Welcome to the Alliance News! 

In this monthly e-newsletter, we will strive to provide you with new environmental science, technology, social and industry-related news items that have the potential for influencing the aviation industry. 

GE Study Shows Substantial Cost, Time and Environmental Benefits of RNP Landing Approaches

(Greenair Online.com, May 17, 2011)

~ Ed:  The Lindbergh Foundation recognized GE Aviation with the Corporate Award for Balance at its 2011 Lindbergh Award Celebration at Sun 'n Fun.

Implementing new satellite-based flight paths and landing approach procedures at just 46 mid-size US airports could save 12.9 million gallons of fuel and 274.6 million pounds of CO2 each year, finds a study carried out by GE Aviation.  The "Highways in the Sky" study identifies significant economic and environmental benefits of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Instrument arrivals and GE says its analysis supports accelerated deployment of the procedure at any airport. 

"We are facing a serious global challenge as air traffic increases and our skies become more congested," said Lorraine Bolsinger, President and CEO of GE Aviation Systems.  "This is an opportunity to provide tangible benefits to every stakeholder; responsible growth of an essential industry, better asset utilization, lower fuel burn and cost for airlines, greater throughput for airports and ANSPs, fewer delays for passengers, lower emissions and noise for communities and reduced dependence on foreign oil."

Highways in the Sky: RNP Benefits Study

Related Stories:  GE:  Navigation-enabled Flight Paths Could Save $65.6 million (SmartPlanet Daily, May 23, 2011)

Successful First International Flight for Solar Impulse

~ Ed:  The Lindbergh Foundation honored Dr. Bertrand Piccard with our Lindbergh Award in 2005, when the Solar Impulse project was in its infancy.  We congratulate Dr. Piccard and his team on their successes.

Brussels, 13 May, 2011 -- After a flight lasting 12 hours 59 minutes, using no fuel and propelled by solar energy alone, Solar Impulse HB-SIA landed safely in Brussels at 21h39 this evening (UTC+2).  A crowd of supporters was there to celebrate the arrival in the European Communities' capital of Bertrand Piccard's and Andre Borschberg's solar airplane.

"It's unbelievably exciting to land here in Brussels, at the heart of Europe, after flying across France and Luxemburg.  And to fly without fuel, noise or pollution, making practically no negative impact, is a great source of satisfaction," exclaimed Andre Borschberg, CEO and co-founder of the project, as he stepped out of the cockpit in Brussels.

Texas Student Honored for Removing CO2 from Car Exhaust with Algae 

(ENS, May 13, 2011)

A Texas high school student who invented an antipollutant device that fits into the exhaust of a car and uses algae to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen today was named the winner of the U.E. Environmental Protection Agency's 2011 Patrick H. Hurd Sustainability Award.

Param Jaggi, a senior at Plano East Senior High School in Plano, Texas, has applied for a patent for his device, the Algae-Mobile 3.