2008-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

AVIATION
HOW TO SUCCEED

Aviation

Environmental Aspects

Airliners, as part of their propulsion mechanism, create combustion, which is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel, such as coal, and an oxidant, such as air, which produces heat and light in the form of flames, releases greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

There are, indeed, environmental impacts which are specific to aviation, some of which include the following:

The engines of many light piston aircraft burn avgas, or aviation gasoline, which is a high-octane aviation fuel that contains lead tetra-ethyl, a highly toxic chemical that can contaminate the soil around airports. Some lower-compression piston engines are able to operate on unleaded mogas, or motor gasoline, which is the fuel used in cars. Turbine and diesel engines, which do not require lead, are being incorporated into light aircraft.

Aircraft flying at high altitudes can release certain chemicals that can react with the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and so increase the concentrations of ozone.

Large jet airliners, which operate at high altitudes, emit minute aerosol particles which can leave contrails, which are condensation trails generated from aircraft exhaust, that produce a stream of tiny ice crystals in the moist upper air. This can result in an increase in cirrus cloud formation, which are high-altitude wispy clouds. It has been calculated that, since the evolution of jet engines, there may have been an increase in the cloud cover by as much as 0.2% owing to the effect of contrails.

Aviation – How To Succeed

Peter Radford writes Articles with Websites on a wide range of subjects. Aviation Articles cover Historical Development, Civil/Military/Transport Aircraft, Air Traffic Control, Environmental Impact.
Website has many more.
View his Website at: aviation-how-to-succeed.com

AVIATION - HOW TO SUCCEED