International Air Transport Association to partner with Solar Impulse; round the world flight on solar-alone planned for 2011

The International Air Transport Association announced that it would support Solar Impulse, the round-the-world flight by a solar-powered aircraft. Under the agreement, IATA will provide assistance in obtaining air traffic control clearances for the solar-powered aircraft. Test flights will take commence in 2009, with a round-the-world flight in 2011.

Giovanni Bisignani CEO of IATA, said “We can already see the potential building blocks for a carbon-free future: along with solar power, other exciting initiatives include progress in fuel cell technology, and fuel made from biomass.”

The announcement comes in the midst of an ongoing dispute between some environmental groups, such as Friends of the Earth, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on the tally of emissions.

Environmental groups typically include a calculation called “radiative force”, which attempts to multiply greenhouse gas emissions by a factor that takes into account the effect of high altitude. Using this method, it has been stated that airlines are responsible for 12 to 13 percent of all greenhouse gases. IATA uses a figure of 3 percent, or 600 million tons of CO2.

IATA has set a goal of making planes 25 percent more fuel efficient by 2022, but with airlines expected to increase fleet size by 140 percent in the next 20 years, such an effort would not keep pace with the rate of airline fleet growth.

Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of IATA said recently, “Air transport takes its environmental responsibility seriously. Alongside safety and security it is a pillar on which we have built a great global industry. Despite our good track record, air transport’s carbon footprint is growing. That is not acceptable. Our vision is for air transport to achieve carbon neutral growth in the medium-term, on the way to a carbon emission free future.”

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