Finnair has flown the world’s longest commercial flight to date using biofuel.

In the next few weeks, Finnair will fly a series of four flights using biofuel in both engines of its aircraft.

For Finnair, it is important to find an ecologically, financially and socially sustainable fuel solution and this is one step towards more sustainable flying. Biofuels are constantly being improved in all of the above-mentioned areas of sustainability, and current investments are playing an important role in development work.

“Biofuel use is still not financially sustainable, because biofuel is more expensive than ordinary aviation fuel and no large-scale production or distribution has yet been established. Finnair, moreover, does not receive any kind of financial support to use biofuel, unlike some other airlines,” says Finnair’s Vice President Sustainable Development Kati Ihamäki.

Most of the environmental impact of flying arises from engine emissions, so investment on research into alternative fuels is a natural way to seek to reduce environmental loading. The term biofuel means a fuel made from a renewable, organic raw material. The plants used in its manufacture bind carbon dioxide, which is released back into the atmosphere when the biofuel is burned.

In its first biofuel flights, Finnair is using in both engines of its aircraft SkyNRG biofuel manufactured from recycled biomass. The fuel mixture used is half biofuel and half ordinary aviation fuel. The SkyNRG biofuel used by Finnair is manufactured from cooking oil recycled from restaurants.

SkyNRG biofuel has been exhaustively researched and it fulfils all of the quality and safety requirements set for jet fuel. The fuel mixture used is certified in the same class as ordinary aviation fuel.

Finnair’s first biofuel flight, AY846 from Amsterdam to Helsinki, departed from Amsterdam at 18:50 local time and arrived in Helsinki at 22:10. The flight was operated with an Airbus A319 aircraft.

“Our sector’s goal is to find sustainable biofuel solutions so we do not compete with food, land nor water and these Finnair flights are a step in that direction,” said Andrea Debbane, Airbus head of Environmental Affairs. “Airbus is at the forefront in helping to speed up the commercialisation of biofuels for aviation and these latest passenger flights are proof that we have already come a long way.”

Watch this space for future news biofuel flight with Finnair. To learn more about Finnair and their environmental efforts and for flight tickets, see the Finnair website. To read up on previous articles on Finnair, see Finnair Prepares for the World’s Longest Commercial Biofuel Flight.

Source: Finnair

Samantha Minogue

Editorial Director

Airbus and TAROM Romanian Air Transport together with a consortium of key stakeholders have established one of Europe’s first project aiming to establish a sustainable bio-kerosene jet-fuel processing and production capability.

The project based in Romania aims to provide a bio-fuel made from the camelina plant, as a renewable, sustainable substitute to fossil based jet fuel. The project is being overseen by a Romanian based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) and Airbus is acting as the catalyst in getting the Romanian value chain for a local bio-jet fuel solution up and running.

Once feasibility studies on agricultural, technological and aeronautical development and sustainability assessment are complete, the project will also assess the existing refining facilities in order to identify the Romanian production capability. Camelina is the chosen feedstock because of its energy potential, its rotational crop qualities, its green house gas reduction potential and its low water requirements. Camelina is also indigenous to Romania, and can be readily farmed and harvested by family farmers. It has a high quality animal feed by-product.

“This is the first European based value chain project bringing together farmers, oil-refiners and an airline to spearhead the commercialisation of sustainable bio-fuel production,” said Paul Nash, Airbus Head of New Energies. The Romanian Camelina Value Chain will help us further verify the sustainability and economic viability of producing bio-kerosene.”

Airbus will support the fuel approval processes, and lead in assessing the effect on the aircraft systems and engines. The consortium will work together with the Bucharest University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine’s Centre of Biotechnology (BIOTEHGEN) on the sustainable agricultural phase of the project regarding the camelina plantations, harvesting and oil production.

TAROM is leading the consortium which includes Honeywell’s UOP, CCE (Camelina Company España), and Airbus. Honeywell’s UOP is applying its aviation bio-fuel refining technology, CCE is contributing its knowledge on camelina agronomy, including technologies on camelina growth, agricultural monitoring networks and plant science. Airbus is providing technical and project management expertise and is sponsoring the sustainability assessment and life cycle analysis studies.

For further information on Airbus and their extensive efforts in applying alternative fuels to the air transport industry, visit the Airbus website. To read up on previous articles on Airbus, see Skymark Airlines confirms order for four A380s.

Source: Airbus

Samantha Minogue

Editorial Director

Airline chiefs have reaffirmed their commitment to a lower carbon future and called for more investment into sustainable alternative fuels.

European airline chiefs, meeting in Brussels today, reaffirmed their commitment to an environmentally responsible airline sector but warned that, with the 2012 introduction date fast approaching, obstacles to the effective inclusion of aviation in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme would become increasingly apparent in 2011.

The members of the Board of the Association of European Airlines were assembled for their first meeting under the Chairmanship of Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic.  They reasserted AEA’s longstanding support of an environmentally effective and economically efficient ETS, as a precursor to a global scheme.

“The 1 January 2012 start date for EU ETS is fast approaching, but there are still many critical areas which need to be resolved”, said Steve Ridgway.  “It’s imperative that the Commission fixes these issues to ensure that the Emissions Trading Scheme works as always envisaged, and avoids creating unfair market distortions or undermining its environmental effectiveness”.

If aviation’s contribution to society is not to be diminished in the quest for lower environmental impact, instruments such as ETS need to be complemented by clean technology, said the AEA Chairman, “We call on the EU to stimulate the development of step change technologies  – putting Europe at the forefront of this new industrial revolution – critical amongst which are sustainable alternative fuels with their obvious potential to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint”.

The AEA CEOs expressed their readiness to cooperate fully with the European Commission in working out the necessary conditions for an effective transition to new generation fuels.   “The Treasuries of EU Member States will be receiving massive incomes from ETS.  It is only common sense that these revenues should provide the investment needed to further the aims of an environmental policy”, said Mr Ridgway.

“This includes funding for the SESAR project to provide the next generation of Air Traffic Management, and the research & development effort to break aviation’s current dependency on fossil fuels, stabilise the energy supply chain and deliver more quickly a lower carbon future for our sector”.

For further information on the Association of European Airlines and their environmental efforts, visit the AEA website. To read up on previous articles on the AEA, see  Ash, Snow and Strikes in 2010 for European Airlines.

Source: Association of European Airlines

Samantha Minogue

Editorial Director

The 2002 Cape Town declaration agreed that responsible tourism:

• Minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts
• Generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well being of host communities; improves working conditions and access to the industry
• Involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances
• Makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural  and cultural heritage embracing diversity
• Provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues
• Provides access for physically challenged people
• Is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence

WTM World Responsible Tourism Day objectives

WTM has four realistic objectives for this day of action.

WTM WRTD, with support from the UNWTO wants the industry to work together to:

• Help drive change by educating more responsible behaviour with the travel and tourism industry and travelling public
• Explore the issues of how countries and destinations are made more sustainable including case studies of best practices
• Educate the marketplace and debate key environmental related issues to push the agenda and be a catalyst for change
• Harness the influence of World Travel Market as an international business forum to encourage the industry to drive the responsible tourism agenda forward.

2009 Review

For the third year running WTM World Responsible Tourism Day (WTM WRTD), in association with the UNWTO and sponsored by BBC World News provided the travel industry with a challenging and thought provoking programme that expanded across three days Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11 & Thursday 12 November with Wednesday 11 November remaining the key day for the major events and focus.

“The aim of WTM World Responsible Tourism Day is to send out a clear message to consumers – that we’re listening to their increasing demands for a more caring and sensitive approach. Today is the focus of three days of intense responsible tourism activity when we hope to engage and confront issues such as climate change and poverty reduction. Not in a way that merely highlights what is good, but challenges, provokes and asks searching questions to confront the myths and identify deliverable answers” said Fiona Jeffery Chairman of World Travel Market.

The WTM WRTD Opening Ceremony saw Andrew Mitchell, Founder of Global Canopy & senior advisor to His Royal Highness Prince of Wales Rainforest Project urged the travel and tourism industry to support the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project, which asks firms to disclose how their operations and supply chains are affecting forests and what is being done to manage those effects responsibly.

Once again the highly popular Virgin Holiday’s Responsible Tourism Awards, the most prestigious awards of their kind, attracted a huge crowd. The awards were handed out by Justin Francis, managing director of responsibletravel.com, organisers and founders of the Awards, and Amanda Wills, managing director of Virgin Holidays, headline sponsor of the Awards.

The second Business Case for Responsible Tourism took place on Thursday 12 November with some of the world’s leading responsible tourism experts giving an insight in to how ‘going green’ can directly improve the bottom line. This unique international conference gave access to specialists who will help using responsible tourism as a major marketing, sales and PR tool.

Opening the Business Case for Responsible Tourism programme, Professor Harold Goodwin of Leeds Metropolitan University said: “Responsible tourism is one of the ways for a business to get noticed, and that human interest stories are a key part of this.”

For further details regarding the 2010 conference and to find out how to register and apply for the logo, see WTM WRTD.

Source: WTM WRTD

Samantha Minogue

Editorial Director

The Association of European Airlines, AEA, represents Europe’ s leading 35 network airlines. The AEA was referring to the “encouraging” results of the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nation’s agency for aviation. After difficult negotiations, ICAO announced the first global governmental deal to commit the aviation sector to reduce greenhouse emissions from international aviation.

“The airlines are ready to implement a global roadmap. But we need political will at government level to commit to a global framework”, said AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus. “This political agreement is therefore a crucial first step; further steps will evidently be necessary.”

The AEA had consistently expressed concern that, without a global framework, intercontinental traffic flows would simply circumvent the countries and continents that apply CO2 measures. “Aviation is a global activity. Thanks to the leadership of Vice President Kallas, political consensus was achieved with all 190 contracting UN governments. Although this political agreement is a far cry from a global sectoral approach we advocate, it opens the door to  further sorely needed constructive intergovernmental negotiations”, said Schulte-Strathaus. “This is certainly preferable to the situation where the Commission, in the absence of this political ICAO agreement, would have sought to impose its EU ETS on third countries and thereby risked trade conflicts”.

Schulte-Strathaus is adamant that not only European carriers, but in fact the global aviation community has subscribed to a comprehensive emissions containment policy, which promotes infrastructural improvements such as the European Single Sky, technological innovation and operational measures to decouple growth of traffic from growth of emissions efficiently and effectively. He said that there is no ‘business as usual’ for airlines when it comes to the reduction of emissions. “Contrary to the belief of some, there will not be a 300% growth of airline emissions by 2050. The airlines’ CO2 emissions will have been halved relative to their 2005 levels by 2050.” As an example, he refers to AEA airlines investments in the development of sustainable alternative fuels, which have proven to be able to reduce aviations CO2 levels by up to 80%. “With such promising potential, we urge the Commission to pursue the successful path of international negotiations on a workable regulatory scheme, and to avoid a single focus on punitive economic instruments and adopt a parallel approach to stimulate innovation. One cannot tax an industry to sustainability. Innovation is key.”

Schulte-Strathaus concluded that the ICAO talks had shown what politically responsible air transport officials can achieve, despite the evident difficulties of overcoming completely different approaches from other Countries. “This is indeed promising. We are engaged in open and constructive discussions with Vice President Kallas”, he said. “We share the same objectives: AEA airlines represent Europe’s infrastructure to the world, Europe’s citizens deserve clean aviation, now and in the future”.

For further information on AEA and their efforts, please visit Association European Airlines. To see previous workings of the AEA, see Aviation Emissions Reductions.

Source: AEA

Samantha Minogue

Editorial Director

In September 2008, San Francisco International Airport broke ground on its project to renovate Terminal 2.  The terminal, which formerly housed international flights, closed when SFO’s current International Terminal opened in December 2000.  Now, to accommodate growth in passenger traffic and airline demand for gates, SFO is embarking on a $383 million project to renovate the facility into a state-of-the-art domestic terminal featuring:

•    An environmentally friendly terminal with paperless ticketing and preferential parking for hybrid cars
•    Anticipated to achieve Silver LEED™ Certification
•    The first airport dining program in the country to recruit Slow Food ® vendors offering wholesome food grown      locally and prepared in a healthful manner.
•    Approximately 575,000 square feet with capacity for 5.5 million enplaned passengers per year, and a projected 3.2 million enplaned passengers per first full year of operation
•    14 gates expected to serve predominantly narrow-body aircraft, but with the capability of accommodating a Boeing 747-400 sized aircraft
•    30,793 square feet of retail development, including 12 restaurants and 9 retail stores, a gourmet marketplace with a wine bar and a spa
•    A pedestrian bridge to AirTrain, which connects to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
•    Major works of public art

SFO’s Domestic Terminal 2 will be home to American Airlines and Virgin America.

Terminal 2, formerly named the Central Terminal, was dedicated in August 1954. The $14 million structure provided 32 landing positions for all types of aircraft and could accommodate up to five million passengers per year.

In July 1983, the Central Terminal was modernized and remodeled to serve international flights. The renovated building provided 10 gates.

Following forecast and gate utilization analyses indicating that strong growth in domestic and international traffic will generate the need for new terminal facilities at the airport beyond 2010, SFO began studies to renovate Terminal 2. On April 1, 2008, SFO was given notice to proceed with the Terminal 2 project and return it to use as a domestic terminal.

Designed by project architect Gensler, the Terminal 2 renovation focuses on creating a facility that provides travelers with an easy and memorable experience while capturing the spirit of the local San Francisco community.

SFO’s Terminal 2 (T2) renovation project incorporates a range of sustainable design features as follows:

LEED Silver Certifications

The T2 Renovation Project is projected to achieve a minimum of Silver Certification under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Designed to improve indoor air quality and reduce energy consumption, the innovative sustainable elements included in Terminal 2 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the facility by an estimated 1,667 tons per year.

Waste Reduction Program

SFO’s Zero Waste Program requires the reuse/recycling of all waste generated during construction projects to the extent feasible from environmental, legal, and technical perspectives. Contractors involved in the renovation project have met the City’s required minimum rate of 75% recycling of construction and demolition wastes.

SFO also requires ongoing source separation of all recyclable solid waste to enable the attainment of 75% recycling by 2010 and 90% recycling by 2020. To this effect, all T2 food vendors will be required to use biodegradable tableware and source separate all food service wastes for direct transport to off-Airport composting facilities.

Reclaimed Water Reuse Program

A dual plumbing system is incorporated in the design of the T2 project. The plumbing system for the toilets and urinals is a stand-alone system that will be supplied with reclaimed water from the Airport’s Mel Leong Treatment Plant. The Airport is currently planning to reuse treated effluent from the treatment plant for gray water use at T2 as well as other uses at SFO.  The project plans call for supplying reclaimed water to the T2 complex in time for its opening in 2011.

Global Warming Mitigation Initiatives

T2’s design includes a number of measures to reduce the carbon footprint of the terminal as follows:

• Preconditioned (PC) Air and 400 Hz Power Supply Systems: SFO will provide PC Air and 400 Hz power supply to aircraft at all T2 gates, reducing jet fuel consumption by aircraft Auxiliary Power Units (APU) by 1,400,000 gallons per year. It is estimated that this measure will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 15,000 tons per year.

• Energy Efficiency Measures: The incorporation of energy efficient lighting and efficient machinery will reduce electrical energy consumption by 2.9 giga Watt hours per year, and natural gas consumption by 116,000 therms per year, resulting in a reduction of 1,640 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year for the Airport.

• Building Materials Savings: By reusing a substantial portion of the infrastructure of the existing building in the renovated T2, SFO will generate cost savings and reduce the global warming impact of the new terminal by a one-time amount of about 12,300 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

• Plug-in Electrical Chargers for Ground Services Equipment (GSE): SFO will install chargers for use by GSE equipment at all gates, resulting in both fuel saving and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

• Preferential Parking for Electrical and Hybrid Vehicles: SFO will allocate preferential parking spaces in the Domestic Parking garage for exclusive use by hybrid and electrical vehicles.

For further info on San Francisco International Airport and their environmental efforts and for updates on T2, visit SFO International Airport.

Source: Fly SFO

Samantha Minogue

Editorial Director

To reduce its environmental footprint, Marriott is committed to:

• Reducing its fuel and water consumption by an additional 25 percent per available room over the next 10 years.

• Installing solar power at up to 40 hotels by 2017.

• Expanding existing “reduce, reuse, recycle” programs already in place in 90 percent of hotels to consistently include guest and meeting rooms, beginning with pilot hotels across all brands in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.

For more than 20 years, Marriott has been actively involved in energy conservation.  Over the last decade, its hotels worldwide have replaced 450,000 light bulbs with fluorescent lighting, introduced linen reuse programs, and installed 400,000 low-flow showerheads and toilets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Marriott with its 2009 Sustained Excellence award and placed the ENERGY STAR® label on more than 275 of its hotels (the most of any hotel company).

Source: Marriott

Sustainability and green issues are now very much mainstream, with governments, businesses and individuals all involved.  Tourism, as one of the main economic drivers in the UK, has its part to play.  That is where the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) comes in.

The GTBS is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK. Originally developed in partnership with Visit Scotland, it is now the only certification scheme validated by Visit Britain, through the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT). “GTBS provides excellent value for money to a wide range of tourism firms with first class environmental advice and auditing. Satisfaction rates of certified firms are very high and drop out rates low, both for the smallest of tourism firms and increasingly at corporate level.” Xavier Font, ICRT.

Businesses opting to join Green Tourism are assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a rigorous set of criteria, covering a range of areas, like energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more. Those businesses that meet the required standard, receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold award based on their level of achievement. The current network of members is comprised of a wide range of business types, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions, corporate offices and others.

East Midlands Airport has announced a few weeks ago plans to have four giant wind turbines built by the end of this year, which will be used to generate electricity for the airport. The turbines will generate 900 kilowatt hours of electricity – without any emissions to pollute the environment – which is enough to cover about 10% of the airport’s energy needs. This project is part of a wider plan to make the airport’s ground operations carbon neutral.

Some low cost airlines providing services to and from East Midlands Airport:

Bmibaby  - bmibaby is a low cost airline, formed as part of the bmi group. Launched in 2002, bmibaby flies from four UK bases: East Midlands, Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff to 30 European destinations.

Jet2 – Jet2.com has now flown over 8 million passengers. Low cost operations started in February 2003, flying daily from Leeds Bradford International Airport, to and from Amsterdam. During 2003 scheduled flights were operated to 7 European business, city break and sun destinations, carrying more than 360,000 passengers in our first year.

Ryanair – Ryanair has 37 bases and over 950 low fare routes across 26 countries, connecting 150 destinations. Ryanair operates a fleet of 210 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft with firm orders for a further 102 new aircraft, which will be delivered over the next 2.5 years.

Thomsonfly – Created in 1962, Thomsonfly operates lowcost flights and forms part of the TUI Group. The airline operates a fleet of 47 Boeing and has carried in 2007, 8 million passengers.