Whilst we have a solid understanding of the effect aviations CO2 emissions have on the environment, the climate impact of other emissions such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and effects such as contrails is less well understood.
At British Airways, we are committed to improving scientific understanding of what we term non-CO2 effects.
We are also taking steps to aid the development of alternative, more environmentally friendly fuels and aircraft technology.
Click the topics below for more information.
We are supporting a number of climate change scientific research projects. The research we have supported includes:
In July 2008 we announced the start of our scientific test programme with Rolls-Royce to investigate the viability of alternative fuels for the aviation industry.
The in-depth study seeks to identify practical alternatives to the current industry-standard fuel kerosene, with the potential to make real reductions to the carbon footprint of aircraft.
Companies were invited to test their possible alternative fuels on a Rolls-Royce RB211 engine from one of our Boeing 747’s. The tests will be carried out on an indoor engine test bed at the Rolls-Royce facility in Derby, UK.
This follows on from our 2003 sponsorship of research into renewable aircraft fuels when we supported research led by Imperial College London.
As well as supporting specific research into alternative fuels we have also supported research and development of more environmentally friendly aircraft. This has included: