When planes fly, they release greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere, and these emissions are a big contributor to climate change. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and cause the planet to warm up, leading to negative effects, like more natural disasters, food and water shortages, and the spread of diseases.
It’s abundantly clear that reducing emissions from aviation is a need of the hour, but how to reduce aviation emissions is a question that has no easy answers, only complex solutions. In this blog, we will look at three ways in which you can reduce aviation emissions.
How to reduce aviation emissions?
The biggest culprits in aviation emissions are the jet engines on planes, which give off a mix of harmful substances like nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and soot. But other aircraft-related activities, like engine maintenance or taxiing on the runway, can also create pollution.
And while you may not be able to completely avoid this issue, you can reduce aviation emissions. Here’s how:
Use clean fuels
It’s crazy to think about how much fuel planes use, isn’t it? Just one Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet can burn through 4 liters of jet fuel every second! And when you consider that there are hundreds of planes like this in the sky at any given time, all completing thousands of trips every day, it’s easy to see how the carbon emissions from jet fuel add up quickly.
It’s no wonder the aviation industry is such a major contributor to climate change. That’s why it’s so important that we work to reduce emissions from aviation by using more fuel-efficient planes, finding alternatives to flying, and investing in cleaner fuels, such as biofuels.
Biofuels are made from renewable resources like plants or waste products, and they can be used to power airplanes in much the same way that jet fuel is used. Biofuel-producing plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. When the biofuels are burned, they release that carbon dioxide back into the air, but it’s a much smaller amount than would be released from burning fossil fuels like jet fuel.
So, by using biofuels, we can help reduce the overall carbon footprint of the aviation industry and fight climate change.
Employ emissions control
You can also cut down on aviation emissions by using advanced emissions control techniques developed by an environmental solutions company. Cimarron, for instance, helps the aerospace industry make its operations more environmentally friendly. They manufacture equipment that helps aviation companies produce, transport and store hydrocarbons safely and without harming the environment.
The company also develops special technologies that can capture harmful gases like methane, CO2 and NOX — three of the biggest climate-polluting components of aviation emissions — and either uses them or destroy them.
Some emissions control companies specialize in helping companies with “carbon offsetting” — offsetting their carbon emissions by investing in projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. For example, an airline might work with an emissions control company to fund the planting of trees or the development of clean energy projects to offset the carbon emissions from its flights.
Improve aircraft efficiency
Aircraft that aren’t fine-tuned for fuel efficiency will always burn more fuel than efficient aircraft. But if you invest in improving the efficiency of your aircraft, it will use less fuel to travel the same distance. And since burning fuel produces emissions, using less fuel means generating fewer emissions.
And no, you don’t have to send your engines to the drawing board to do this. Simple tweaks are more than enough.
For instance, if you re-design the outer hull to be more aerodynamic, you can make your aircraft more fuel efficient by improving its drag. In the same vein, if you use lighter materials in the construction of the aircraft, that can help reduce the overall weight of the aircraft and make it more efficient.
There are also operational changes that you can make to improve aircraft efficiency. For example, optimizing flight routes and using more efficient air traffic control procedures can help reduce fuel consumption.
Final word
If aviation emissions continue to go unchecked, they will keep making climate change worse. Reducing aviation emissions today can help prevent the worst impacts of global warming in the future.