Inspired by the news that the FlyingGreen platform was launching another update, our team paid a visit to Tamara Pejovic (Deputy Head of Aviation Sustainability Unit and Programme Manager of FlyingGreen platform) and Pascal Hop (Senior Sustainability Expert and FlyingGreeen/NetZero lead) at the EUROCONTROL HQ in Brussels. They gave us a demonstration of the FlyingGreen Platform and we must say, it is impressive.
FlyingGreen is a set of tools and services for States, ANSPs, airports, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and other aviation stakeholders to support navigating sustainability challenges and environmental decision making. Many actors beyond the aviation industry are involved too and it is being continuously improved. The next update with more functionalities is expected in a month or so.
The platform consists of four pillars, built around four strategic elements:
- NetZero: reducing emissions and decarbonisation strategies
- FuelingDecarb: transitioning to more sustainable fuel
- ClimAdapt: building resilience to climate change and
- DecarbFin: accelerating aviation’s access to funding for decarbonisation projects.
NetZero and FuelingDecarb: simulating the future
NetZero visually presents emission projections until 2050 and shows the effects of various measures, including indicative additional environmental costs to airlines. For the different stakeholders, fuel burn and emission projections are available in many geographical areas, from network to airport levels, and are based on actual operational data and the latest medium- and long-term forecasts of EUROCONTROL. Not surprisingly, the most effective measure is the introduction of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
FlyingGreen can simulate global or regional effects, by country or by airport, making it directly usable by ANSPs and airports. Beyond the curves, FlyingGreen also calculates how much SAF will be required according to the scenario. This estimation helps transitioning into sustainable fuels and energy sources.
The next pillar, FuelingDecarb, models how much SAF a country can produce. It takes into account many factors, like the availability of electricity sources, availability of SAF feedstocks from various sources and industries, i.e. agricultural residues, waste oil or municipal waste, and it compares the needs for SAF, hydrogen fuels and electricity with what can realistically be produced.
The final output of this simulation shows the gap between what is required according to the emission reduction plan and what can be made available. Many outputs of FlyingGreen are in units that are very easy to understand, especially when they are in Euros.
Evaluating the impact of climate change with ClimAdapt
FlyingGreen/ClimAdapt looks at a different aspect: how to make an aviation organisation resilient to climate change. Users can check what type of climate change impacts are expected, how climate resilient their operations are, what could be potential costs associated with climate change events, what their organisation can do about it, and what are the key steps for climate change adaptation planning.
Relevant across the industry
Flying Green lets users manipulate many factors, compare the results, and evaluate many scenarios. Many parameters come from beyond the aviation industry and the FlyingGreen team had to collect and compile inputs from many data sources. The most visible example of that, is the “Fuelling estimation tool”, that provides key insights regarding demand and supply of sustainable fuels and electricity. Users can define production potential, but the tool has default values to facilitate initial use. FlyingGreen lets users identify market gaps and estimate energy requirements. The platform reaches the fine balance between proposing default values for many parameters, without imposing results on the users
States can use it to see the required availability of electricity, SAF feedstocks or hydrogen to fulfil the needs of the aviation industry.
DecarbFin: the single source of information about aviation sustainability financing instruments
FlyingGreen/DecarbFin can help organisations to prepare their case to get (private) sustainable funding and/or and public EU funding. Grants, bonds, and loans are listed and filtering options let the user find funding options matching their project and its maturity.
Moreover, EUROCONTROL developed a “Bluebook” – a comprehensive guide showing stakeholders how to comply with the EU regulations and rules, including the EU Taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) reporting.
We can hardly summarise all that Tamara and Pascal showed us in two hours, which in turn was only a subset of the functionality. The best part of FlyingGreen is that it is publicly available. No login required, unless you want to save your simulations. The user-friendly, intuitive layout makes the platform easy to understand and facilitate the navigation through the modules.
Thanks to Tamara and Pascal for the demonstration. We’ll follow the evolution of the platform, stay tuned for updates.
