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Aviation's Environmental Challenges
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BREAKTHROUGHS & DISCOVERIES
Early Indicators of Aviation Futures & Environmental Issues
BREAKTHROUGHS_DISC

EMISSIONS

 

 (BusinessWeek.com, Feb 2012)Bac_Seaweed

 

China banned airlines from taking part in a European Union carbon-emissions system designed to curb pollution, saying the program violates international rules.

  

The system contravenes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and international civil aviation regulations, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement cited yesterday by the official Xinhua news agency. Carriers were also barred from using the EU program as a reason for raising fares, it said. READ MORE...

 
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(Reuters.com, Feb 2012)

  

The European Union EU.L is willing to consider whether India's efforts to reduce carbon emissions could qualify for waivers under an EU law that charges airlines for polluting, the 27-nation bloc's climate chief said on Friday.

  

India, along with the United States, China and several other nations, has opposed the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme that stipulates all airlines using EU airports must pay a price for emitting planet-warming gases during a flight. READ MORE...

  

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FUEL INNOVATIONS

 

Algae.Tec Forms Chinese JV, Raises Capital

(Biodeisel Magazine, Jan 2012)

 

 
Algae.Tec Ltd. announced this week it signed a binding memorandum of understanding for a 50/50 equity joint venture in China with Chinese company the Shandong Kerui Group Holding Ltd. The first project under the JV, according to Algae.Tec, will be the construction of a 250-module algae biofuels facility in China to be funded equally by both parties.

Algae.Tec Executive Chairman Roger Stroud said in a press release that the facility will be the first of its size and type in the world, being purely focused on algae for the production of transport fuels. READ MORE...

 

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Algae Biomass Organization Launches New 'All About Algae' Website to Educate, Inspire

(Biorefining Magazine, Feb 2012)

 

 

The Algal Biomass Organization launched

AllAboutAlgae.com, a new website designed to showcase the potential of algae-based products to provide sustainable and scalable sources of food, energy and fuel. The website, developed in concert with the National Biodiesel Board, provides information, videos and photos all about algae-derived products such as biodiesel, aviation fuel, biochemicals, animal feed and nutritional supplements.

 

AllAboutAlgae.com is the first site designed to showcase algae's potential for everyone-from those just learning about algae to seasoned algae enthusiasts and entrepreneurs looking for the latest information on the industry's progress toward meeting challenges in energy security, food production and sustainability.READ MORE...

 

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Sen. Maria Cantwell hopes a bill reauthorizing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration will bring a new jet fuel research center to the Tri-Cities.

  

"We don't know where it will be located," Cantwell, D-Wash., told the Herald after the Senate approved the $63.4 billion FAA bill 75-20 on Monday. "It's not for sure it is even going to our state."

  

Cantwell said she believes the center would be a good fit with the biofuels research being done by Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory -- and would be a boost for jobs in Central Washington. READ MORE...

 

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(Biofuels-News.com, Feb 2012)

WeeksAnalysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance have published forecasts suggesting that, if production efficiency continues to improve, the cost of some biofuels could be similar to that of conventional jet fuel by 2018.

 

However, the study also showed that airlines might end up using only a modest proportion of biofuels (2% or less) in their fuel mix in the next few years. READ MORE...

 

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INSTALLATIONS

 

The Intelligent Tech, Design Behind JetBlue's T5 Terminal 

(Smartplanet.com, Jan 2012)

 

Is there a better way to build an airport terminal?

I'm not sure how I missed this lovely little feature by Popular Mechanics, but just before the New Year Adam Hadhazy wrote about how carrier JetBlue worked with global consultant Arup to optimize its new T5 terminal in New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport using software and a suite of other tricks.

 

Weeks 

"Optimize" for an airport, of course, means moving people through it as fast as possible - no flight delays, thank you very much, despite a 20 million passenger load.

 

How'd they do it? By constructing a digital version of the terminal, passengers and all, and simulating activity using software called MassMotion. (The forthcoming Fulton Street Transit Center and Second Avenue Subway in New York, Union Station in Toronto and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas have all had the same treatment.) The software lets them manipulate the three-dimensional space - widths of corridors, location of elements - to reduce congestion. READ MORE...

  
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Chattanooga Airport Now Powered by Solar Energy

(SmartPlanet.com, Feb 2012)

CHA_SOLAR 

Weeks

With so much energy going into making our air travel more eco-friendly, we don't often stop to think about how much energy airports themselves use.

 

So the Chattanooga Metropolitan Authority decided to try and make the Chattanooga Airport a little greener. They enlisted Atlanta-based Inman Solar to carry out the installation of a 4.5-acre solar farm to help power the airport. The project uses high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells and modules created by Suniva, an Atlanta-based solar company. The installation is the first phase of a 3-megawatt project to power airport operations. READ MORE...

 

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Tennessee Airport Earns LEED Platinum Award 

(TimesFreePress.com, Feb 2012)

 

Weeks

Chattanooga Airport's green credentials were cited by the FAA's top administrator Wednesday, saying it's out front in terms of environmentally friendly airports nationwide.

 

Michael Huerta, the Federal Aviation Administration's interim chief, said the airport is the first nationally to garner a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum award.

 

The airport at Lovell Field earned the highest LEED designation for its new general aviation terminal and solar farm. READ MORE...

 
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MATERIALS & MANUFACTURING

 

(GeneralAviationNews.com, Feb 2012)

When the term "light" is applied to aircraft, it can give the impression that the machine is somehow delicate. This is SO not the case when it comes to CubCrafters Carbon Cub LSA.

  

CubCrafters describes the Carbon Cub SS as an aircraft designed "for the pilot who REALLY wants to push the limits of Light Sport."

  

As the name implies, the Carbon Cub is built from carbon fiber, which results in a strong and light airframe.

  

General Manager Randy Lervold describes the Carbon Cub as a reinvention of the Piper Super Cub, an aircraft known as the work-horse for backcountry flying. "Carbon fiber and computer-aided design resulted in an airplane that is 250 pounds lighter than a Super Cub with 50% fewer parts," he said. READ MORE...


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(SmartPlanet.com, Feb 2012)

 Piranha 

Bend, but don't break - That's the key to many resilient materials, from Kevlar to the dizzying steel-and-glass structure of a skyscraper.  Researchers at the University of California San Diego can now add one more to the list: flexible ceramics.

 

Today's strong but flexible synthetic materials are indeed tough, but they have their limits. In pursuit of new solutions, UCSD's researchers took inspiration from Brazil's 300-lb. Arapaima fish, which has the distinction of being among the few species in the Animal Kingdom that can co-habitate with a pack of hungry piranhas.

 

Researchers found that the Arapaima's scales hold the key to its success. Biomimetics professorMarc Meyers and colleagues examined how the Arapaima resists piranhas by building a machine that forcefully presses piranha teeth into Arapaima scales. After running the materials through their paces, they found that the Arapaima's scales allow partial penetration by piranha teeth, but crack them before they puncture the underlying muscle. READ MORE...

 

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ORGANIZATIONS & INSTITUTIONS
 

Column: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Represent a New Era

(JetWhine.com, Jan 2012)

 

From aviation's infancy, the US military has been a leading source of

aerial innovations and educator of those who put those winged aviation innovations to work. With the end of each conflict, pilots, technicians, and engineers used  their training and experience in commercial endeavors.

 

This cyclical birth of new aviation eras is tied to the end of America's conflicts. World War I gave life to commercial aviation. Barnstormers became air mail pilots who became airline pilots. The industry made a quantum leap after World War II, in both technology and personnel. This process is again at work, but this time the new technology is replacing the old. READ MORE...

 

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Senate and House Committees Approve FAA Funding

(GeneralAviationNews.com, Feb 2012)

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Leaders in the Senate and House Tuesday reached agreement on long-term FAA legislation providing a four-year funding authorization, ending a series of 23 short-term extensions.

 

Committees from both chambers met to vote whether or not to accept the report of the conference committee. Acceptance means the bill will be given to both houses to accept or reject. It is expected this will happen before the Feb. 17 deadline of the latest short-term extension.

 

Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who chairs the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said "We are in the final stage of signing off on a conference report that I hope will go to the floor for House and Senate passage." He and Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, commended the members of the committees and their staffs for long and demanding negotiations to reach agreement on issues that have kept the bill from passing since 2007. "The bipartisan, bicameral agreement," he said, "ensures long-term aviation safety and infrastructure funding for the next four years." READ MORE...

 

 

U.S. Air Force Adopts iPads Over Flight Bags

(SmartPlanet.com, Feb 2012)

 

In a bid to lower space requirements and decrease weight on aircrafts, the U.S. military plans to purchase iPads or equivalent tablets to replace traditional flight bags.

 

 

New reports have revealed that the military will be following in the footsteps of several aircraft carrier companies and replacing heavy, cumbersome flight manuals with tablets such as the Apple iPad 2 model instead.

 

American Airlines is an example of a carrier that has already adopted the practice; rolling out iPad tablets to all their pilots. The move has been touted as a means to increase safety and efficiency on a flight - allowing a pilot to quickly access the information they need rather than sort through a heavy manual in a time of emergency. READ MORE...

 

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SYSTEM INNOVATIONS

 

(SmartPlanet.com, Jan 2012)
 
One of the biggest solar power plants in the world is located right outside Seville in Spain. The giant 330 feet tall power-generating tower is surrounded by more than 600 mirrors-each the size of half a tennis court.

 

Scientists at MIT and RWTH Achen University in Germany have developed a computer programthat discovered that the mirrors on this plant, and other plants, actually cast a shadow at each other that reduce the efficiency of the sunlight they collect. Led by MIT's Alexander Mitsos and Corey Noone, the team of researchers has found the design that can make concentrated solar power arrays more effective-by mimicking the shape of a sunflower. READ MORE...

 
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North Carolina's Semprius Inc. and its German backer Siemens said they have developed the world's most efficient solar panel.

 

The prototype converts 33.9 percent of the sunlight that hits it into electricity, according to separate press releases from the two companies. That's more than double the most efficient conventional photovoltaic (PV) module on the market, where performance tops out at 16 percent, Forbes magazine found late last year.

 

It beats the previous laboratory best of 32 percent, Semprius said, citing testing and certification from Spain's Instituto de Energia Solar at the Universidad Polit�cnica de Madrid. Semprius late last year announced a breakthrough in the 41 percent efficient solar cells it builds into its modules. Cells typically are more efficient than the overall module. READ MORE...

 

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(DetroitNews.com, Feb 2012)


Washington- A bill to speed the nation's switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology, and to open U.S. skies to unmanned drone flights within four years, received final congressional approval Monday.

 

The bill passed the Senate 75-20, despite labor opposition to a deal cut between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House on rules governing union organizing elections at airlines and railroads. The House passed the bill last week, and it now goes to the president.

 

The bill authorizes $63.4 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration over four years, including about $11 billion toward the air traffic system and its modernization. It accelerates the modernization program by setting a deadline of June 2015 for the FAA to develop new arrival procedures at the nation's 35 busiest airports so planes can land using the more-precise GPS navigation.

 

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 (Gizmag.com, Dec 2011)

A new invention out of Norway promises to keep the skies of the
world open. When a volcano in Iceland erupted in 2010, it spewed out invisible clouds of ash that spread across Europe - effectively shutting down all civilian and military air traffic, stranding millions of people and costing the world economy billions of dollars. Now, a new camera has been developed that will allow pilots to see and avoid volcanic dust clouds, making similar eruptions in the future much less disruptive.

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It sounds like something out of a Marvel Comic: an atomic research institute and a weapons manufacturer team up to create a new robot. 

But instead of fighting crime, this new semi-autonomous robot will be fighting birds. 

 

"They were originally commissioned by the military to prevent bird strikes at military airports," said Yi Jongmin, head of public relations at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI).

 

The robotics lab at KAERI spearheaded the development -- officially dubbed "Airport Birdstrike Prevention System" -- in conjunction with weapons manufacturer LIG Nex1 (whose company website, by the way, is one of the most intense we've ever seen). READ MORE...

 

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Siri Talks Airplanes

(FlyingMag.com, Feb 2012)

  

Do you ever look to the skies and wonder what airplanes are flying above you? If you have an iPhone 4S, you can simply ask Siri - the service that not only answers your questions, but actually talks back too. But apparently it's important to use proper language when you talk to Siri, just like when you communicate with air traffic controllers.

 

Asking: "What flights are overhead?" will get the response "Sorry I can't help you with flights." But if you ask instead, "Ask Wolfram what flights are overhead," you'll get a list of overflying flights near your position. The data includes the registration number for general aviation flights or name of the operator and the flight number for commercial flights. There is also location data for each airplane such as, altitude, slant distance, cardinal or intercardinal direction and the angle above the horizon. READ MORE...

 

 

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AGA SPOTLIGHT
AGASPOTLIGHT 




(Feb 15 2012)






Just a few days following the 110th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's birth, the Lindbergh Foundation announced that FedEx Corp. has joined the Aviation Green Alliance as a Founding Member.

Mitch Jackson, Vice President of FedEx Corporation's Environmental Affairs & Sustainability
"We are thrilled that FedEx Corp. will be memorialized as one of our elite group of Aviation Green Alliance Founding Members," said Lindbergh Foundation chairman and CEO Larry Williams. Williams went on to note that, while Charles Lindbergh started his aviation career by carrying mail and packages, he probably never dreamed of the global reach in delivery services achieved by FedEx. "I am confident that both Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh would be enormously proud to have such a prestigious organization-especially one which has done so much for aviation as well as the environment-supporting this vital Foundation program." READ MORE...

 

 

Fantasy of Flight Joins Aviation Green� Alliance as a Founding Member

(Feb 29 2012)

 

The Lindbergh Foundation is pleased to announce that Fantasy of Flight, home to the world's largest private collection of vintage aircraft, has joined the Aviation Green Alliance as a Founding Member.

"We are thrilled that this unique facility will be joining the elite group of Aviation Green Alliance founders," said Lindbergh Foundation Chairman and CEO Larry Williams. "Fantasy of Flight creator and owner Kermit Weeks was one of the first individual founding members of Aviation Green. To have the support of his world-famous aviation attraction as well is yet another validation of this special program." Noting the numerous vintage aircraft in Fantasy of Flight's collection, Williams added, "We believe that Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh would have been pleased to see the way Kermit and Fantasy of Flight embrace and embody the spirit of aviation as a metaphor for life itself." READ MORE...

 

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FUTURES OF AVIATION
Flying Cars Roll a Little Closer to Take Off (MSNBC.com, Feb 2011) 

It's 2012. The nation's roads and bridges are in disrepair, commercial air travel is a lesson in masochism and domestic high-speed train service remains the stuff of railfans' dreams.


It's enough to make a frustrated traveler wonder: Fifty years after "The Jetsons" introduced the concept to American TV viewers, where are the flying cars we were promised?

 

The answer? Still a ways off but, just maybe, about to get a bit closer.

Consider the Skycar 100 LS and Skycar 200 LS, two new designs recently unveiled by Moller International in Davis, Calif. Utilizing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology, they're designed to take off like a helicopter, fly like a plane and be street-legal for short-distance driving. READ MORE...

 

 

 

(GeneralAviationNews.com, Feb 2012)

ASTM International Committee F37 on Light Sport Aircraft will host the International Workshop on Electric Aircraft Standardization March 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakeland, Fla. The workshop is being held in conjunction with Committee F37's standards development meetings at the 38th Annual Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In and Expo.

 

The emerging market for electric aircraft requires identification of the standards and related activities that can help overcome technical challenges and assist regulators in standardizing the safety and performance issues that lead to certifications, according to ASTM officials. The International Workshop on Electric Aircraft Standardization is the first forum focused on discussion of the technical, standards and conformity assessment issues that will help facilitate routine certification in support of electric flight, officials note. READ MORE...

 

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So you are in holiday mode, probably lounging down at the beach or by a big open fire - depending on where you live. There's nothing on TV and you have read all the books of interest, so now what? Well, if you fancy yourself as an artist, you might like to enter the competition to design the livery for the first of the new Pipistrel Panthera and be in the running to take home 1,000 euro (approx. US$1,290).

The company is providing three digital views of its new 4-place, 200 kt cruiser for you to apply your design talents to. Being of composite construction, your design will need to take into account that the aircraft's upper surfaces cannot be a dark color. Also, as the interior design is fixed, you have to work around the interior scheme. You wouldn't want a great exterior that unfortunately clashes with the interior, but given the neutral tonings this shouldn't be an issue. Oh, and your design must be able to be applied with computer cut foil. It will be quite challenging, given the color constraints and the swoopy styling. READ MORE...

 

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(Gizmag.com, Dec 2011)

SolarPoweredAircraft 

There's no doubt that satellites have become an essential part of our daily lives, making things like communications, navigation, weather forecasting, and remote imaging all possible. Unfortunately, the orbiting objects can be very expensive, both to build and to launch into outer space. For some of the functions that they carry out, however, an actual satellite isn't required - a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) aircraft could also get the job done, and at a much lower cost. Some such aircraft have been powered by conventional fuelbatteries, and hydrogen. On November 13th, though, the Electric High Altitude Solar Powered Aircraft (ELHASPA) joined the ranks of HALE aircraft to fly using nothing but the power of the Sun.

ELHASPA was designed and built by Germany's DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, in collaboration with other groups including EADS aerospace. It is intended to serve as a "demonstration and research vehicle to advance technology and test applications for infinite high altitude solar flight." READ MORE...

 

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FEATURE

FEATURE 

 

 

 

 

Aviation Green Alliance� Member; 

Cessna's Green Initiatives

By Diane White, Cessna

Vice President, Corporate Communications

 

For more than a decade, Cessna's Independence, Kansas, facility has looked in every corner to find creative ways to make greener choices in their business operations.  Energy conservation, environmental clean-up, and equipment utilization are the three primary areas where Cessna and its employees are making a difference.

 

The company has employed many simple and innovative methods to benefit the environment - and the bottom line.  The company has installed large energy efficient overhead fans, programmed internal and external lighting to minimize energy usage during non-production hours, replaced old metal halide lights with more efficient light bulbs to reduce energy usage, and even turned off the lights on vending machines to save electricity.   

 

To help clean up the environment, Cessna has moved to a chrome free paint, and has even moved to baling the grass on pastureland to eliminate the cost and emissions of frequent mowing.  In 2008 and 2009, the company earned the Gold Award from the Kansas Environment Association for their compliance with wastewater permit conditions.

 

Cessna's "green" fuel initiatives involve developing suitable unleaded replacements for current avgas through:

  • Unleaded aviation gasoline research using in-house and industry and governmental partners, and
  • Actively participating in the FAA's Unleaded Avgas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee, which works to recommend industry-government initiatives to facilitate the development and use of an unleaded avgas with the least impact on the existing piston-engine aircraft fleet.

Cessna also participates in the STM DO2J Aviation Fuels Committee, which develops standards for jet fuel from renewable sources.

 

 



 

 

DidYouKnowThat 
Scientists from the German Aerospace Center are studying the fins of the Humpback Whale in order to further improve the design of rotor blades. The small bumps and protrusions found on the whales pectoral fins actually help water to flow over the fins in a way that increases lift.  

 

LINDBERGH FOUNDATION NEWS
LFNEWS
2012 Lindbergh Foundation Awards

 

For more information, please visit our website. 


Thursday, March 29, 2012 

Fantasy of Flight
Polk City, Florida
(I-4, exit 44)


Reception: 6:00 pm

Dinner & Program: 7:00 pm 

Attire: Business

Tickets: $100 each 

 

Interested in sponsorship information? Click the links below to view membership benefits & Levels, as well as to download a printable reservation form:

 

Benefits & Levels Form (PDF)

Reservation Form (PDF)

 

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Issue #7 

 

BREAKTHROUGHS & DISCOVERIES

 

 AGA SPOTLIGHT 

 

FUTURES OF AVIATION

 

 FEATURE

   

LINDBERGH FOUNDATION NEWS

 

  


ABOUT AGA

 

The Aviation Green Alliance creates multiple platforms for Members to share strategies, findings, progress, and ideas related to aviation's environmental challenges.

 

AGA offers memberships for everyone, at the corporate, individual & academic level. Visit our website for more information.



UPCOMING EVENTS

2012

 

Women in Aviation

  March 8 - 10

  Dallas, TX 

 

Atlanta Aero Club  

  March 15 2012

  Atlanta, GA

 

2012 Sun 'n Fun

  March 27 - April 1

  Lakeland, FL

 

2012 Lindbergh Award Celebration

  March 29 

  Fantasy of Flight

  Polk City, FL

 

Discover Your Future in Aviation

March 31 2012

  Pacific Aviation Museum

   Honolulu, HI

 

Aircraft Electronics Association International Convention & Trade Show

  April 3 - 6

  Washington, D.C. 

 

Aero Friedrichshafen

  April 18 - 21

  Friedrichshafen,
 Germany 

 

2012 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition

  May 14 - 16

  Geneva, Switzerland 

 

Lindbergh Foundation 

  May 18 2012

  The Explorers Club 

  New York, NY

                        

EAA AirVenture

  July 23 - 29

  Oshkosh, WI 

 

2012 Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition

  Aug 16 - 18

  Sao Paulo, Brazil 

 

AOPA Aviation Summit

  Oct  11 - 13

  Palm Springs, CA

 

NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention

  Oct 30 - Nov 1

  Orlando, FL  


 

Heard of an upcoming event? email us! 



MEMBER PROFILE:

 

AGA Founding Member FedEx

  

 

 

 

 

AGA's newest Founding Member has taken great strides to set company-wide goals in regard to sustainability and a reduced environmental footprint. FedEx has also committed to "EarthSmart", a program developed to minimize impact on the environment while also encouraging innovation that makes their business more economically sustainable.


Read more about FedEx's EarthSmart Program by clicking here.

And Click Here to view FedEx's Global Citizenship Report

 

 


AVIATION GREEN ALLIANCE FOUNDING MEMBERS:

 

 

Bombardier Aerospace

 

 
 
Cessna Aircraft Company
 
 
 

 

 

FedEx Corporation

 

 
 
Hawker Beechcraft Corp.

 

 
 
Jeppesen
 
 
Individuals:
John and Martha King
  
David Treinis

 

Kermit Weeks

 



VISIT THE AGA WEBSITE 

   

 


AGA News Staff

 

Shelley Nehl - Staff Accountant

John Petersen - Editor

Andy Scott - Graphic Designer

David Treinis - Development

Kelley Welf - Consultant



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