Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
UK government sued by ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth over ‘pie-in-the-sky’ net-zero climate strategy
ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth say the UK government's "net zero climate strategy" (published in October 2021) fails to include policies needed to ensure the necessary emissions cuts. Court papers filed on 12th January by the two organisations also say the failure to meet legal carbon budgets would contravene the Human Rights Act by impacting on young people’s right to life and family life. The strategy pushes the risks and duty to take action onto young people and future generations, who stand to be hit far harder than people today by the climate crisis. Instead of realistic, effective means of cutting the carbon emissions, the strategy relies on speculative technologies such as zero-carbon aviation fuels and extracting CO2 directly from the air and burying it. Both CE and FoE argue that the Climate Change Act requires ministers to set out policies to meet carbon budgets “as soon as reasonably practicable” after they have been set. There are no practical plans to cut aviation demand, or to effectively reduce the emissions from aviation, for decades. After the submission of the government’s defence, the high court will decide whether to grant full hearings of the cases.
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Aviation sector is hoping, unrealistically, that future “carbon capture & storage” will solve its CO2 problems
There is a presumption in all future climate scenarios, aiming to get to "net zero" by 2050 (or whenever) that "negative carbon technologies" will have to be used. It will be essential to try to remove some of the CO2 from the global atmosphere. Obviously, a more effective way to keep global CO2 to a lower figure would be to stop emitting it, over the next decade or two decades. But governments and businesses, including the aviation sector, are not keen on doing that; it would be bad for business. Even the most optimistic forecasts for the amount of carbon that could be captured by DACCS (Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage) would only be a tiny % of annual emissions, let alone the millions of tonnes emitted in the past. The technology is expensive and uses a great deal of energy. So far, the only carbon capture that has been profitable has been pumping the captured CO2 into depleting oil and gas fields, in order to get out more oil and gas (totally negating the purpose of capturing the CO2 in the first place). Aviation will want people to believe in the future magical abilities of this tech - people need to be very sceptical indeed. Beware dangerous greenwash.
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Local MP, Bim Afolami, and community groups ask Gove to call-in Luton expansion plans
Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, has called on the government to review plans to allow for a million more passengers per year through Luton Airport, rising from 18 million to 19 million. On 2nd December, Luton Borough Council (which owns the airport and decides its planning applications) approved the airport's expansion plans and varying the noise conditions it operates under. Now Bim Afolami has asked Communities Secretary Michael Gove, at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to "call-in" the decision. The DLUHC says it would consider requests for a call-in, taking the decision from the council, to government. This is usually when an application has wider impacts than just the local area, which Luton's extra flights definitely would. Another reason for call-in is if an application conflicts with a national policy - climate in this case. Bim said the decision to approve the expansion "completely ignores the environmental and cross-boundary impact". Local groups, including the Luton and District Association for Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN) and Harpenden Sky, have also written to the Minister asking for call-in.
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Preposterous claim by Leeds Bradford airport to become “net zero” by 2030 (ignoring the planes)
Airports are very fond of making grandiose claims about their efforts to cut their carbon emissions, from their buildings and ground operations, and reduce their environmental footprint. That is all very welcome. But it is merely disingenuous and frankly misleading as the claims to be "net zero" or "carbon neutral" ignore the emissions from the flights, that happen because of the airport. Generally the emissions from the airport itself are around 5% - that sort of figure - of the total emissions generated by the overall activities of the airport and its flights. Now Leeds Bradford - trying to increase number of flights - is making claims about how it will be "net zero" (excluding flights) by 2030. The term "net zero" does not mean a lot. Emissions can only be "net" if offsets are bought - there are few offsets that are effective in genuinely reducing carbon, over decades. Carbon capture and storage would reduce carbon, but it is many decades away, on any significant scale. As most passengers using the airport are people who live relatively near the airport, going on leisure trips, the airport is keen that they reduce the carbon impact of their trips to and from the airport. The airport CEO wants them to travel in electric cars ...
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Government £15 million funding for 8 companies, hoping to make low carbon jet fuels
The DfT has announced the spending of £15 million for 8 companies that hope to make the (dreamed of) low carbon jet fuels that the industry so desperately wants. None of the funding is, as far as can be ascertained, going into development of plant or animal lipids. Many of the contenders intend to use domestic, commercial or woody waste, to convert this using gasification and the (energy intensive) Fischer-Tropsch process, into fuel. One wants to use sewage. Another wants to use industrial flue gases. Another wants to use direct air capture CO2, combined with hydrogen from electrolysis. There are grandiose claims about how much fuel will be made, how low its lifetime carbon emissions will be. In reality, it is unlikely that using forestry waste (not tree trunks) will produce much. Domestic waste is a very variable material, that has proved difficult to reliably turn into fuel in any quantity (and it needs people to throw away enough food, plastic, paper and card). Many require large amounts of electricity that is genuinely produced from renewables, competing with other uses. And producing fuel is generally a less efficient use of electricity than using it directly for heating or movement. So a lot of pie in the sky. Watch how these develop in the next few years ...
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Kent County Council KCC strongly opposes Gatwick’s northern runway proposals
Kent County Council (KCC) has responded to Gatwick Airport’s consultation strongly opposing plans to routinely use its northern runway for departing aircraft. The plans would see the airport grow - if things go Gatwick's way - from 46.6 million passengers per annum (MPPA) in 2019 to 75.6 mppa by 2038. The council's response is in line with their existing Policy on Gatwick Airport, which was adopted by Cabinet in 2014. KCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, David Brazier said: “KCC has long argued the impacts of Gatwick’s current single runway configuration are already unacceptable, and a potential increase of these impacts on local communities and the environment would be intolerable" with the extra flights and noise. They are also concerned about the increased carbon emissions, and the pressure on public transport to and from Kent. KCC says the project would have a significant material impact on the Government’s ability to meet carbon reduction targets. Also that the full extent to which communities and the environment will be impacted will not be properly assessed or appropriately mitigated.
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Climate Change Committee stresses need to reduce demand for air travel
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), in its report following up the outcome of the COP26 talks, says that rolling out the Net Zero Strategy must lead to emissions falling in all sectors (i.e. going beyond recent progress dominated by the power sector). They say there is a gap on behaviour change (e.g. shifting diets away from meat and dairy and limiting aviation demand growth). That needs to be changed, in order to get emissions reductions. Reductions in aviation are especially important for the UK, as we have very high per person aviation emissions. The Committee has repeatedly stressed that an element of demand reduction for air travel is needed. The Government has repeatedly ignored that, knowing that anything restricting or make flying more expensive, is a vote-loser. The COP26 Glasgow Pact said there should be no "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies. The CCC has said that the absence of VAT or fuel duty on air travel are post-tax subsidies.
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Luton Council approves plans for Luton to increase from 18 to 19 mppa
In February, Luton airport submitted a planning application to Luton Borough Council (its owner) to increase the annual cap on passenger throughput from 18m to 19mppa. Also to expand the day and night noise contours by 11.3% and 15.3% respectively until 2028. Now Luton Borough Council has approved the plan to increase to 19 million - and the plans to change the noise contours, to the huge disappointment of many local groups already negatively affected by aircraft noise. The Council said this application did not affect the airport's long term proposals to increase capacity to 32 million per year, which would be determined by government, through a DCO, not the council. The airport is owned by a company that has changed its name to Luton Rising - and that is owned by Luton Council. How well the airport will do in future years is unknown, with the impact of Covid, targets for aviation to become "carbon neutral" and growing awareness of the climate impact of air travel. Luton's passenger numbers dropped almost 70% between 2019 and 2020 due to Covid.
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Climate Change Committee says there needs to be a reinvigorated UK effort on climate change
The Climate Change Committee says how far Glasgow can be considered a success can only be assessed by the actions that follow over the coming year and beyond. There is now a path to expected global warming of under 2°C, but only if all the ambition in new mid-century Net Zero targets is delivered, alongside national 2030 emissions targets. Current climate policies around the world do not come close to achieving these aims. For the UK it says "The Glasgow Climate Pact makes notable reference to ‘phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’. The UK has a duty to act on this in common with other countries. The CCC recommends that the Treasury initiates a review of the role of the tax system in delivering Net Zero, including the role of tax in achieving a higher and more consistent carbon price across the economy. Low carbon prices are effectively a subsidy. No fossil fuel subsidies should be classed as ‘efficient’." The CCC did not mention it, but the absence of any fuel tax on jet fuel, and no VAT on air travel, and effectively a subsidy to air travel. The CCC has repeatedly said that air travel should not be expanded unless there is effective progress on cutting aviation carbon emissions. Demand for air travel must be reduced.
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Aviation’s climate pledges contradicted by huge growth forecasts
The aviation industry is aiming for "carbon neutrality by 2050" while continuing to expand. While it hopes to make small reductions in carbon per passenger kilometre travelled, by efficiency gains and novel energy sources, most of the "carbon neutrality" would have to be from offsets, or carbon storage. There are currently no viable means of propelling commercial airlines large distances, without causing the emission of a lot of carbon. That situation is unlikely to change for at least another 40 years. In the meantime, it is imperative that global carbon emissions reduce fast, year by year, from now onwards. Not from 2050. Transport & Environment says relying on ICAO and its CORSIA (ineffective) scheme to achieve net-zero in the long-term will be just another distraction from real measures to clean up flying in the near term. Relying on rapid deployment of yet-to-be-deployed Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and zero-emissions technology is harmful, as large-scale deployment is many years away. Assuming solutions are just around the corner would unjustifiably, and damagingly, allow high levels of air travel to continue. Flying less is the most effective way to reduce aviation emissions.