Inventory of aircraft emissions: a review of recent literature

Abstract

Global emissions of CO2, CO, NOx, total VOC, CH4, SO2 and H2O from civil and military aircraft are reviewed. The major contribution of emissions by aircraft stems not from the Landing and Take-Off cycle, to which most national emission estimates are limited, but from the cruise flight. Subsonic aircraft appear to spend roughly about 20% of the fuel consumption in the tropopause or in the stratosphere. Estimates are presented of value and uncertainty of global emission factors and of the global annual fuel consumption for civil and military air traffic (1990), as well as emission inventories made for the Netherlands (1988) and for Germany (1984). The fuel consumption by aircraft in 1990 is estimated to be about 7.61 EJ of 175 Mton, of which 28% is accounted for as bunker fuel ; the share of military aircraft is estimated to be about 21%. The uncertainty range in the emission estimates of NOx, CO and VOC/methane is reported to be of the carbondioxide of 2. National emission budgets appear to depend considerable on the definition used for accounting "national" aircraft emissions.