Tackling aircraft waste emissions

Amalshan GUNERATHNE

Deputy Chief Pilot A330, Capt.Anushad Liyanagoda Pictures by Sudath Nishantha

As the world transforms itself into an industrial, mechanical playground, various means of waste and hazards are released to the atmosphere. The innovations and technological wonders of the modern world come at a great sacrifice. Therefore unless serious precautionary measures are taken, before long the world as we know is going to end up being turned in to a barren desert devoid of any green. Various campaigns and regulations have been enforced to preserve and maintain this ecological balance.

Daily News recently caught up with Commander of the A330/A320 Airbus fleet and A330 fleet Deputy Chief Pilot, Anushad Liyanagoda to discuss the challenges that Sri Lankan Air Lines face when complying with the regulations that have been enforced by European Union.

It is in the year 2008 that European Union brought legislation, demanding all Aircraft operators to submit a monitoring plan and provide a report on the amount of yearly carbon that they release. If a certain airline company fails to meet the demands and fails to submit the report, the legislation dictates that airline will compensate with heavy penalties.

The process demanded all airline firms to keep track of their waste emission with a proper monitoring plan. While many countries struggled to come up with a satisfying system, Sri Lankan Airline was able to come up with a plan which was successfully able to monitor the emission. The system was designed by Sri Lankan Information Division and the Aviation Fuel Department of Flight Operations, without any foreign help. The system was approved by EU and it won great acclaim for its ability to download information directly from the system, without any effort on the part of the pilots.

The first ‘Green Flight’ launched by SriLankan in March 2009 and also the first in South Asia

A SriLankan Airlines A330 aircraft

Speaking of the effectiveness of their system, Liyanagoda noted, "When the regulations were first enforced many countries struggled to come up with a proper monitoring plan. And some of those plans were not approved by EU and they had to pay heavy penalties because of that. But EU was fully satisfied with our system and was convinced of the system. SriLankan Airlines became one of the first airlines in the world to completely satisfy a key environmental requirement of the European Union."

The system is called as 'Aircraft Communications Addressing and Recording System' or ACARS. The system monitors emissions throughout a flight, and uploads the data directly from every aircraft. When queried as to the whole purpose of implementing such a tedious monitoring process, Liyanagoda noted, "The purpose of the monitoring aircraft emission is to keep track of how much waste you emit. And it also provides you with a chance to keep track of less efficient aircrafts."

Also if a certain airlines fully comply with the EU regulations, they are provided with 85% carbon allowance which they do not have to pay. The other 15% they have to either buy from Carbon market or get through investing in other environment friendly projects. Due to success of the Sri Lanka's monitoring system, they have been given the full 85% allowance and they were among the first to reach the benchmark.

When questioned on how to manage the extra 15%, Liyanagoda commented, "Our main concern now is on how to manage the 15%. We have the option of buying it from the carbon market or we could hedge on carbon. We are also working hand in hand and discussions are currently being undertaken with Sri Lanka Carbon Fund Limited (CFL) CEO Dr. Batagoda in order to avoid or minimize buying carbon from foreign entities."

Liyanagoda also noted that "Our ultimate target as Sri Lankan Airlines is to make it the most eco friendly airline in the world. The regulations are there, but irrespective of such regulations, we still should work towards preserving eco-logical balance."

Dhuni Pooja and Bhajan kirtan

Dhuni Pooja and Bhajan Kirtan for Hindu spiritual leaders Sadhguru Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi and Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba are to be held on April 14 at the Sai Centre, Barnes Place and at the Ramakrishna Hall, Wellawatte under the auspices of the Bhagvan Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust of Sri Lanka and Sh.Vijay Maingi, Chairman of the Sri Sai Prerna Trust, New Delhi.

Dhuni Pooja will be performed at 5:30 a.m. at the Sai Center, Barnes Place by Sh.Vikas Mehta from New Delhi and Sh.C.Ganeshan from Hydrabad and the Arti will be performed at 12:00 noon by Sh.Parmod Medhi from Shirdi.

The evening Bhajans will be performed from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Ramakrishna Mission, Hall 40, Wellawatte by artists from India and the Sai Organisation of Colombo, including Sh.RaviRaj Nasery, Sh.Parmod Medhi, Sh.Mukesh Saxena, Sh.Amit Saxena and Smt.Poonam Khanna.

At this religious function supported by the Sai Leela Times (U.P.India), CDs, Books and Posters on the life and teachings of Sri Satya Sai Baba will be distributed to devotees.