Originally Posted by
paparomeodelta
Around 500 kg less Co2..
Canīt we just keep off the grumpyness, cynisism and quarrelling here, and be constructive?
We could, if you can keep off the CO2 nonsense.
Aviation has an impact on the environment, nobody is denying that.
IMO. most of it can be classed under two headings,
noise and
pollution.
Noise... while the industry is making continuous progress, with the A380, as the biggest civil aircraft flying, also amazingly being just about the quietest, the noise footprint of an airport still extends way beyond its boundaries.
New airport are being built well away from towns, but people will still move to new developments right under the flight path, and THEN complain about the noise.
And older airports, once well away from towns, are now gradually being swamped by suburban sprawl.
Tweaking departure and approach routes and procedures can occasionally alleviate this, as was done already at JFK in the Concorde days (!), but today it no longer changes much.
The only solution is quieter aircraft carrying more passengers, exactly like the A380, reducing both the noise itself, and the number of aircraft movements.
It might even be a possible benchmark for your study - which airline is producing the most (and most annoying, in terms of volume, frequency, time of day, etc.) noise?
Pollution....if we can get away a moment from the CO2 nonsense... CO2 is NOT a pollutant.
Yes, like any industry, such as power generation, transport in all its other forms, etc. that uses fossil fuel, aviation produces pollution.
On the one hand, burning aviation fuel does produce a certain amount of NO2, SO2 and particulates. It is only a small amount compared to any other industry, and has an impact mainly on the air quality at and around airports... the remainder is dispersed higher up in the atmosphere.
Oh yes, and burning aviation fuel also produces water vapour, as evidenced sometimes by contrails..... which actually causes cooling of the local weather.
On the other hand, like any other industry that uses modern technology, aviation does also produces pollution right where it's based, from the amount of waste products it produces.
Just think oil, spilled fuel, cleaning and de-icing products, packaging, discarded electronic components, to mention but a few.
You can add to the list itself.
How much of that gets into the local water table, or in the local landfills, or is shipped to third-world countries?
Not to mention the 'secondary' effects.... like transport to and from the airport of passengers and cargo (transport which is nowhere near as fuel-efficient as air transport itself, and pollutes the environment right on the spot).
Recycling, pollution prevention, waste management... those might be other benchmarks that could be added to the list.
CJ