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(GreenAir Online)  ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) has agreed to increase the stringency level of a standard limiting emissions of non-volatile Particulate Matter (nvPM) from aircraft engines. The technical committee’s 11th (CAEP/11) triennial meeting just concluded also delivered new technology goals for the sector, covering aircraft noise, NOx emissions and fuel efficiency. Agreement was also reached on the means to calculate and claim the benefits accrued from the use of sustainable aviation fuels under the CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme and also recommendations on the body being formed to evaluate the eligibility of emissions units. Over the next three years, CAEP will assess how to certify hybrid and electric aircraft and will undertake an exploratory study on supersonic aircraft.

In advance of the new stringency rule, a standard on nvPM was passed by CAEP at its 10th meeting in 2016 and adopted by the ICAO Council in 2017. It applies to engines with a rated thrust greater than 26.7kN manufactured from 1 January 2020.

Engines burning hydrocarbon-based fuels emit gaseous and particulate matter emissions as by-products of combustion, and contribute to poor air quality in and around airports. At the engine exhaust, particulates mainly consist of ultrafine soot or black carbon emissions, called non-volatile PM. Compared to diesel engines, gas turbine engine nvPMs are typically smaller in size. ICAO says the standard is expected to drive technologies to address nvPM and in the long-run minimise their potential environmental and health impacts.

With this standard, ICAO reports it has now completed all main environmental standards for the certification of aircraft and engines, namely for noise, local air quality (NOx, HC, CO, nvPM) and climate (CO2), making aviation the only sector with environmental mandatory certification requirements at the global level for the operation of its equipment.

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The agreement on the means to calculate and claim benefits accrued from the use of sustainable aviation fuel under CORSIA is significant in reducing airlines’ offsetting requirements, says ICAO. It includes the default values and methodologies for calculating actual values needed to calculate the life-cycle CO2 emissions reduction benefits of different feedstocks. CAEP has also agreed on the requirements for Sustainability Certification Schemes (SCS) and a process to evaluate and recommend a list of eligible SCS, which will certify fuels against the CORSIA sustainability criteria.

“This package of agreements provides the clarity needed for the energy sector to embark on the production of sustainable fuels for aviation, and is an important step towards CORSIA implementation,” said an ICAO statement.  READ MORE

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