The data offered by various institutions draw attention to the large increase in the number of flights

and the negative consequences for the environment. According to the European Environment
Agency, emissions from aviation have increased by 85% between 1994 and 2004. The International
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the sector could be the cause of 15% of emissions
World of greenhouse gases by mid-century. According to other sources, such as the Airport Watch
movement, which involved some of the major environmental organizations, the impact on climate
could be even greater, considering that could be responsible for a quarter of the air pollution in
2030.

In addition to emissions from fuel, the trails that have a shape of a white long cloud, left behind by
airplanes are another cause for environmental concern. Contrails can persist for hours and scientists
believe contribute to global warming, to behave in the same way that high-altitude clouds, trapping
heat in the atmosphere. Also, some studies indicate that night flights could have an even greater
effect on this phenomenon.
The fuel of the airplanes, the Kerosene is extracted from a mixture of petroleum chemicals found
deep within the earth. This mixture consists of oil, rocks, water, and other contaminates in
subterranean reservoirs made of porous layers of sandstone and carbonate rock. The oil itself is
derived from decayed organisms that were buried along with the sediments of early geological eras.

All processes required for obtention of kerosene (crude oil extraction, separation of components,
purification) and its transport as well as its storage produce residues air emissions and water and
ground pollution.

All of the climate, health, and economic impacts of airplanes will escalate enormously in the future
as more and more people around the world fly. Analysts expect the global aviation industry to grow
by 5% per year for the next two decades. 8 At this rate, the size of the industry will double in 15
years and triple in 23. Scientists expect aviation carbon dioxide emissions to double by 2030,
bringing with them more toxic pollution.

When avoid possible effects of contrails, some experts recommend designing more efficient aircraft
that can fly at lower altitudes, and to be taken into account when making the air routes atmospheric
conditions that influence persistent contrails.

New, less polluting aircraft

The development of new, more efficient and less polluting technologies could help reduce the
negative effects of aircraft on the environment. The British Association of Sustainable Aviation,
composed of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Airbus and airport operator BAA, is designing a new
aircraft that will reduce CO2 emissions by half, and includes other projects to reduce emissions of
oxides 80% nitrogen and 50% noise pollution.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Physics at Imperial
College London working with air traffic simulations to predict contrail formation and identify ways
to reduce them.

Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, has developed a new combustion chamber
hardly emits nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide (CO), two of the main pollutants to the
atmosphere gases. According to its creators, the prototype is designed for aircraft engines and
power-generating gas turbines, but can be adapted to a very low cost to household appliances such
as water heaters household.