Lufthansa – Airline with a Green Touch

Aviation is generally considered a climate killer and it is a major theme in the debate about global warming. Increased air traffic, holding patterns and inefficient routing are responsible for huge amounts of CO2 emissions. Lufthansa has been trying to counter such effects by investing millions of euros in environmental projects and new planes with higher fuel efficiency. With a 'flying laboratory' built into a passenger plane, Lufthansa measures levels of greenhouse gases and particulate pollution. The data will help scientists understand the mechanisms of climate change. The new project is designed to clean up Lufthansa's image. Report by Bettina Thoma . -------------------------------------------------------------- Lufthansa's Leverkusen airbus is one of the first planes to land at Frankfurt airport this morning. It is arriving in Germany after a twelve hour flight from China. In a few hours, it will taking off again for its next flight. The passenger plane is a "flying laboratory". All that's visible is a measuring instrument, which records data on greenhouse gases and particulate emissions. It's one of Lufthansa's flagship projects. Andreas Waibel, climate scientist at Lufthansa explains: "Our long-haul planes are being overhauled specifically for this equipment. This is a converted A340-600. It can now accomodate a 1.6 tonne measuring container. Its replaced once a month and takes measurements worldwide." A group of visitors is watching while the container is disconnected. The data, which is assessed at the Max Planck Insitute in Mainz, allows scientists to research climate change. Much of this change is in fact due to air traffic. Andreas Waibel: "The fact is passenger planes provide an ideal platform for an atmospheric measuring project, because they supply high-resolution spatial data - much better than anything supplied by satellite or earth stations. In this respect commercial air travel is perfect for research on the atmosphere." Lufthansa wants today's visitors to see just how much the company is doing for the environment. It is currently investing millions in environmental projects and modernising aircraft. The climate change debate is putting airlines under a lot of pressure. Air travel is booming. Experts say carbon emissions produced by German air traffic alone are set to double over the next twenty years. Lufthansa isn't ignoring the problem. It's invested 12 Billion euros in modern planes that use less fuel. A sensible move because kerosene prices are higher than ever right now. The Leverkusen is one of the most economical planes in the company's fleet. Claus Richter has been a Lufthansa pilot for thirty years. He's preparing the Leverkusen for take-off in an hour's time. He never dreamt climate change would become such a priority issue. But these days pilots have to be able to work out exactly how much kerosene and water are needed for each flight. Claus Richter: "We worked out exactly how much water is used on our various flights. We now carry the precise amount of water we need according to how far we're flying. Every additional kilo increases our kerosene consumption, so if we can manage to economise on surplus weight we can also save fuel." The planes carry less water and have more lightweight seats. Lufthansa is doing its bit for the environment - but politics and bureacracy often get in the way. Claus Richter, pilot at Lufthansa: "In Europe we have forty seven commercial and military air traffic controls, which means a lot of time in holding patterns. Sometimes we have to fly detours and make up for lost time, and for Lufthansa alone that all adds up to 142 thousand tonnes of kerosene. For that amount of kerosene, we could fly to New York eleven times a day." The Leverkusen is setting off on another long haul flight. In the meantime, the container is taken back to the laboratory - in two weeks time it will be back in use, gathering more information on environmental changes.

DW-World | November 27, 2007

Tags:. .airline. .scientists. .measuring. .measures. .measurements