ICAO contemplates tougher emissions standards on CO2 and noise for aircraft
Date added: 22 February, 2022
UN aviation experts at ICAO are again discussing toughening emissions standards for commercial aircraft, less than six years before a previously agreed standard takes effect. Support for a new emissions standard could put pressure on plane-makers, which need years to adapt to rule changes due to long production cycles, to cease producing their least efficient models. Some ICAO member countries back the introduction of more stringent standards. One source said ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) agreed to draft new standards. However, it is not clear when these might come into force – it is hoped before 2025 – nor how tough the standards would be. ICAO is seeking broad agreement this year on a long-term aviation carbon reduction goal, but there are differences with countries such as China (with a young, growing aviation sector) not enthusiastic. ICAO’s governing council has already backed emissions rules for new planes, with a cut-off date of 2028 for planes that do not comply with the standard, unless exempted.
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UN aviation experts contemplate tougher emissions standards for aircraft
By Allison Lampert (Reuters)
18.2.2022
MONTREAL, Feb 17 (Reuters) – UN aviation experts are again discussing toughening emissions standards for commercial aircraft, less than six years before a previously agreed clampdown takes effect.
Support for a new emissions standard could put pressure on planemakers, which need years to adapt to rule changes due to long production cycles, to cease producing their least efficient models, two sources familiar with the talks said.
Experts from the United States and some European countries backed tougher emissions standards during a virtual gathering of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) group this week, according to working papers and sources.
One of the sources said ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) agreed on Thursday to draft new standards for civil aircraft, as part of broader efforts through 2025 to update rules for aircraft noise and emissions.
But it remains unclear when the proposed standards for commercial aircraft, such as those made by plane-makers Boeing Co (BA.N) and Airbus SE (AIR.PA), would be drafted and take effect, and how stringent they would be, the source said.
“It’s a real struggle to see it all getting done by 2025,” the source said.
The meeting comes as ICAO is seeking broad agreement this fall on a long-term climate goal amid differences between Europe and China and growing pressure for aviation to curb emissions.
While any standard would take years to draft, win support from countries and wind its way through ICAO, the prospect of tougher emissions rules could potentially become one more headache for pandemic-weary planemakers.
“Any new standard creates pressure for planemakers,” said the second source. “What we don’t know is how much pressure.”
Montreal-based ICAO sets standards on everything from runway markings to crash investigations, which its 193 member states typically translate into regulatory requirements.
ICAO declined comment ahead of an official announcement.
ICAO’s governing council has already backed emissions rules that would be phased in for existing aircraft built from 2023, with a cut-off date of 2028 for planes that do not comply with the standard, unless exempted.
Boeing Co (BA.N) has already said it is weighing an exemption for its 767-300F, a popular freighter model that would otherwise have to cease production in 2028.
ICAO experts also supported the drafting of new standards for supersonic jets, the first source said.
Aircraft makers wanted new noise and engine emissions standards for supersonic jets, to help the fledgling industry.
Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal; Additional reporting by Eric Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Leslie Adler
https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/un-aviation-experts-contemplate-tougher-emissions-standards-aircraft-2022-02-18/
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Back in 2017:
ICAO Council adopts new CO2 emissions standard for aircraft
The 36-State ICAO Council convenes regularly at the Headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal, Canada. Alongside the ICAO 39th Assembly’s landmark agreement last October on the new Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), this latest CO2 standard for aircraft confirms the air transport sector’s leadership and concrete actions toward ensuring a sustainable end environmentally responsible future for global civil aviation.
Montréal, 6 March 2017 – The 36-State ICAO Council has adopted a new aircraft CO2 emissions standard which will reduce the impact of aviation greenhouse gas emissions on the global climate.
Contained in a new Volume III to Annex 16 of the Chicago Convention (Environmental Protection), the aircraft CO2 emissions measure represents the world’s first global design certification standard governing CO2 emissions for any industry sector.
The Standard will apply to new aircraft type designs from 2020, and to aircraft type designs already in-production as of 2023. Those in-production aircraft which by 2028 do not meet the standard will no longer be able to be produced unless their designs are sufficiently modified.
“International civil aviation has once again taken pioneering action to address the impact of aviation CO2 emissions on the global climate,” stressed ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, “making air transport the first industry sector globally to adopt a CO2 emissions design certification standard. Alongside our 39th Assembly’s landmark agreement last October on the new Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), this latest development confirms our sector’s leadership and concrete actions toward ensuring a sustainable end environmentally responsible future for global civil aviation,” President Aliu added.
“This historic accomplishment places aviation in an even better position as we look forward to a greener era of air transport development,” commented ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu. “The dedicated work of the ICAO Secretariat, the hundreds of experts who compose ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), and the State representatives on our Air Navigation Commission has been highly appreciated.”
https://www.icao.int/newsroom/pages/icao-council-adopts-new-co2-emissions-standard-for-aircraft.aspx
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Background Details: new CO2 Standard for Aircraft
Effective date: July 2017
Applicability date: 1 January 2018
Embedded applicability date(s):
Subsonic jet aeroplanes, including their derived versions, of greater than 5 700 kg maximum take-off mass for which the application for a type certificate was submitted on or after 1 January 2020, except for those aeroplanes of less than or equal to 60 000 kg maximum take-off mass with a maximum passenger seating capacity of 19 seats or less;
Subsonic jet aeroplanes, including their derived versions, of greater than 5 700 kg and less than or equal to 60 000 kg maximum take-off mass with a maximum passenger seating capacity of 19 seats or less, for which the application for a type certificate was submitted on or after 1 January 2023;
All propeller-driven aeroplanes, including their derived versions, of greater than 8 618 kg maximum take-off mass, for which the application for a type certificate was submitted on or after 1 January 2020;
Derived versions of non-CO2-certified subsonic jet aeroplanes of greater than 5 700 kg maximum certificated take-off mass for which the application for certification of the change in type design was submitted on or after 1 January 2023;
Derived versions of non-CO2 certified propeller-driven aeroplanes of greater than 8 618 kg maximum certificated take-off mass for which the application for certification of the change in type design was submitted on or after 1 January 2023;
Individual non-CO2-certified subsonic jet aeroplanes of greater than 5 700 kg maximum certificated take-off mass for which a certificate of airworthiness was first issued on or after 1 January 2028; and
Individual non-CO2-certified propeller-driven aeroplanes of greater than 8 618 kg maximum certificated take-off mass for which a certificate of airworthiness was first issued on or after 1 January 2028.
https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT-ICAO_policy-update_revised_jan2017.pdf
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Posted: Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022. Filed in Climate Change News, General News, Recent News.
