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Sustainability

Global warming and the environment is on everyone’s mind these days. If the aviation sector were a nation, it would be among the top 10 global emitters. It is responsible for 12 per cent of transportation emissions (David Suzuki Foundation). Fortunately, post-COVID, the aviation and aerospace industry is ready to embrace change in the pursuit of cleaner, more efficient, more sustainable solutions.

In the spring of 2022, the BC Aviation Council (BCAC) held its first conference focused on sustainability, technology and opportunities. The BCAC hosted numerous industry leaders, government spokespeople, and community stakeholders at our conference for two days of presentations, panels and ‘fireside chats’ on how to move our industry towards a brighter, cleaner future. Links to our speakers’ presentations, as well as video recordings, are listed below for your review: 

View the “Beyond COVID: A Focus on Sustainability, Technology and Opportunities” conference agenda here.

Speaker Presentations

Overview From Nav Canada’s Vancouver Flight Information Region
Panel 1 – BC Wildfire Management
Panel 2 – Aviation and the Environment – The Urgent Challenge
Panel 3 – Power Plants and Fuels of the Future
Panel 4 – RPAS (Unmanned Systems/Drones)
Panel 5: Aviation, Airports, Aerospace and the National Environmental Movement
eVTOL: A Soon-To-Be Reality
Vancouver Airspace Management Project
Jamie Johnson – Throttling Back
BCAC YYJ Presentation
Beyond Covid – Cleaner, Greener, Leaner, Keener

Conference Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ4wqU0qwzU

  • Start – 8:35 Welcome to BCAC’s 2022 Conference
  • 19:00 Overview From Nav Canada’s Vancouver Flight Information Region (FR)
  • 1:26:20 Panel 1 BC Wildfire Management (Virtual and In-person)
  • 1:51:58 ADS-B The Move To Space-Based Air Navigation (Virtual)
  • 2:19:58 Vancouver Airspace Management Project (VAMP) (Virtual)
  • 2:55:27 Aviation Environmental Regulations, Policies, and Procedures
  • 3:29:32 Fireside Chat
  • 4:29:00 Panel 2 – Aviation and The Environment – The Urgent Challenge
  • 5:15:10 Panel 3 – Power Plants and Fuels of the Future (Virtual and In-person)
  • End – 5:15:17 Day 1 Wrap Up and Closing Remarks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmzCUkfQVp8

  • Start – 0:00:50 Opening Speech for Day 2
  • 0:40:05 Waypoint 2050 Report: Achieving Net Zero by 2050 (Virtual)
  • 1:40:10 Panel 4 – RPAS (Unmanned Systems/Drones) (In-person and Virtual)
  • 2:05:40 eVTOL: A Soon-To-Be-Reality
  • 2:41:40 Beyond COVID – Cleaner, Greener, Leaner, Keener
  • 4:04:15 Panel 5: Aviation, Airports, Aerospace and The International Environmental Movement
  • 4:23:45 Importance of Sustainable Aviation To British Columbia
  • 4:25:20 Announcement of Raffle and 50/50 Winners
  • 5:01:20 Building A Common Approach Across The Industry
  • End – 5:01:35 Conference Wrap up and Closing Remarks

Additional Resources and Media

Purpose of This Collection on Aviation and Aerospace Sustainability

The aviation and aerospace sector, like most industries, has a significant impact on the environment. The British Columbia Aviation Council (BCAC) recognizes the critical importance of sustainability to the long-term success of our industry. Our mission — “To promote, stimulate and encourage the sustainable development, growth, and advancement of aviation and aerospace in British Columbia” — underscores this commitment.

This curated collection of articles from a diverse range of sources is designed to serve as a valuable resource for those interested in exploring environmental issues in aviation and aerospace. Organized by general topic categories for ease of use, the collection is not exhaustive. Still, it aims to present a broad cross-section of perspectives that have received at least moderate media exposure.

Please note that many of the included articles reflect the biases of their respective authors or publications, and some may distort, misrepresent, or omit key facts. We have chosen to present these articles without editorial comment to allow readers to critically evaluate the range of viewpoints and media coverage for themselves.

The BCAC values transparency and welcomes feedback, as well as suggestions for additional articles that have achieved significant public exposure. Please reach out to us at sustainably@bcaviationcouncil.org.

 

Air Pollution

Belgium To Introduce New Taxes On Short-Haul Flights & Private Jets-2022.

 

Avgas

California 2031 Leaded Avgas Ban Signed Into Law-October 1st,2024.

Centennial Airport is Leading the Way With Unleaded Avgas-October 27th,2021.

 

Carbon

ICAO Members Agree To 5% Carbon Cut By 2030-January 17th, 2024.

Study: How To Accelerate Aviation’s CO2 Reduction-June 12th, 2023.

Canadian Aviator-Air Canada & Airbus Invest in Carbon Engineering- November 18th, 2022.

Reports for Baseline Fiscal Year (FY) 19/20-August 2nd, 2022.

Carbon Markets Canadian Aviator – Carbon Engineering Squamish- May 26th, 2022.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Future Planes-2022.

YVR becomes first Canadian airport to achieve Level 4+ Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA)-2022. 

 

Climate Change

Methane’s GHG Impact- Economist-November 30th, 2023.

Cannot Adapt Out of Climate Crisis-June 21st,2022.

Canada’s Aviation Climate Action Plan 2022 – 2030-2022.

Loss of biodiversity poses as great a risk to humanity as climate change-June 15th, 2021

 

Decarbonization

 Europe Faces Tough Questions On Its Aviation Decarbonization Goals-March 14th, 2025.

BC Airports Decarbonization Workshop – Post-workshop Survey Report-November, 2022.

Measuring and Reducing Carbon Emissions: BC Aviation Council – Decarbonizing BC Airports-September 27th, 2022.

Decarbonizing BC Airports – Participant List-September 27th, 2022.

 

Future of Aviation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation BC Sustainability Overview-October 10th, 2022.

Opportunities for industry leaders as new travellers take to the skies-April 2022.

 

Hydrogen

Airbus Invests In Hydrogen-Electric Propulsion Pioneer ZeroAvia-September 18th, 2023.

British Columbia (BC) Hydrogen Strategy-No date.

Airbus and Hyport to advance green hydrogen availability at airports-No date. 

Regional Getaway-June 6th, 2022.

 

ICAO

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Evironment (ENV) Report-2022. 

 

Net Zero

BP contracts entirety of Woodfibre’s net zero LNG-September 5th,2023.

Innovations In Zero-Emission Propulsion-March 25, 2025.

Boeing Publicly Launches “Cascade” to Support Aviation’s Net Zero Goal-May 17th, 2023.

The aviation industry wants to be net zero—but not soon- May 14th, 2023.

A devilish duality: How Chief Executive Officers (CEO) can square resilience with net-zero promises- October, 2022.

Accelerating The Transition To Net-Zero-Travel Strategies For Action-September 2022.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon – September,2021.

 

Renewable Energy

Gold Coast and Townsville airports gear up for switch to 100 per cent renewable energy-December 17th, 2024.

ExecuJet on track to achieve 100% GSE electrification in their FBOs by 2030-January 17th, 2024.

Maeve Unveils Plans For 80-Seat Hybrid Regional Airliner-December 11th, 2023.

Government Funding Boosts Green Airport Initiatives-September 12th,2023.

Will electric flying taxis live up to their promise?-August 7th, 2023.

Raytheon Completes Ground Test of Dash 8 Hybrid-Electric Engine-2022. 

 

Socio-Economic Contributions

The Socio-economic Contribution of British Columbia’s Aviation and Aerospace Sector (BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)-February, 2023.

 

Sustainable Aircraft

Embraer Concepts-No date.

 

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

Shell abandons massive SAF project-September 4, 2025.

Aviation Experts Tell Regulators To Be ‘Courageous’ On SAF, Net Zero-April 17th, 2025.

Sustainability Series(HMG Aerospace)-2025.

Technology Agreement Will Enable Australian SAF Refinery Construction-August 19th, 2024.

Air New Zealand Buys 9 Million Liters of Neste SAF At LAX-April 16th, 2024.

Airbus Criticizes Lack of Canadian SAF: Canadian Aviator-October 20th, 2023.

Canadian Council for Sustainable Aviation Fuels launches Canada’s first roadmap for SAF- June 5th, 2023.

Government Ministers Meet To Spur SAF Production-May 15th, 2023.

Rolls-Royce Partners With Alder Fuels To Test Greencrude SAF- October 19th, 2022.

International Air Transport Association (IATA): Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production Increased By 200% In 2022

Clean Skies for Tomorrow Sustainable Aviation Fuels as a Pathway to Net-Zero Aviation-November 2020.

Pratt&Whitney Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Aircraft Manufacturer (ATR) Flight-No Date.

 

Sustainability Plan

Victoria International Airport (YYJ) Sustainability Plan 2020-2024-No date.

 

Zero-Emission

Zero Emissions Aviation by 2040 in BC, Executive Brief, Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium (CAAM),2022-August 2020.

 

 

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