Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ClimOP (CLIMATE ASSESSMENT OF INNOVATIVE MITIGATION STRATEGIES TOWARDS OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN AVIATION)
Reporting period: 2021-07-01 to 2022-06-30
The overall impact of aviation emissions on climate has been estimated to be 5% of the total anthropogenic radiative forcing. Although in recent years the aviation sector has put significant efforts in stabilising its CO2 emissions at 2020 levels through a combination of technological innovations and regulation, a lot remains to be done to reduce the overall impact of aviation on climate.
The ClimOp project investigates in a sound research framework, which operational improvements do have a positive impact on climate, taking non-CO2 effects into account.
Subsequently, it analyses and propose harmonised mitigation strategies that foster the implementation of these operational improvements.
Main objectives of the ClimOP projects are:
- Select operational improvements to reduce the climate impact of aviation.
- Assess the climate impact produced by the selected operational improvements.
- Evaluate the impact of the operational improvements on aviation stakeholders.
- Determine a set of harmonized and most-promising mitigation strategies.
- Produce policy recommendations to foster the application of mitigation strategies.
To this end, the ClimOp consortium builds on its knowledge and expertise covering the whole spectrum from aviation operations research as well as atmospheric science and consulting to airline and airport operations.
The ClimOp project investigates in a sound research framework, which operational improvements do have a positive impact on climate, taking non-CO2 effects into account.
Subsequently, it analyses and propose harmonised mitigation strategies that foster the implementation of these operational improvements.
Main objectives of the ClimOP projects are:
- Select operational improvements to reduce the climate impact of aviation.
- Assess the climate impact produced by the selected operational improvements.
- Evaluate the impact of the operational improvements on aviation stakeholders.
- Determine a set of harmonized and most-promising mitigation strategies.
- Produce policy recommendations to foster the application of mitigation strategies.
To this end, the ClimOp consortium builds on its knowledge and expertise covering the whole spectrum from aviation operations research as well as atmospheric science and consulting to airline and airport operations.
All the WPs are progressing timely and performed the foreseen activities. Below, advancements WP by WP are reported.
WP1 activities are concerned with identifying and ranking of the most promising operational improvement (OI), based on their climate impact mitigation and the interests of involved stakeholders. The main activities performed in M1-M18 regarded:
- Defining and categorizing a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess the OIs,
- Compiling a list of state-of-the-art OIs concerning aviation climate impact mitigation,
- Preliminary assessment of listed OIs with respect to their associated KPIs,
- Filtering the initial OIs list to make the first-round assessment OIs list.
WP2 activities are concerned with the iterative quantification of the implications that the selected operational improvements have on climate and on other stakeholders' KPAs such as economics, safety, human factors, etc.
The following objectives were achieved in WP2 until M18:
- Definition of the individual workflows to model the impact of each OI.
- Definition of a common reference scenario including the technological and operational boundary conditions that constitute the baseline for conducting the climate impact assessment of different OIs.
- Adaptation and preparation of an air traffic simulation environment to evaluate the impact of the airline network and trajectory OIs.
- Preparation of a climate model to quantify the overall impact on climate of the OIs.
The main objective of WP3 is to identify and harmonise sets of actions to combat climate change by aviation and its impacts by finding mitigation strategies that initiate and foster climate friendly operational improvements. Many of the selected improvements require collaboration between several stakeholders for efficient and effective implementation. The related mitigation strategies will include joint or coordinated measures to be taken by the involved stakeholders. These strategies will be embedded into existing regulations, market based mechanisms, and feature new operational practices and guidelines, while minimizing adverse impacts on stakeholders and market distortions.
The main activities performed in M1-M18 regarded:
- Establishment of an inventory of possible Regulations and Policies. Through a literature study and consortium internal expertise, an initial inventory of current and possible Regulations and Policies was established.
- Qualitative assessment of impact of OI’s on stakeholder and climate in terms of aforementioned KPI’s.
- Detailing of 'storylines' for each OI to better analyse impact on stakeholders' and involved KPis.
The main achievements of this WP are currently:
- Selection of possible Regulations and Policies
- Specification of stakeholder- and climate impact related KPI’s per OI
The WP4 concerns the activities that aim at raising the visibility of the project both within and outside the Consortium, in order to obtain the largest impact on the relevant EU scientific, innovation and economic communities, and exploit project results. Furthermore, it aims at raising awareness of the general public.
The main WP4 activities performed in M1-M18 regarded:
- The definition and implementation of the Plan for the Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation activities;
- The identification of The Stakeholders’ validation plan with the schedule of the activities and tools employed to collect feedback from relevant actors of the aviation field;
- The creation, launch and management of the ClimOP website and social media profiles (LinkedIn and Twitter);
- The design and creation of ClimOP graphical identity;
. The preparation of several posters and presentations to support communication in 6 third-party events, even when participating together with the sister projects of ClimOP;
- The organization and reporting actions for the ClimOP first Advisory Board meeting in July 2020;
- The participation in meetings with representatives of the industry
- The publication of several papers in peer-reviewed journals, international conferences and as Open Access and the publication of articles in general magazine
WP5 activities concerned the overall project management.
The main achievements of WP6 concern:
- The successful ramp up of the project activities, the involvement and engagement of all partners, the agreement on the project vision, and the working methods established.
- The close monitoring and adaptation of the project plan and activities under the COVID-19 pandemic impact.
- The coordination of all meetings, particularly the many virtual meetings which necessarily replaced the in-person meetings.
- The coordination of the work for a timely delivery of the results.
WP6 addressed ethics requirements to comply with. In addition, this WP addressed requirements concerning personal data transfer from the EU to a non-EU country or international organisation.
The main activity was the analysis of personal data collection activities and potential transfer from EU to a non-EU country, ensuring that such transfers are in accordance with Chapter V of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679.
WP1 activities are concerned with identifying and ranking of the most promising operational improvement (OI), based on their climate impact mitigation and the interests of involved stakeholders. The main activities performed in M1-M18 regarded:
- Defining and categorizing a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess the OIs,
- Compiling a list of state-of-the-art OIs concerning aviation climate impact mitigation,
- Preliminary assessment of listed OIs with respect to their associated KPIs,
- Filtering the initial OIs list to make the first-round assessment OIs list.
WP2 activities are concerned with the iterative quantification of the implications that the selected operational improvements have on climate and on other stakeholders' KPAs such as economics, safety, human factors, etc.
The following objectives were achieved in WP2 until M18:
- Definition of the individual workflows to model the impact of each OI.
- Definition of a common reference scenario including the technological and operational boundary conditions that constitute the baseline for conducting the climate impact assessment of different OIs.
- Adaptation and preparation of an air traffic simulation environment to evaluate the impact of the airline network and trajectory OIs.
- Preparation of a climate model to quantify the overall impact on climate of the OIs.
The main objective of WP3 is to identify and harmonise sets of actions to combat climate change by aviation and its impacts by finding mitigation strategies that initiate and foster climate friendly operational improvements. Many of the selected improvements require collaboration between several stakeholders for efficient and effective implementation. The related mitigation strategies will include joint or coordinated measures to be taken by the involved stakeholders. These strategies will be embedded into existing regulations, market based mechanisms, and feature new operational practices and guidelines, while minimizing adverse impacts on stakeholders and market distortions.
The main activities performed in M1-M18 regarded:
- Establishment of an inventory of possible Regulations and Policies. Through a literature study and consortium internal expertise, an initial inventory of current and possible Regulations and Policies was established.
- Qualitative assessment of impact of OI’s on stakeholder and climate in terms of aforementioned KPI’s.
- Detailing of 'storylines' for each OI to better analyse impact on stakeholders' and involved KPis.
The main achievements of this WP are currently:
- Selection of possible Regulations and Policies
- Specification of stakeholder- and climate impact related KPI’s per OI
The WP4 concerns the activities that aim at raising the visibility of the project both within and outside the Consortium, in order to obtain the largest impact on the relevant EU scientific, innovation and economic communities, and exploit project results. Furthermore, it aims at raising awareness of the general public.
The main WP4 activities performed in M1-M18 regarded:
- The definition and implementation of the Plan for the Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation activities;
- The identification of The Stakeholders’ validation plan with the schedule of the activities and tools employed to collect feedback from relevant actors of the aviation field;
- The creation, launch and management of the ClimOP website and social media profiles (LinkedIn and Twitter);
- The design and creation of ClimOP graphical identity;
. The preparation of several posters and presentations to support communication in 6 third-party events, even when participating together with the sister projects of ClimOP;
- The organization and reporting actions for the ClimOP first Advisory Board meeting in July 2020;
- The participation in meetings with representatives of the industry
- The publication of several papers in peer-reviewed journals, international conferences and as Open Access and the publication of articles in general magazine
WP5 activities concerned the overall project management.
The main achievements of WP6 concern:
- The successful ramp up of the project activities, the involvement and engagement of all partners, the agreement on the project vision, and the working methods established.
- The close monitoring and adaptation of the project plan and activities under the COVID-19 pandemic impact.
- The coordination of all meetings, particularly the many virtual meetings which necessarily replaced the in-person meetings.
- The coordination of the work for a timely delivery of the results.
WP6 addressed ethics requirements to comply with. In addition, this WP addressed requirements concerning personal data transfer from the EU to a non-EU country or international organisation.
The main activity was the analysis of personal data collection activities and potential transfer from EU to a non-EU country, ensuring that such transfers are in accordance with Chapter V of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679.
With its results, ClimOP aims to contribute to the FlighPath 2050 goals related to the 75% reduction in CO2 emissions, and the 90% reduction in NOx emissions, for a more sustainable aviation.
ClimOP is also performing a detailed analysis of the impact on the main stakeholders (i.e. airlines, airports, ANSPs and passengers),to be able to balance environmental impact reduction and adverse operational impacts on efficiency, safety and economics for the overall aviation sector.
ClimOP is also performing a detailed analysis of the impact on the main stakeholders (i.e. airlines, airports, ANSPs and passengers),to be able to balance environmental impact reduction and adverse operational impacts on efficiency, safety and economics for the overall aviation sector.