{"id":5826,"date":"2012-05-21T12:12:52","date_gmt":"2012-05-21T19:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=5826"},"modified":"2014-02-12T15:00:21","modified_gmt":"2014-02-12T22:00:21","slug":"noise-or-emissions-we-can-do-without-both","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/noise-or-emissions-we-can-do-without-both\/","title":{"rendered":"Noise or Emissions \u2013 We Can Do Without Both"},"content":{"rendered":"

GreenAirOnline<\/em>, a web report on mainly airline attempts to promote environmentally-friendly flying, has two not-unrelated stories in today\u2019s edition.<\/p>\n

Noise abatement<\/a> is a major issue for British airports, especially those in the southeast, according to the first story.\u00a0 Kate Jennings, Head of Aviation Policy Implementation at the Department for Transport, says the government recognizes that it is a \u201cparticularly contentious issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though noise has been reduced for individual flights, flight frequency has increased and measured noise footprints don\u2019t always match the perceived noise levels that drew public complaints, Ms. Jennings reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why at an ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organizaton) and political level we need to keep the pressure on to identify ways of further reducing noise and there needs to be an intelligent debate on the trade-offs between emissions and noise,\u201d she told the recent UK Airport Operators Association (AOA) Environment Conference in London.<\/p>\n

British airports have been practicing several approaches to cutting both emissions and noise, including continuous taxiing \u2013 coordinating ground control with the aircraft to enable as many aircraft as possible to taxi directly and without stops and holds to their designated takeoff or gate destination.\u00a0 Reduced engine taxiing (RET) allows pilots to use fewer engines to taxi, saving fuel burn.\u00a0 Fixed Electrical Ground Power (FEGP) allows providing electrical power to the aircraft without the use of the auxiliary power unit (APU), saving fuel and cutting down noise.<\/p>\n

As reported before in the blog, both fuel burn and noise can be reduced by landing-gear driven taxiing.\u00a0 This need is being addressed by WheelTug<\/a>, a multi-national endeavor producing an in-wheel motorized system<\/a> for Boeing 737s, mirroring the functions of at least three other organizations providing such equipment for Airbus 320s.<\/p>\n