This somewhat unsettling information comes from a new European Union study. According to the European Environment Agency’s first aviation environmental report, which has just been published, the evidence is that NOx emissions from Europe’s aviation sector actually doubled between 1990 and 2014. As if that were not worry enough (despite a raft of authority measures and ongoing activity on the part of green proponents), emissions are expected to grow by a further 43% in the two decades leading up to 2035.
This growth in emissions from the sector partly stems from the 80% increase in the number of flights since 1990; and these, too, are expected to continue to rise, by anything up to 45% by 2035.
The date is significant: by 2035 the EEA estimates that in the absence of continuing efforts, up to 20 major EU airports could face significant and related environmental impacts through the growth of air traffic growth.
