Hello! For this week's blog, we were challenged to research the environmental impact of airport operations and how those environmental factors affect the world and the people that live in it. Unfortunately, airport operations cause major detrimental effects to the community to include (Visser et al., 2008; FAA, 2015):
- noisiness from aircraft operations near the ground
- water contamination from poisonous substances that leak into the drainage and natural systems
- air pollution caused by aircraft engines
- third-party risks associated with near-airport crashes into surrounding communities
For this post, I will specifically be discussing the air pollution emissions caused by airport operations.
As an engine goes through the combustion process, it burns fuel which in turn converts it to energy. Through the combustion process, pollutants are released into the environment through the exhaust gases that are emitted. 70% of the exhaust fumes is composed of Carbon Dioxide, 30% is water vapor, and less than 1% is comprised of other pollutants such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides (FAA, 2015). The emissions created by engines aggravate climate change and reduce air quality (FAA, 2015).
In 2012, transportation emissions accounted for 28% of total emissions, 12% of that value comes from the aviation sector (FAA, 2015). Although it is a relatively small amount compared to other modes of transportation, the impact on the environment is still prevalent and should be mitigated to protect our environment.
As I researched this topic, I found that a lot of the probable ways to reduce emissions have already been discussed and put forth to action by the many committees and organizations that deal specifically in this field of expertise; however, I will still put my two sense in for the purpose of this discussion. One of the first things that came to my mind as far as reducing emissions was to simplify checklists if possible and reduce time spend on the ground with the engines running on aircraft. As stated in Management of the Environmental Impact at Airport Operations, the pollutants from engines that actually affect the air quality for the community exist when the aircraft is being operated below 3000 feet (Visser et al., 2008). With that being said, we should work to reduce the time spent on the ground and below 3000 feet. Another way to reduce that time spent at those altitudes is to create some sort of law to regulate operations below 3000 feet. Maybe only allow certain operations to be conducted through that altitude and if your operation doesn't apply, then you must expedite the climb until you are above 3000 feet. Another focus to reduce emissions is to improve the continuous flow of traffic coming in and out of airports and reduce delays.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2015). Aviation Emissions, Impacts, & Mitigation: A Primer. https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/policy_guidance/envir_policy/media/primer_jan2015.pdf
Visser, H. G., Hebly, S. J., Wijnen, R. A. A. (2008). Management of the Environmental Impact at Airport Operations. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/lib/erau/detail.action?docID=3019371
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