Reducing sky-high emissions (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Reducing sky-high emissions

8:20am Wednesday 11th January 2012 in Keith Thomson By Keith Thomson

A Boxing Day report declared that Leeds-Bradford Airport had enjoyed another great year in 2011, and the figures clearly show considerable growth.

Passenger numbers have passed three million, with a 13 per cent increase on the previous year, and the owners, Bridgepoint, say they are on target for five million by 2016. There has been significant new investment in the facilities and more airline companies now seem to be involved.

This pattern of growth is typical of the wider aviation industry that has more than doubled passenger numbers in the last two decades and is set for another 50 per cent increase in the next one.

While this may seem to be a very desirable state of affairs for passengers, it certainly isn’t for the planet. Flying and shipping are the only two major industries that have made no progress in reducing their CO2 emissions. Indeed the increase has been in line with passenger numbers and shows no sign of slowing.

Aeroplane emissions are particularly serious as they are mainly produced thousands of feet up in the sky, where the CO2 is more than twice as effective in trapping heat as it is at ground level. In addition, the nitrogen oxides react to produce another climate change gas, ozone, and the water vapour leads to condensation trails that prevent heat escaping.

It seems that the only way to stabilise the amount of damage done by flying, and then begin to reduce it, is to make it more expensive, and this is about to happen. It’s no surprise that the airlines are resistant, but they need to remember that they don’t pay any fuel tax at all at the moment, unlike car drivers.

There has been an air passenger duty for the last decade or so, but recently it has risen steeply and is to go up again, by ten per cent, in April, despite protests from the airlines.

By itself this would have minimal effect on the amount of flying as three-quarters of all flights are by people in the higher-earning groups, but now another tax has just come into force at the start of the year, and this might finally begin to reduce the amount of CO2 produced.

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme already applies to large industries that produce CO2, such as power stations, iron and steel, cement and paper, and covers 30 countries. Initially, the airlines will be set a cap, and then have to pay for certificates to cover 15 per cent of their excess carbon emissions.

Paying for the remaining 85 per cent can’t come quickly enough if we are to reduce the amount of CO2 accumulating in the atmosphere.