New Dialogue on energy efficiency and climate protection in the air traffic industry.
With the Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection in Air Traffic forum, the Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry, in co-operation with dena, kicked off a new dialogue between experts in air traffic, environmental associations, business and politics. On 20 June 2012, around 100 participants discussed traffic trends, climate impact and sustainability in the air traffic industry.
“Air traffic in Germany is the backbone of a modern export-oriented economy. Growth combined with declining energy utilisation is the order of the day,” said dena’s Chief Executive, Stephan Kohler, at the opening of the series of events. “This can be achieved through a mix of measures – low-fuel engines, alternative fuels and engines in airports’ ground traffic as well as more efficient routes following the implementation of the Single European Sky initiative.”
- View of the Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection in Air Traffic forum, Berlin, 20 June 2012
- Stephan Kohler, Chief Executive of the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency
- Klaus-Peter Siegloch, President of the Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry (BDL)
- Panel discussion, from left to right: Matthias von Randow (BDL), Dirk Inger (BMVBS), Christian Rumpke (dena), Viviane Raddatz (WWF) and Yvonne Christina Schmidt (European Commission)
Klaus-Peter Siegloch, President of the Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry (BDL), emphasised the industry’s focus on the future: “We are responsible for generating growth with the least possible impact on the environment and are taking this very seriously indeed. To enable us to meet this responsibility in the future, we call for a national development plan for alternative fuels and engines in air traffic to be integrated into the federal government‘s mobility and fuel strategy.”
The event kicks off a series of public expert dialogues organised by the BDL that present the air traffic industry’ efforts and challenges in the fields of energy efficiency and climate protection.
The speakers at the event included representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transport, the European Commission, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (Aireg), the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Bauhaus Luftfahrt research initiative.