Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Environmental management and
the aviation industry
Paul Hooper, Bridget Heath and Janet Maughan
A
VIATION
AND
THE
ENVIRONMENT
Aviation is one of the world's fastest growing industries with demand doubling in
size over the last seven to eight years and predicted to double again during the next
10 to 12 years (IATA, 2000). This increase is principally due to the development of
the global economy and increased affluence. The benefits of being linked to the rest
of the world by a network of air routes are significant as aviation promotes trade,
inward investment, travel for leisure and education and tourism. Unfortunately, this
growth has resulted in significant environmental impacts given the infrastructure
requirements of air transport and the fundamental dependence upon fossil fuel.
The primary environmental impacts generated by the aviation industry that give
increasing cause for concern are:
•
Noise: disturbance by aircraft noise is the single most important environmental
issue acting at a local level that has the potential to constrain the growth of air-
ports and thus the wider aviation industry.
•
Emissions: air pollution arising from airline and airport operations has a variety
of sources, including aircraft engines, apron vehicles, ground transportation, re-
fuelling and power generation equipment. These can pose a problem at a local
scale, where increasingly stringent environmental quality standards are being
imposed, and at a global level, where increasing concern is being expressed about
the significance of the contribution of aircraft engine emissions to the problem
of global warming (see, for example, IPCC,
1999).
•
Water quality: a range of aviation industry activities - including terminal services,
aircraft de-icing, engineering, maintenance and refuelling - has the potential to
