Today at the Air Transport World 3rd Annual Eco-Aviation Conference, J Randolph Babbitt spoke about the environment and how the FAA is working to make it better. He states that over the last three decades aviation has done an exceptional job of reducing the noise and emissions of aircraft. He gave us an example of that reduction by stating that a fully loaded 787 flying from San Francisco to Kennedy yields fuel efficiency that’s similar to a 2010 Honda Accord at almost 10 times the speed. Very impressive statistic being that we are moving 3 times the amount of passengers as the 80’s.
In addition to the remarks about how well the industry has done over the last thirty years, Babbitt stated that the FAA is launching the CLEEN program. The CLEEN program, Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise, will award $125 million in contracts today to five separate companies to develop and demonstrate technologies that will reduce commercial aviation jet fuel consumption, emissions and noise. These five year contracts are going to: Boeing, General Electric, Honeywell, Pratt and Whitney, and Rolls Royce. Babbitt stated:
“The bottom line here is that we want engine and aircraft technologies that can be incorporated into the U.S. fleets by 2015 and will produce a 33 percent reduction in fuel burn regardless of the aircraft class. We want to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 60 percent. And we want to make a cumulative reduction in aircraft noise levels by 32 decibels. These are ambitious goals, but they are achievable goals.”
Babbitt stated that this new technology could be seen in commercial aircraft as soon as 2015. This seems to be a new strategy for everyone as we begin to see how we can become more eco-friendly in out industry and how we can make our world a better place. These companies and the FAA seem to be leading that new directive well.
If you’d like more information about GE Aviation’s commitment to reduced emissions and fuel consumption, visit their website: www.geaviation.com