Our Lobbying Co-ordination Group has been urging the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to drop plans to allocate public money to plans to reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Chris Broome has set out in columns in the Yorkshire Post and the Sheffield Telegraph why this airport cannot be compatible with a proper response to the climate emergency. The latter column appeared as one of the Telegraph’s weekly “Environment” page features, all of which are also available on the environmentally-focused “Tell the Truth” website – https://tellthetruthsheffield.
To set the context, aviation is responsible for around 7% of UK carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Then, additional non-CO2 effects, largely caused by contrails, result in around two to three times the global warming impact of that CO2. So its effects are substantial and, as one of the most difficult activities to decarbonise, set to become increasingly significant. Policymakers’ intentions to date have been to seek much faster drops in emissions in other sectors, to allow people to fly more. But meanwhile, the Government’s overall climate strategy is failing to meet legal requirements. The High Court has ordered it to be strengthened by next May. There are few easy options with much-publicised difficulties facing everything from home insulation programmes to efforts to transform to a “clean” electricity supply.
On aviation, the Climate Change Committee has recommended “There should be no net airport expansion unless the carbon intensity of aviation is outperforming the Government’s emissions reduction pathway and can accommodate the additional demand.” Yet the new Government has already approved such expansion, notably at London City and Stansted airports. Whilst it might be argued that reopening a recently closed airport is a special case, Doncaster Sheffield is also special in that it could not compete commercially with others.
A case being made for it is that it will help support the neighbouring Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) where there is ongoing development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and more advanced, lighter, materials for constructing aircraft. Airlines are required to to increase their use of SAF from 2% of all fuel now to 22% by 2040 to reduce emissions. Therefore they are pressing for production to be stepped up accordingly. But all feasible supplies will be limited, with most having sustainability issues themselves. The SAF most often referred to is produced from waste cooking oil. The idea that there will be enough of it around to fuel a significant proportion of airliner flights is as fanciful as it sounds. The EU is already finding itself having to source it from distant and less well off countries, typically in Asia, to meet existing demand for other purposes. These are places where such oils are sold and made use of, for example for animal feed. Now, higher prices can be achieved by selling them as “waste” to EU countries, with predictable results. Whilst the AMRC’s research is valuable, it should not be used as an excuse to avoid pursuing other essential decarbonisation measures. Similar principles apply to local company, Hybrid Air Vehicles’ innovative air balloons, which look set to well-serve a niche market.
SYMCA’s as yet unpublished business case states that the airport can add £6.6bn to the regional economy. Independent experts have questioned this figure on purely economic grounds. In addition, like all such estimates, it cannot account for any disruption to the economy caused by shocks such as extreme weather events. Unless the region (along with everywhere else) takes climate change more seriously, it is these which will shape people’s lives more in the future than any theoretical economic gains from the airport’s development.
Chris Broome’s article regarding the reopening of DSA is beyond ridiculous. He should be ashamed to suggest kneecapping the local economy like that despite all the effort that has gone into reopening it. In addition, disregarding the fact that people will still travel to a different airport not only robs the local economy but still contributes to CO2 emissions.
So, my question to you is; are you retarded or just plain stupid? Fucking moron.