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ePaper created 2014-08-08, 11:09:35 | version 1.32.01
Ú Improving infrastructure Improving the potential for emissions reductions with the Single European Sky initiative One climate protection project of central politi- cal importance in Europe is the creation of a common European airspace. Current flight routes over Europe, which are dictated by national interests, force aircraft to fly detours averaging 42 kilometers per flight. The Single European Sky (SES) would enable the Lufthansa Group alone to reduce its kerosene consumption by about 270,000 tonnes per year. This equates to a quantity of fuel suf- ficient to fly a Lufthansa Airbus A380 from Frankfurt to San Francisco and back about 1,000 times. Airlines would be able to reduce their CO2 emissions by 10% and save roughly EUR 5 billion per year. In an effort to make the Single European Sky a reality by 2020, the EU Commission and the European flight safety authority Eurocontrol launched the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Program back in 2008. The aim was to standardize European air traffic management with the aid of new tech- nologies, procedures, and standards. At present, the Lufthansa Group is actively involved in more than 50 SESAR projects. Specialists from the various airlines contribute the expertise they have gained in diverse areas ranging from route planning, operations control, and training to information technol- ogy and financial management. Free Route Airspace Maastricht & Karlsruhe (FRAMaK), for example, which is a SESAR Flight Trials and Demonstration project, has resulted since December 2012 in distance reductions on routes in the upper airspace over Ger- many, the Benelux countries, and parts of the North Sea. This has enabled airlines to realize permanent fuel savings and avoid CO2 emis- sions. Since the middle of 2013, 199 shorter In the Blending Study, furthermore, the Lufthansa Group is also working with a spe- cialty supplier that produces renewable fuels. The American company Gevo has provided the Lufthansa Group with its innovative alco- hol-to-jet fuel (ATJ kerosene). With these samples we will be studying, in cooperation with the German armed forces’ Bundeswehr Research Institute for Materials, Fuels and Lubricants, the blending behavior of conven- tional kerosene mixed with ATJ kerosene. Research into and laboratory testing of alter- native fuels are vital for advancing their com- mercial use in the airline industry. We aim to obtain approval for the innovative ATJ fuel this year. While biosynthetic fuel derived from plant oil and animal fat was used in our long-term trial in 2011, in the alcohol-to-jet process the plant wastes are fermented to produce isobutanol. This is then dehydrated and converted into kerosene using standard refinery processes. There is a wide range of suitable feedstocks. This makes the method as versatile as the Fischer-Tropsch process that is already approved, but it requires a much lower initial investment. A larger proportion of alternative fuels results in a smaller carbon footprint in aviation. Cur- rently the maximum blend of renewable and conventional kerosene is 50% for each engine. This will probably be the case for ATJ kerosene as well, which is another reason why it is important to conduct research into the optimal blend ratio. System partners for fuel from alternative sources Ú We are involved in several initiatives to help advance the development of alterna- tive fuels and ensure their sustainability. The Lufthansa Group is a member of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG) and the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (aireg e.V.). With Group company Swiss as intermedi- ary, the Lufthansa Group also participates in the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB, Lausanne). Moreover, Lufthansa is active in the Flight Path 2020 initiative, whose goal is to produce 2 million tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel in Europe by 2020. Strict criteria for alternative fuels Ú Gradually establishing an alternative fuel supply system is a step towards realizing the aviation industry’s climate protec- tion goals. The Lufthansa Group sets the highest standards for the use of alterna- tive fuels, however. Before we use plant- derived fuel, for example, we must make sure that cultivation of the energy plants in question never ends up in competition with food production. An indispensable criterion for selecting suppliers is that their fuel must be produced in sustainable ways and certified accordingly. We accept certifications based on the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) or Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) standards. ISCC is the first government-recognized global certifica- tion system for sustainability and green- house gas emissions. The RSB standard places nearly the same requirements on biokerosene production, while its criteria are in part even stricter. Other conditions include a proven environmental benefit and adequate availability at an accept- able price. 56 // Climate and Environmental Responsibility