Press Release
Issued by ETS Aviation.
June 16, 2010
ETS Aviation and Aerobytes have got together to streamline the carbon emissions reporting process to save their clients both time and money. This will come as welcome news to airlines affected by the impending European Union Emissions Trading Scheme regulations which require them to submit their first reports by the end of 2010 (and which threaten them with heavy fines and possible loss of carbon credits if they fail to do so). The regulations affect most aircraft that take off or land in the EU.
Eddie Forrester, MD of Aerobytes, says, "We realised that the process of collecting this information and converting it into the required format was an unrealistic burden to place upon individual airlines. Consequently, we have modified the fuel monitoring component of our Flight Data Monitoring (FDM/FOQA) system so that it can collect and store the required information automatically.
More importantly, we have also introduced new functionality so that this information can be submitted to AVIATION FOOTPRINTER (an online system specifically designed to support ETS through data management, verification and auditing).
Each operator will make savings of several weeks' effort per year and will be spared from having to develop their own, in-house software solutions to meet the ETS requirements. For Aerobytes users, this new feature comes at no extra cost – it will be included with our standard product upgrades."
David Carlisle, CEO of ETS Aviation, said, "Our online AVIATION FOOTPRINTER software and pre-verification support service already provided most of the 'solution' in respect of Emissions Trading Scheme compliance. We could do just about everything for our clients except directly collecting the underlying information for them in the first place.
So our partnership with Aerobytes provides operators with an ideal method to be able to complete the entire process with minimal effort. Aerobytes' FDM/FOQA software can 'harvest' the information and then submit it to AVIATION FOOTPRINTER for the remainder of the ETS process.AVIATION FOOTPRINTER checks for errors and missing or potentially erroneous data. It produces the annual emissions reports with a click of the mouse and the entire process is supported by our own, in-house ETS experts.
As a result, we can greatly reduce the administrative burden of the ETS for airlines – at a time when many of their departments are already overstretched.
Access to AVIATION FOOTPRINTER is provided for a modest subscription fee."
Under the new regulations, regulators are allowed to issue "substantial" fines for non-compliance. Because of the potentially enormous cost of CO2 allowances and the value of the free carbon credits, the verification processes will be much akin to financial auditing.
The sums involved are very large, so the benefits to be gained from allocation of free credits will be of fundamental importance, even to small operators.
For example, a smaller airline (five aircraft) might have emissions of around 150,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The resulting CO2 bill would be €4.5 million per year (based on an estimated cost of €30 per tonne of CO2). However, the "tonne/kilometre" report (based on 2010 flight activity) might entitle the operator to claim as much as 80% back in free credits.
This "tonne/kilometre" report must be submitted at the end of the year and must be independently verified along with the associated "emissions" report.
Companies who have not prepared adequately could face lengthy and costly verifications or lose out on significant benefits of free carbon credits.
