BA cuts CO2

Monday, 15 Jul, 2004 0

British Airways has cut the harmful emissions of its aircraft as part of a Government scheme that allows it to sell its un-used emissions quota.

The airline has cut global carbon dioxide emissions, the gas that contributes to global warming, by 15%. It has also managed to cut nitrogen dioxide emission at Heathrow by 13%.

Fuel efficiency has improved by 25% since 1990 according to the airline.

BA is the only airline participating in a UK Government trail to trade emissions in a bid to cut carbon dioxide emissions. The scheme allows companies that keep emissions below a target level to sell their quota to companies that have not managed to stay below their target level.

According to a spokeswoman, last year BA sold some of its quota to a UK company that had exceeded its own.

The spokeswoman told TravelMole: “If you tax companies for exceeding targets it doesn’t really encourage them to stop polluting. But allowing them to trade quotas with other companies is a real incentive.”

The airline has also managed to cut aircraft noise by half in the last five years.

Despite the airline’s assertions, sections of the media saw the figures in a slightly different light. The Guardian, for example, pointed out that while emission have dropped over the last five years, they actually rose by 4% last year.

The newspaper states: “Yesterday’s figures were an embarrassment to BA, which has stood alongside rival airlines in lobbying vigorously for expansion at the world’s busiest international airport.”

Furthermore, it quotes Andrew Sentance, BA’s head of environmental affairs, as saying: “One of the things about being honest in reporting is that sometimes the trends don’t go exactly the way you want year-on-year.”

Report by Ginny McGrath

Ginny McGrath

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