Climate optimized air transport

Abstract

Aviation climate impact is caused by CO2 and non-CO2 emissions where the climate effect of non-CO2 emissions depends on weather and aircraft route. An aviation system with minimum climate impact may differ from a system with minimum emissions. Considerable potential exists to reduce the climate impact of aviation by weather- and cost-dependent climate-optimized air traffic management (“smart routing”) and aircraft design (“green aircraft”). Current research provides a unique opportunity to systematically investigate the trade-offs between various mitigation concepts and cost functions. Here various approaches are presented to minimize the climate impact on a climatological and weather basis, some being applicable to aircraft designs for reduced climate impact and others offering alternative operational concepts.