How EU Space helps aviation reduce its environmental impact
On 20 June 2024, after illegally gaining entry to London Stansted Airport, two Just Stop Oil protesters proceeded to spray several private jets with orange coloured paint. Earlier in the year, climate protestors conducted ‘days of actions’ at such airports as Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Heathrow, Madrid Barajas, Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol.
While there is no denying that aviation does have a rather large carbon footprint, actions like these tend to paint over all the things the industry is doing to become more sustainable. One of those things is the use of EGNOS to implement Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures.
An alternative to ground-based Instrument Landing System (ILS) navigational aids, EGNOS-enabled approaches, called localiser performance with vertical guidance (LPV), utilise geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations to receive, analyse and augment GNSS signals. In doing so, it enables aircraft approaches that are operationally equivalent to ILS CAT I, providing lateral and vertical guidance without the need for visual contact with the ground until a decision height of only 200 feet above the runway as minimum.
Interesting, but what does this have to do with sustainability? Turns out, quite a bit.
Business aviation leads the way
When an aircraft comes in for landing, most airports require that it make their approach step-by-step, levelling off at each stage – a process that results in more fuel being burned and more emissions being released.
EGNOS-based approaches, on the other hand, allow for a smooth, continuous glide path approach that is significantly quieter and more fuel efficient.
“From an ecological standpoint, EGNOS helps reduce noise pollution for airport residents by allowing the development of LPV approaches with increased glide slopes and runway threshold shifts on longer runways,” says an European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) spokesperson. “This, combined with the use of geometric altitude, helps aircraft avoid level offs, thereby reducing both noise and fuel consumption.”
According to the EBAA, business aviation has been a pioneer in the use of EGNOS, and most new business aircraft are already EGNOS-equipped. “Increasing EGNOS penetration not only brings real benefits to aviation, but also to the European economy and the environment,” adds the spokesperson.
With sustainability being one of the EBAA’s top priorities, increasing the adoption of EGNOS-based approaches remains key to enhancing business aviation’s operational efficiency and further reducing its environmental impact. “By leveraging EGNOS, business aviation can significantly enhance flight efficiency, safety, and sustainability, all of which align with our broader goal of reducing aviation’s carbon footprint,” explains the EBAA spokesperson.
Everyone benefits from flying with EGNOS
But it’s not just business aviation that stands to benefit from flying with EGNOS. Thanks to its lower decision height, EGNOS can help all pilots better evaluate visibility conditions, which in many cases means being able to avoid having to circle or divert – two manoeuvres that also burn a lot of fuel.
According to some estimates, optimised flight routes and shortened flying times can save at least 100 kg of CO2 per flight, while landing using a continuous descent into an airport can save at least 150kg of CO2 per flight.
“Minimising diversions and aborted landings mean less fuel consumption, making EGNOS a win-win solution for both the environment and the airlines,” notes EUSPA Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa.
But it’s also a win for passengers. For instance, airports are using EGNOS to help increase capacity and efficiency, mainly by preventing delays and diversions – welcomed news for anyone getting ready to take-off for their summer holidays!
There’s even a tool that allows airports and operators to assess their environmental impact when using EGNOS.
Combating contrails with Copernicus
But EGNOS isn’t the only component of the EU Space Programme working to make aviation more sustainable – Copernicus can help too.
For instance, aviation’s climate impact is not limited to CO2. It also contributes to climate change through such non-CO2 emissions as contrails, those white, line-shaped clouds that form behind a jet. It is estimated that contrails make up 60% of aviation’s overall climate impact and account for 2% of all human-caused climate change.
But instead of ignoring the issue, the aviation industry is proactively working to both better understand how contrails impact the climate and to mitigate the risk. Here, companies like SATAVIA are leveraging the power of Earth Observation data to monitor contrail formation and to help airlines avoid those areas most likely to contribute to contrail formation.
Copernicus, and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
in particular, can also be used to monitor emissions. In fact, EUSPA, through its Copernicus Demonstrators, recently funded a project working to use Copernicus data to build a better way of monitoring air quality at airports and within the communities that surround them.
Taking off towards a more sustainable future
Although climate activists are correct in highlighting aviation’s environmental impact, the facts paint a bigger picture. Part of that picture is that EU Space – and EGNOS and Copernicus in particular – are key enablers of aviation’s ongoing efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.
“There’s still a long way to go, but together these programmes help aircraft fly the safest, most direct, fuel-efficient routes, resulting in reduced flight times and less emissions,” concludes da Costa.
Add this to the continued investments in more fuel-efficient aircraft, use of sustainable aviation fuels, development of efficient propulsion systems, and design of aerodynamic aircraft made from lighter materials and it’s clear that instead of flying away from its environmental challenge, aviation is taking off towards a more sustainable future.
[Source: European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) www.euspa.europa.eu]
