This article is penned by Shubhangi Upmanya, a first-year student of Vivekananda Institute of professional studies, Indraprastha  University. In this article, she has reflected on the environmental concerns and climate change, along with facts on how the aviation industry causes pollution and what steps it has taken to eradicate it.

Introduction

Climate change has been a hot topic since recent years as we could all feel it, but there is a lot less done to stop it or lessen it eventually. There are many factors that contribute to climate change, whilst the greenhouse gas is the biggest contributor to climate change.

This greenhouse gas is emitted by various kinds of transport.where road transport is responsible for almost 74% of the CO₂ emissions leading to climate change, air transport is responsible for 12% of the CO₂ emission from all of its sources. Also, according to the fact sheet by the Air Transport Action Group, the global aviation industry releases 2% of man-made CO₂ into the environment. We generally witness the measures taken to reduce the emissions from road transport but air transport is generally ignored to be taken into account. Though only 12% against 74%, there is a need to ensure that climate change through aviation is prevented considerably.  One such significant convention on climate change was the Kyoto Protocol. This happened in 1977, after which in 2016 ICAO(International Civil Aviation Organization) brought in new standards along with CORSIA(Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) with the aim to stabilize CO₂ emissions.

In this article, we will discuss these resolutions that focus on building a clear sky.

Fact sheet 

This fact sheet, which is presented below to let you in a deeper depth of the problem concerning climate change, is published by the ATAG ( Air Transport Action Group). Let us have a look.

• Global aviation produces 2% of the total man-made CO₂ emissions.
• Aviation produces 12% CO₂ emissions from all its transport sources.
• The goods that are shipped because of their perishable nature through aviation are generally 35% more than their actual value.
• As we stand today, the jet aircraft in use are 80% more efficient than the aircraft of the 1960s.
• Approx 80% of CO₂ is emitted by the aircraft flying beyond 1500 Kilometers and the sad part is we have no alternative source for it.
• In today’s time, sustainable aviation fuels are recognized as efficient fuels and it is estimated to reduce air pollution by 80%.
• And now the very interesting one, on an average, humans produce approx 45 billion of CO₂ emissions, while the flights globally produced 915 million tonnes of CO₂ in the previous year, that is 2019.

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Kyoto Protocol, 1977

The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty was concluded in Kyoto, Japan in the year 1977.

It extends to the UNFCCC that stands for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It accounts for the legal obligation of the countries to control the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  It also covers in it the gases that are emitted through the aviation sector, that is the aviation sector has to operate according to the Kyoto Protocol in view of the climate concern. This protocol talks about 5 gases that are,  Carbon dioxide (CO₂),  Nitrous oxide (N₂O),  Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Methane (CH₄), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆).

Now, let us have a look at the elements of the protocol.

Rules formulated 

1. According to this article, energy-efficient sources should be opted for in the national economy sector.
2. There are constructed sinks and reservoirs for the greenhouse gases, so they need to be enhanced and protected provided they do not fall under the enlisted reservoirs in the Montreal Protocol.
3. There should be research done and new renewable sources of energy should be developed and sustained.
4. Reduction on tax, subsidies, incentives should be done on the greenhouse emitting sectors, this includes the aviation sector.
5. In the transport sector (Air Transport), the measures and policies should be laid down to lessen the emissions of greenhouse gases.

It further clearly states that the aviation sector should limit and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by formulating adequate policies through the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Every country signatory to it will be assigned some fixed units for the emission of the CO2 which should not be exceeded. Let us discuss some cases that may follow:

• The party which transfers any emission reduction units to another party, the units will be deducted from the transferring part,
• Similarly, if any party obtains the emission reduction unit from another state, the units will be added on to the assigned units of the party which takes the units,
• If emission reduction units of the party are still left after the period ends then it will be automatically added on to the next subsequent period.

Some more rules are as follows:

• There is an annual inventory of each country that contains information about anthropogenic emissions causing environmental pollution and is emitted through various sources and by removing the sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases. Therefore, these countries have to provide the necessary information in the annual inventory, 
• Also, the countries should incorporate the necessary information in the national communication as per Article 12 of this convention. The due process of which will be recommended by this convention,
• The guidelines for furnishing the information should be reviewed by the parties from time to time,
• Also, the information furnished will be checked by the expert review teams decided by the conference of the parties. It should be as per the relevant procedures laid down by this convention.

Now, after we’ve discussed the relevant points of this convention, we may move forward to discussing the famous United Nations Framework  Convention on Climate Change.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

According to this convention, climate change means “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”.

When we talk about climate change to take place, it should be done in a manner and in such a time frame so that it does not interfere with the economical conditions of the country and it allows the climate to adapt to the change. 

This is what this convention was set to achieve. We will now be looking at the different points of this convention:

• Mankind should be protected and climate change can to a great extent affect that. Therefore, the protection of the present and the future mankind is the objective of this convention. And to pursue it, this convention urges the developed countries to come forward and initiate some actions combating climate change.
• The developing countries and the countries that could get affected the most due to climate change should be taken care of.

We need to understand that there may be at times less scientific and technical assistance with countries but that should not be the reason to push back the call of nature to mitigate such adverse climate change. Though the policies and actions should be such which takes into account the socio-economical aspects.

For the parties, sustainable development to address climate change and national development as a whole should be one of the goals to achieve in the long run. While doing this no kind of discrimination or unjust restriction should be done.

Let us see what parties have to do:

• Publish in their national inventories, the information related to the measures and policies undertaken. 
• Parties should formulate and publish information related to the removal of the anthropogenic emissions from sources and through the removal of the sinks and reservoirs. (also provided in the Kyoto Protocol).
• The calculation of the emissions should be done through scientific tools and should be communicated.
• With the reference of aviation, if there is any exchange or implementation of a program related to the transport sector, the parties should provide complete assistance.
• In case the program or any measure is taken up by a developing country, developed countries should provide the developing country with the needed financial resource.
• The developed countries will provide adequate assistance to the developing countries to build up the necessary technologies necessary to mitigate climate change.

There are countries for which the measures have to be more or kind of special so, the countries that have to be taken care of are:

1. Small island countries; 
2. Countries falling in low-lying coastal areas; 
3. Countries having arid and semi-arid areas, 
4. Countries having forested areas and prominent for forest decay; 
5. Countries prone to natural disasters;  
6. Countries  where drought and desertification can take place; 
7. Urban countries prone to high pollution in the atmosphere;
8. Countries having low on strength ecosystems( includes mountain ecosystems); 
9. Countries having their economies highly dependent on income procured through the production, export, processing, and consumption of fossil fuels. It also includes associated energy-intensive products.

To bring out any program or method, intensive research is necessary as a start plan. Such research may include: conducting research, financing it, assessing it, collecting data, analyzing and observing it and finally implementing it.  Hence, the parties should facilitate the research and help other parties to develop it and hence avoid any double efforts of the parties.

Further, every party on a governmental level should make their citizens aware of the facts related to climate change and also such awareness programs should be conducted on an inter-governmental basis also among the participating states.

International Civil Aviation Organization

This organization was formed in 1944 under the Chicago Convention (Convention on International Civil Aviation). It lays down every specification for carrying out the operations of civil aviation in a safe and orderly manner. This convention lays down the standards for the aircraft but environmental concerns are not been very thoroughly explained in it but this convention realized the need to promote sustainable development in an orderly manner.

However, this organization takes into account every aspect of climate change produced through aviation. 

Let us now look at various steps and plans drafted by ICAO related to the environmental concerns.

Reference Manual on the ICAO Statistics Programme 

In this manual, taxation on fuels and environmental emissions has been focused on.

As per the Protection of Environment and Sustainable Development goals related to Air Transport — such development should be aimed so that it is economical and promotes sustainable development goals, as well as does not deteriorate the environment.

Environmental Protection

• To take care of the environment and in order to meet the environmental goals and sustainable development goals, we have a committee to look after it, the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP). It helps in both forecasting and analyzing and observing economic activities. 
• Analyzing the economical activities would include the observation carried out for the examination of the impact of airport noise on air carriers, especially of developing nations and to analyze the implementation of the airport noise reduction policies and if the reports submitted and those which allowed the organization to pull a complete ban on the use of certain types of aircraft. It will ultimately help mitigate the possibility of the use of economical power creating a negative economic impact on air carriers of the States.  
• In earlier times the environmental pollution consisted of the noise from the aircraft but nowadays, it has gradually shifted from noise pollution to pollution as a whole. This pollution more recently is caused due to aircraft engine gas emissions which are a major contributing factor to climate change. 
• As already mentioned in this article the calculation for the carbon released is a major step to analyze that it does not exceed the given limit, therefore, some basic operational data should be obtained from the traffic management total. This has to be done according to the unique data collection of ICAO, the flight stage statistical series.
• For the above-mentioned process, the organization should develop a carbon calculator which has to be approved by the industry. This calculator should be such that it provides proper estimates of the carbon footprint of a passenger on his/her air journey.
• This methodology is now provided to every entity involved in aviation in order to facilitate the calculation of the carbon footprints.
• The importance of the environmental concern is growing day by day, therefore the information about climate change and policies should be made available to the ICAO, the member states of ICAO and the other civilian stakeholders. The information should provide the consumption of aviation fuel to let them provide assistance in the analysis required to facilitate the policies.
• Such data is necessary to be given in order to analyze the measures related to the improvement of the aircraft technologies and to check for the policies related to air traffic management. Basically, it checks how efficient the policies, initiatives, and measures taken up by the organization are.
• Group of International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC) introduces new goals in order to enhance the efficiency of the fuels used in aircraft. These goals are published in the program of action. Therefore, there has to be a check provided to see if these programs are efficient while implemented. 
• In May 2009, the goals mentioned in the program of action were adopted by the Group of International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC) and in October 2009 it was endorsed by High-Level Meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change (HLM- ENV).
• Under Article 67 of the Chicago Convention(Convention on International Civil Aviation), the Secretariat of the ICAO has to be directed by the Council to make such a mechanism and implement it in order to take account of the fuel consumption. It will also develop such a mechanism that will also take care of the collection of data regarding air traffic.
• To follow such rules the participating states have to submit “Form M”. This form will consist of the information concerning the fuel consumption by commercial aircraft carriers of different aircraft types. This reporting has to be given on an annual basis.

ICAO Annex- 16

In this annexe, the ICAO has laid down standards regulating the noise that the aircraft makes and the emissions that the aircraft emit. In 1972, Resolution 18-11 was adopted, later on, in 12th session Resolution, 18-12 was also adopted. Both focused on enhancing the level of the human environment. Later on, the ICAO Action Plan was implemented, wherein a group was formed which assisted the Secretariat regarding the action plans related to environmental concern.

Let us have a look at it:

• The contracting states should inform the Organization about any kind of difference that is existing between the national practices and standards and international practices and standards.  
• The contracting states should also inform about any amendments pertaining to the standards if they feel that it is necessary for the safety of the aviation.
• The Contracting States should also notify the organization about any differences which are withdrawn.
• The states should not be up to the venting of the fuel intentionally, therefore a certificate for preventing the same should be provided by a competent authority on the basis of proper evidence. This evidence would be the proper functioning of the aircraft as per the standards established. The certificate should contain the following:

• The flow of the fuel
• The engine index
• Smoke number

• There can be a situation wherein the liquid fuel may escape from the nozzle of the engine post flying that is while landing on the ground. Therefore, the aircraft should be constructed and designed properly and accordingly such that this does not happen and the fuel does not enter the atmosphere causing pollution.
• The contracting states will also have to provide the organization with a certificate concerning the healthy engine that is fit to be in the atmosphere. This certificate is known as an emission certificate and will consist of the following:
• The name of the authority which has given this certificate;
• Type of the manufacture and the name of the model;
• Information about any additional modification added on to make the engine compatible for the environment;
• Pressure ratio;
• Thrust;
• Compliance for smoke requirement and gas emission requirements.

Emissions types:

The emission involves the following:

• HC- Unburned Hydrocarbon,
• Smoke(measured in Smoke Number)
• Gaseous emission(determine the mass emission rate)
• Oxides of Nitrogen
• CO- Carbon Monoxide

• The fuel should be according to the specifications provided in Appendix 4 unless any difference or deviation has been agreed upon by the competent certificating authority.
• If the test conditions that is the atmospheric condition while taking the test differs from the atmospheric conditions, the test results should be corrected as per the procedures provided in this Annex in the appendix-3. 
• The information of the engine to seek the certificate should involve the following:

• Identification of engine
• Calculated rated output
• Fuel pressure ratio
• Hydrogen/carbon ratio in the fuel
• Information about the data collected

Measurement of smoke

• The emission comes in contact with a probe material during sampling. That material should be made of stainless steel or any other non-reactive material.   
• The sampling locations should be more than 12.
• The certificate should be provided for ascertaining that the probe design and structure are as per the thrust settings.
• The plane used for sampling should be close to the engine nozzle.
• It further provides for the measurement of the instrument procedures.
• The engine should be tested in a static facility. Such a facility will facilitate a proper, accurate, and high-level testing of the place.
• The leakage checks should be done along with some cleanliness tests which involve confirming the working of all the valves involved.
• There is a thorough procedure prescribed in this Annex regarding the valves changing to bypass, or which valves will be closed first and which one will be closed alternately.
• Smoke values should not be dependent on other instruments provided they are not very less. If they are, their measurements shall be made along with other gaseous elements.
• Further in it is provided the analysis of the measurement of Hydro-carbon. Non-dispersive infrared analyzers should be used to measure CO and CO2.
• The oxides of nitrogen should be measured through the chemiluminescent method.
• The instruments and the transfer lines used fro samples should be first warmed up.
• Starting with the test, the carbon balance check should be done first, it includes air ratio and fuel ratio check.
• If any other method is used for the measurement of these gases, it should be first approved by a competent authority.

There can be two synergistic effects that take place and have to be controlled, they are:

• The oxygen effect
• Relative hydrocarbon response

The magnitude of the effects has to be limited accordingly.

Resolution A40- 18

• The resolution emphasizes ICAO to be continuously active and to provide leadership in all the activities and policies aiming at mitigating environmental pollution caused by international civil aviation, including greenhouse gases emission.
• It further emphasizes on ICAO to present strong proposals and technical solutions to environmental problems.
• Stresses upon the need of the ICAO to provide assistance to UNFCCC and other organizations working on the same goal.
• It further insists on taking measures that are market-base and making sure that the measures made could apply to both developed as well as developing countries.
• It affirms that the motive and goal of the policies and measures should be to reduce the emissions through the engine and not to hamper the growth of air transport which is necessary for developing economies.
• Emphasis should be made to collect the important information in the field and to create platforms and forums where problems can be discussed and the parties could lead to a solution. 
• The resolution taken up is to achieve an improvement in the average fuel efficiency by 2%. This should be done by the year 2020. And to achieve the global fuel efficiency improvement of 2% in the span of  2021 to 2050.
• These goals will not be equally applicable to all the states, but the capabilities whether economic or technological and the different circumstances along with the different state’s contributions to greenhouse gases will be taken into consideration.
• It further implies that the net carbon emissions should be maintained at the same level starting from the year 2020. 
• Along with it, the check should be done if the goal proposed is viable and can be attained or not, also what all impacts the goals may create later in the long run as these goals are aspired to be feasible in the long run.
• States should on an annual basis submit the annual action plan to ICAO  along with the reports of the CO2 emissions.
• The assistance to other states regarding policymaking and developing and implementing measures should be provided. States should come forward to help each other to eradicate such environmental problems.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel 

In resolution 40-18, the need for sustainable aviation fuel was felt. It is a major element to reduce environmental problems. It includes the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, in short, which is known as CORSIA.

ICAO vision for 2050:

The vision of ICAO is to use sustainable aviation fuel in a  significant proportion by 2050. This was decided in its second conference which took place in October 2017.

Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels

We may now discuss the highlighted recommendations and points from this conference:

1. Use of sugarcane-ethanol:

• The sugarcane ethanol because its renewability and low carbon content is a potential environmental sustainable product;
• The production of sugarcane ethanol in areas having a tropical climate favors an extreme energy gain; 
• Replacing other fuels with sugarcane ethanol proves to be both technologically feasible and economically viable under certain conditions;
• Many countries already have the sort of infrastructure under which sugarcane  production on large-scale is possible; 
• Technologies based on sugarcane can be used with the already existing biofuels production infrastructure and also carry such potential needed to replace petroleum-derived fuels.

2. The Fuel Readiness Level (FRL) scale:

• The CAAFI sponsors have developed the Fuel Readiness Level (FRL) scale and a fuel process technology developer.
• It can be used to provide a  process to help govern the communication of technology.
• It is adequate for managing and communicating research data to investors;
• The FRL can also be used for communicating to the airworthiness authorities and may also be used to tell the appropriate timings for required environmental assessments; 
• The FRL helps in managing while communicating the practicality of using fuels in aircraft, its engines, and other aviation infrastructure; 
• The FRL is helpful to provide a process to be used for future aviation fuel development and risk mitigation.

3. Conclusions: 

• The stress has been given on the felt importance of international standardization for an “aviation ethanol” fuel. The standardization should be according to the  specification with specific consideration provided to the range of aircraft;
• The need for the drop-in fuels as an alternative fuel is obviously felt nowadays,
• It further stresses upon the governments to make and implement such public policies that promote and  preserve the use of existing fuel infrastructures for drop-in fuels for aviation, including bio drop-in fuels; 
• The alternative drop-in fuel should be used for civil aviation;
•  The criteria for establishing Global harmonization of sustainability is needed.

Conclusion 

The environment where we live, the nature that has been given to us is to cherish and not to exploit. With emerging new technologies, the environment should be protected because, without it, we are nothing. We would have new technologies but no fresh air to breathe in as these technologies will be the reason for it if they do not consider the environmental concerns. Aviation industry today stands as one big industry and if steps are not taken to make this industry environment-friendly, we are going to face a very hard time.

References 

• https://www.icao.int/Meetings/caaf2009/Documents/CAAF-09_SD002_en.p
• https://www.icao.int/MID/Documents/2014/Aviation%20Data%20Analyses%20Seminar/9060_Manual%20on%20Statistics_en.pdf
• https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/support/Primer_2006GLs.pdf
• https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/0_Overview/V0_1_Overview.pdf
• https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gp/bgp/2_5_Aircraft.pdf
• https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/1_Volume1/V1_8_Ch8_Reporting_Guidance.pdf
• https://archive.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/aviation/151.htm
• https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/894.pdf
• https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
• https://www.atag.org/facts-figures.html
• https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf
• https://www.icao.int/Meetings/a39/Lists/WorkingPapers/AllItems.aspx?Paged=TRUE&p_ControlNumber=109&p_ID=105&PageFirstRow=151&&View=%7B37879CD2-A59F-48F8-84D3-72A503AEEA04%7D

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