Finnair launches advanced emissions calculator

HELSINKI - Nordic carrier Finnair has launched an advanced emissions calculator and says it is the “only one in the world to be based on actual quarterly cargo, passenger and fuel consumption figures, not averages or assumptions”.

“We wanted to devise a calculator whose figures are indisputable because transparency is one of the cornerstones of our corporate responsibility,” said Kati Ihamaki, Finnair’s vice president for sustainable development.

The fact that the calculations are based on actual emission figures is a breakthrough in the airline industry,” Ihamaki told IANS at the launch ceremony for the calculator here.

According to Christer Haglund, senior vice president for public affairs and corporate communications, Finnair is committed to reducing its emissions by 24 percent per seat from 2009 to 2017. Since work on this began in 1999, the cumulative reduction by 2017 will be 41 percent, he added.

“We are making emission reductions on our own accord, employing one of the world’s most modern fleets and continuously developing our operating practices,” Ihamaki pointed out.

“Emissions can also be reduced by improving infrastructure, such as the ‘Single European Sky Programme’, which will improve efficiency in air traffic control. We also support a global emissions trading system for air transport,” she added.

So, how does the calculator work?

Aviation emission calculations, Ihamaki explained on the Finnair blog, often use coefficients to estimate the total effects of carbon dioxide emissions, because aviation generates emissions other than carbon dioxide.

“The idea is to discover the climate-warming effect of air transport. Research, however, has produced very different results on the warming effect of other emissions, and as a result the emissions coefficients used vary widely,” she added.

At cruising altitude, aircraft produce water vapour condensation trails under certain conditions, which influence the formation of cirrus clouds.

“The warming, or correspondingly the cooling effect, of these clouds depends on the time of day, the season of year and the flight route in question,” Ihamaki added.

“It is important to elucidate the effects so that air transport could be directed to the most favourable altitudes and routes in terms of cloud formation. In this case, too, it seems that the warming effect of flights in the northern hemisphere would be less than traffic taking place in the southern hemisphere.”

Some research has even come to the conclusion that the total effect may be a cooling one as explained, for example, in a NASA report and an article by Seppo Laine, a professor at the Aalto University School of Technology, in Finnair’s Corporate Responsibility Report 2009.

Some emissions remain in the atmosphere for a longer time than others. Thus, a simple assessment and verification of the warming effect becomes a problem. Estimates currently vary between the values of 1.1 and 4.7. In latest research, the most often used coefficient is less than 2.

“That’s why we don’t use a coefficient in our emissions calculator; we only report definitely verifiable emissions. We hope that this subject will be studied more, so that the different effects of emissions can be tackled better and reduced,” Ihamaki explained.

In the calculations, consumed fuel has been allocated proportionately based on the weight of both cargo and passengers for each flight. The calculator presents the share attributable to passengers.

The calculations are certified by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and will be updated quarterly on the basis of actual realised figures, she added.

“Our goal is to be the airline of choice of the quality and environmentally conscious passengers,” Haglund said, adding: “Investment in a modern fleet is the most evident expression of Finnair’s commitment to sustainable development.”

Finnair currently operates a fleet of 65 aircraft, in a mix of the Embraer 170/90 and the Airbus family of A319/320/321/330 and 340 planes. An A330 and an A340 will be added later this year and early next year. Eleven new technology Airbus A350 extra wide bodied aircraft will be added 2014-16.

The average age of the fleet as of March 2010 was 6.1 years.