Greener Wings - Aviation & The Environment

The purpose and scope of this book, now in its third edition, is to set the record straight on commercial aviation''s true effect on the environment and, in doing so, clear up the host of misconceptions that paint the commercial aviation industry as environment vandals. The book starts with a look back at commercial aviation's impressive record and then examines the key technology and operational drivers today, before we cast our view forward to the next 50 years. We also detail aviation s critical role in the world economy. The commercial aviation industry has been focused on reducing fuel burn and thus emissions of aircraft since man first flew. It is a very simple economic dynamic. Not only does fuel cost money, every pound of fuel is a pound of payload that the airline cannot carry, which also costs money. Throughout the book, we have relied mainly on university studies and government agency reports to ensure an impartial perspective. We have certainly sourced manufacturers and airline data but that has typically been to verify third party work. respond. We have tried wherever possible to keep our explanations as easy-to-read as possible and we have used break-outs for more technical issues. But in an industry which is at the cutting edge of technology, that is a challenge in itself.