Category: Environment – Without hot air

Frank views about aviation and the environment without the usual hot air

A propos volcano – Are we preparing for the wrong things?

It is amazing how easy it is to bring aviation to its knees. An errant volcano on Iceland, winds blowing in the wrong direction and air transportation in Europe and beyond comes to a grinding halt as country after country closes their airspace to protect the traveling public. Volcanic ash is very bad news for… Continue reading A propos volcano – Are we preparing for the wrong things?

Copenflop fall-out – what next?

The Copenhagen environment conference was supposed to bring solutions to the problems nearer. The conference was a complete flop, certainly in respect of aviation. Of course, trusting anything this serious to politicians is a bad idea to begin with, but this is the world we live in. We must trust them to get it right… Continue reading Copenflop fall-out – what next?

Is the industry ready for this?

The northern hemisphere has just gone through its snowiest January days in 40 years and polar temperatures reached as far South as Orlando in Florida. Sure, this is not abnormal some may say… but what if we do not have to wait forty years for the next episode? An Air France flight en-route from Brazil… Continue reading Is the industry ready for this?

Energy, the environment and hot air

    Protecting the environment and using energy sustainably are both of great importance for Europe and the world. The SESAR Programme for ATM has, as one of its business objectives; “Reducing the environmental impact per flight by 10%”. Other European initiatives such as ACARE and Clean Sky aim at improving the efficiency and reducing… Continue reading Energy, the environment and hot air

Environment. The Copenflop – Is aviation better off now?

We all remember how seriously aviation had been preparing for the UN environmental conference held earlier this month in Copenhagen. Led by IATA, the aviation industry arrived with concrete proposals and plans which were seen by several non-aviation experts as templates suitable also for other industries. Once the conference kicked off, aviation experts must have… Continue reading Environment. The Copenflop – Is aviation better off now?

Bio is in…

One of the, perhaps not unexpected, results of the current world economic crisis is the explosive growth of corporate social responsibility. Part of this is in response to the growing demand of the general population to move from unchecked consumerism and predatory capitalism to a more sustainable and socially more equitable form of market economy.… Continue reading Bio is in…