overall local environmental impacts of a new, four-runway hub airport are likely to be at least as significant as a third runway at Heathrow and a second runway at Gatwick, according to a report by London First's Connectivity Commission (a group of business leaders). Read their arguments in favour of increasing airport capacity in the UK

So you'd rather not pay the carbon emissions tax?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:07:58 +0000

Ah, the phrase "equivalent measures". It pops up whenever people start arguing about - sorry, discussing - the EU's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Those airlines to put in place equivalent measures would be exempt from the carbon emissions tax. But what does that actually mean?

The EU ETS directive deliberately, and understandably, avoids going into any detail. But, as Adam Riedel, associate director of the Centre for Climate Change Law, points out, it doesn't even set out a process whereby a non-EU state can formally qualify its airlines for an exemption. Non-EU nations are left to ponder what would work. A similar cap-and-trade scheme or other, market-based system? The large-scale production and use of biofuels?

In China, civil aviation authorities are apparently looking at cutting emissions by 20-22% by 2020. "We are looking at this as a possible equivalent measure, but it's still too early to say," said Isaac Valero-Ladron, spokesperson for the European Commission. However, there are doubts about whether an efficiency measure like this, i.e. not a cap, could be found equivalent to the EU ETS.

'Superior efforts'

Towards the beginning of last year, Nancy Young, Airlines for America's (A4A) vice president for environmental affairs, struck out at the EU ETS. She claimed US airlines had been improving fuel efficiency for decades, as well as looking into using alternative fuels. "We believe our efforts are superior to the EU approach," she was quoted as saying by The NY Times. But, again, it seems unlikely this would qualify as an equivalent measure.

A researcher for the Center for Climate Change Law suggests that "a plan that sets a cap comparable to that imposed by the EU, but that gives away all allowances (rather than just 85%, as in Europe) could achieve 'equivalent' reductions while saving the airlines money relative to the EU plan's baseline".

Whatever airlines go for, any exemption would require approval of EU member state representatives.

New company set up to produce whisky biofuel

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:51:02 +0000

Edinburgh Napier University has formed a spin-off company in the hopes of commercialising production of biofuel made from whisky by-products. Celtic Renewables is concentrating on producing the biofuel, called Biobutinol, to run cars for the moment, but researchers at the university have claimed in the past that it could also be used to fuel aircraft.

How to comply with the EU ETS in 2012

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:09:57 +0000

The furore over the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is unlikely to abate any time soon. In the meantime, airlines have to comply with the legislation. Here's a quick round up of what airline operators will be expected to do between now and April 2013, brought to you by law firm Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW):

Operators should already have submitted their emissions monitoring plan for approval and monitored emissions data for 2010 and 2011. Moving forward, they should:

1. Prepare their 2011 emissions report, arrange for it to be verified by an auditor and submit to the relevant authority by 31 March 2012.

2. Apply for a registry account, through which they will be able buy or sell CO2 allowances.

3. Monitor emissions in accordance with their approved monitoring plan throughout 2012.

4. Procure additional allowances from other EU ETS participants at auction or by purchasing allowance (CERs and ERUs) to cover any shortfall not covered by free allocation.

5. Surrender allowances equal to their total verified emissions for 2012 by 31 April 2013.

Read the full text, "EU Emissions Trading Scheme becomes reality for airlines"

Photo by Jonathan Hordle/Rex Features

Real reason behind the Thames Estuary consultation?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:33:07 +0000

Illustrated preview of the Thames Estuary hub, from thamesestuaryairport.com

Environmentalists are somewhat hacked off at Boris Johnson's revelation on Radio 4 yesterday that the government is "increasingly interested" in the idea of building a new hub airport in the UK's Thames Estuary, a move they say would increase CO2 and generate new noise problems.

Yet, as Kerry pointed out on The Green Wing in November, it's unlikely the £20 billion ($32 billion), four-runway airport will ever see the light of day, given that the government previously refused the building of a third runway at Heathrow on environmental grounds. The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) also notes that a new estuary airport may struggle to attract sufficient traffic to be economically viable, and would likely depend on government intervention.

So why launch a consultation?

Well, there's a rumour going round that ministers don't ever expect the hub to be built. But if people dismiss the proposal as too expensive/environmentally unfriendly, it would throw a comparatively flattering light on Heathrow's proposals. I don't know if this is true, but in these situations I like to imagine what Emilio in Mr Deeds would say. Sneaky sneaky sir...