Preparing for take-off - A cheaper, cleaner way for the long taxi to the runway

Engines on airliners are highly efficient when they are in flight, but not when operating on the ground. When a plane is taxiing under its own power, the engines burn vast amounts of fuel. A Boeing 747 can consume a tonne of fuel and emit several tonnes of carbon dioxide during an average 17-minute taxi to take-off. And when the aircraft lands there is likely to be another long drive to the passenger gate. Which is why there are various methods being developed for aircraft to use other means of propulsion while moving around an airport.

Towing aircraft with a tug, similar to how they are pushed back from the gate, is one way. But constantly pulling on the front landing gear can lead to mechanical problems. Many pilots would also prefer to be in control of the driving once their aircraft is on the taxiway.

Navy Scientists Are Figuring Out How To Turn Seawater Into Jet Fuel

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is on the verge of a breakthrough process that transforms seawater into jet fuel.

Though it sounds too good to be true, the scientists at NRL are developing a process that extracts carbon dioxide (CO2) and produces hydrogen gas (H2) from seawater. The gases are then converted into liquids and combined, thus creating viable jet fuel.

The successful implementation of this technology could mean unlimited fuel resources for the Navy, and would address the current difficulty of refueling at sea. The new technology would also be less of an environmental—as well as financial—burden, and would allow the U.S. Navy to become more independent of foreign oil sources.

"The potential payoff is the ability to produce JP-5 fuel stock at sea reducing the logistics tail on fuel delivery with no environmental burden and increasing the Navy's energy security and independence," research chemist Dr. Heather Willauer said in a Navy press release.

Airbus, Boeing, Embraer collaborate on aviation biofuel development

Airbus, Boeing and Embraer today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together on the development of drop-in, affordable aviation biofuels. The three leading airframe manufacturers agreed to seek collaborative opportunities to speak in unity to government, biofuel producers and other key stakeholders to support, promote and accelerate the availability of sustainable new jet fuel sources.

Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh, and Embraer Commercial Aviation President Paulo César Silva, signed the agreement at the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva.

“We’ve achieved a lot in the last ten years in reducing our industry’s CO2 footprint - a 45 percent traffic growth with only three percent more fuel consumption,” said Tom Enders. The production and use of sustainable quantities of aviation biofuels is key to meeting our industry's ambitious CO2 reduction targets and we are helping to do this through R+T, our expanding network of worldwide value chains and supporting the EU commission towards its target of four per cent of biofuel for aviation by 2020."

Aircraft of the Future Could Capture and Re-Use Some of Their Own Power

Capturing energy direct from a plane's landing gear and 
recycling it for the aircraft's own use really could work.

Tomorrow's aircraft could contribute to their power needs by harnessing energy from the wheel rotation of their landing gear to generate electricity.

They could use this to power their taxiing to and from airport buildings, reducing the need to use their jet engines. This would save on aviation fuel, cut emissions and reduce noise pollution at airports.

The feasibility of this has been confirmed by a team of engineers from the University of Lincoln with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The energy produced by a plane's braking system during landing -- currently wasted as heat produced by friction in the aircraft's disc brakes -- would be captured and converted into electricity by motor-generators built into the landing gear. The electricity would then be stored and supplied to the in-hub motors in the wheels of the plane when it needed to taxi.

'Engine-less taxiing' could therefore become a reality. ACARE (the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe) has made engine-less taxiing one of the key objectives beyond 2020 for the European aviation industry.

Focus On Fuel Savings

As mergers, consolidation and a stressed operational environment reshape commercial aviation, fuel efficiency has risen to the top of airline business concerns. Not only is it the industry’s single biggest expense, but economic and environmental pressures are forcing carriers to watch fuel consumption like a hawk.

According to Airlines for America’s (A4A) January 2012 state-of-the-industry report, the fuel price per gallon has been the greatest cost input increase of the past decade, up 267% between 2000 and the second quarter of 2011. A4A points out that even as airlines use less fuel, they must pay more for it. In 2010, U.S. airlines used 47.4 million gallons of fuel a day, totaling $38.8 billion that year, based on an A4A analysis of Bureau of Transportation Statistics data. The numbers for November 2011 show airlines used 48.3 million gallons of fuel daily, up about 1.9% from 2010, but paid $49.8 billion to fill their tanks, up more than 28%. Moreover, A4A notes jet fuel prices have been climbing steadily since mid-December 2011.

Searching for new ways to economize on fuel has become a priority of the highest order. Whether adopting best practices via mergers, as United and Continental have done, or looking to technology for solutions, airlines are looking into all corners of their operations to push down fuel costs.

Airlines urge U.N. deal to avert carbon trade war

A passenger plane flies over a barbed wire fence as it approaches an airport
in this February 23, 2010 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Tim Wimborne

Global airlines called on Sunday for a U.N.-brokered deal to prevent a row over aviation emissions between China and the European Union spilling into a damaging trade war.

The call by the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) comes amid signs that the EU may be willing to soften a unilateral stance that also risks souring efforts to resolve Europe's sovereign debt crisis with Chinese support.

In an interview, IATA Director General Tony Tyler said airlines had become wedged between conflicting domestic laws after China ordered its airlines not to join the EU's compulsory market-based system for regulating airline emissions.

NASA Offers Reward For Green Propellant

NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program is looking for “green” alternatives to toxic hydrazine as a storable propellant for spacecraft, offering contracts worth as much as $50 million each to researchers with promising ideas.

The agency is seeking proposals for demonstrations of systems that use storable monopropellants or bipropellants that are safer than hydrazine to generate spacecraft propulsion and power. The broad area announcement, which is available at http://go.usa.gov/Qbx, calls for complete integrated systems that include engines, tanks, valves, injectors, igniters, thrust chambers and propellant-control systems.

Indian bid to cut aviation emissions set for takeoff

Government body orders all domestic airlines and large airports to monitor CO2 output ahead of possible national registry

Indian airlines and airports have been asked to record their annual carbon emissions in what would be a first step towards creating a national inventory that could be used to reduce the aviation sector's CO2 output.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a note earlier this month requiring the monitoring of both emissions directly from aircraft and those arising from the operation and use of airports, including ground support equipment, power generation and ground transport.

The order covers all scheduled domestic airlines, airports with more than 10,000 flights in and out, and some non-scheduled operators, and appears designed to build up an overall carbon footprint for the aviation industry in India.

easyJet to trial greener electric taxiing

UK-based bargain airline easyJet has thrown its weight behind the development of an electric taxiing system in a bid to cut its fuel consumption and enhance its environmental credibility.

The "electric green taxiing system" (EGTS) is a joint venture by engineering and aerospace conglomerates Honeywell and Safran. Safran claims that four percent of easyJet's fuel consumption is used taxiing aircraft before take off and after landing from and to gates.

Four percent may not sound much, but it's a figure that's higher than the norm for budget airlines like easyJet which typically have a high turnover of short-haul flights and so spend a proportionately higher amount of time on the ground. easyJet's planes are thought to average 20 minutes of taxiing time per flight, amounting to 3.5 million ground-miles a year over its entire fleet.