HC Deb 18 June 2002 vol 387 c183W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he makes of the environmental cost resulting from aviation industry use of UK airports. [60432]

Mr. Darling

The then DETR reported on available estimates of environmental costs in "Valuing the External Costs of Aviation", which was published in December 2000. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the increase in carbon dioxide emissions from aviation over the next 20 years. [60430]

Mr. Darling

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides forecasts of carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft over the next 20 years and beyond for a range of scenarios. They can be found in figure 1 on page 6 of their report "Aviation and the Global Atmosphere" (1999). These estimates are generally accepted to be the best currently available.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the change in fuel efficiency of aircraft, using UK airports, over the last 30 years. [60428]

Mr. Darling

Specific information on fuel efficiency of aircraft using UK airports is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Aviation industry representatives estimate that global fuel consumption per passenger kilometre has been reduced by about 60 per cent. since 1970, largely through improvements in engine and airframe technology. Reasons for these improvements include more stringent standards as well as commercial initiatives.

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