The current narrative surrounding aviation and its impact upon the environment is wholly negative. This presents a clear threat to the air transport industry and it has the potential to limit the growth that aviation needs for commercial success and the world needs in order to maintain economic growth and improved social wellbeing. Whilst, in principle at least, there are some technical solutions available for the removal of carbon from the aircraft, e.g. sustainable aviation fuels and electric aircraft, all are high risk, high cost and, above all, long term. However, aviation’s impact on the environment is not limited to CO2, nor is CO2 even the largest contributor. In this lecture, the broader environmental impact of aviation will be considered. It will be shown that the aviation’s overall climate impact is currently estimated to be twice that of its CO2 effect. It will be argued that “contrail management” is a major weapon in the fight against climate change. If it can be supported by the right government policies, it has the potential to make a real positive contribution and, in doing so, could change aviation’s narrative from negative to strongly positive.
Hamburg Aerospace Lecture Series --- Collection of Presentations --- http://www.AeroLectures.de