Kia, Hyundai reach $41.2 mn settlement with US states

Yahoo – AFP, October 27, 2016

Hyundai and Kia, which is partially owned by Hyundai, claimed fuel efficiency
ratings of up to 40 miles per gallon for some of their cars, exaggerating the true
consumption rate by one to six miles per gallon (AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan)

Washington (AFP) - South Korean automakers Kia and Hyundai reached a $41.2 million settlement with US states over inflated fuel economy claims for their cars, officials said Thursday.

The settlement with 33 states and the District of Columbia was the latest fallout after the automakers were caught in 2012 artificially boosting the fuel economy ratings.

"Consumers who do thoughtful research and purchase a vehicle in line with their budget and their desire to protect the environment should be able to trust what automakers say about their cars," Karl Racine, District of Columbia attorney general, said in a statement.

Hyundai and Kia, which is partially owned by Hyundai, claimed fuel efficiency ratings of up to 40 miles per gallon (7.1 liters per 100 km) for some of their cars, exaggerating the true consumption rate by one to six miles per gallon.

About 1.1 million vehicles in the 2011-2013 model-years sold in the United States and Canada had bogus fuel ratings, the companies admitted. They both agreed in 2012 to reimburse car owners for their additional fuel costs.

Both companies also agreed in 2014 to pay a combined $300 million in fines and regulatory credit forfeitures to settle a two-year probe by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department.

The news follows this week's approval of a $14.7 billion class-action settlement of Volkswagen's case in US courts over the German automaker's emissions cheating scandal.

Sweden wants EU to switch to emission-free cars by 2030

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2016

Sweden's environment minister urged the European Union to ban petrol and
diesel-powered vehicles from 2030 (AFP Photo/Fred Tanneau)

Stockholm (AFP) - Sweden's environment minister on Saturday urged the European Union to ban petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from 2030.

Speaking to the Aftonbladet daily, Isabella Lovin of the Green Party hailed a non-binding resolution adopted by Germany's upper house of parliament to switch to emission-free cars by 2030.

"It's a really interesting proposition ... In order to achieve it, we will need to implement an EU-wide ban along the same lines," she said.

"As the environment minister, I do not see any other way than to relegate vehicles powered by fossil fuels to the dustbin of history."

The Swedish government aims to produce all of its power from renewable energy sources by 2040.

South Africa basks in continent's first solar-powered airport

Yahoo –AFP, Beatrice Debut, October 9, 2016

George, a town of just 150,000 residents on South Africa's south coast, is home
to Africa's first 'green' airport to be powered by the sun (AFP Photo/Gianluigi Guercia)

George (South Africa) (AFP) - At first glance there's nothing out of the ordinary about the regional airport in George, a town of just 150,000 residents on South Africa's south coast.

In fact though, the small site is Africa's first "green" airport to be powered by the sun.

The control tower, escalators, check-in desks, baggage carousels, restaurants and ATMs -- every service here depends on a small solar power station, located a few hundred metres away in a field of dandelions next to a runway.

Its 2,000 solar panels produce up to 750 kW every day, easily surpassing the 400 kW needed to run the airport.

The excess is fed back into the municipal power grid, and a computer screen in the terminal informs passengers: "Within this month (September), 274 households were supplied through this system with green electricity."

For environmentally-conscious travellers keen to reduce their carbon footprint, it's a welcome development.

"Planes have such a big carbon print," said passenger Brent Petersen, 33, in George. "If we compensate, that's cool."

George Airport was originally built in apartheid-era South Africa in 1977 to make getting home easier for PW Botha, a government minister at the time and later president.

It now serves as a transit hub for shipments of homegrown flowers and oysters, as well as golfers visiting one of the region's many courses. Some 700,000 passengers pass through its doors each year.

The solar plant, launched in September 2015, is the second solar-run airport in the world after Cochin airport in southern India.

Nestled between the Indian Ocean on one side and the majestic Outeniqua Mountains on the other, George was a surprising location for the first attempt at a solar-powered airport in South Africa.

Africa gets is first solar-powered airport in George, with a plant that converts 

solar energy into direct current electricity using solar panels (AFP Photo/

Gianluigi Guercia)

Ambitious project

The town's weather is unpredictable: in the space of half an hour, the temperature can plummet by 10 degrees celsius, the blue skies quickly replaced by a steady drizzle.

But so far, so good: even on overcast days, the plant still produces some power.

At night or when necessary, the system automatically switches over to the traditional power grid.

"The thinking was if we put (the solar system) in the worst unpredictable weather, it will absolutely work in any other airport in the country," the airport's maintenance director Marclen Stallenberg told AFP.

The environmental value of the ambitious project is already evident.

Since solar became the airport's main source of power, the hub has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 1,229 tonnes –- the equivalent of 103,934 litres of fuel.

The electricity bill has been cut by 40 percent in the space of a year, "which is a plus for me on the budget," said airport manager Brenda Voster.

Voster says it will take another five to 10 years to pay off the initial 16-million rand ($1.2 million) cost.

Meanwhile, regular power cuts, which in recent years have plagued Africa's most developed economy, are a thing of the past, she adds.

Heavily dependent on coal, which is the source of 90 percent of the country's electricity, South Africa is looking to diversify its options to avoid power cuts.

Robyn Spence, who works at Dollar car hire company at the airport, said they "had to replace quite a few computers" fried by electricity surges caused by power cuts last year –- no longer an issue with the solar system.

George airport's 2,000 solar panels produce up to 750 kW every day, easily 

surpassing the 400 kW needed to run the facility (AFP Photo/Gianluigi Guercia)

Untapped potential

But not all the retailers at the airport are feeling the benefits yet.

Lelona Madlingozi, a kitchen manager at Illy restaurant in the main terminal, said they had two power cuts lasting about three hours each just a month earlier. "We could not sell anything in the shop," she said.

Restaurants, said the airport, are not one of the essential services prioritised during power cuts.

Expanding the use of renewable energy is a key focus for management firm, Airports Company South Africa, said its president Skhumbuzo Macozoma.

The company's goal is to achieve "carbon neutrality", or net zero carbon emissions, by 2030.

In a country with an estimated average of 8.5 hours of sunshine a day throughout the year, solar's untapped potential looks huge.

After the success in George, the airports in Kimberley -- South Africa's diamond capital -- and Upington near the Namibian border have also gone green, with three other regional airports next in line.

George Airport now plans on increasing the capacity of the small power station by an extra 250 kW and will soon install batteries capable of conserving energy generated during the day for use at night.

Related Article:

Aviation industry agrees deal to curb carbon emissions

Mauritius wing debris from missing MH370: Australia

Yahoo – AFP, October 7, 2016

A trailing edge section of Boeing 777 left, outboard flap, originating from the
Malaysian Airlines aircraft registered 9M-MRO (MH370), the Australian
Transport Safety Bureau said (AFP Photo)

Sydney (AFP) - A piece of wing debris found in Mauritius is from MH370, Australian authorities said Friday as they cautioned the discovery shed no new light on the missing passenger jet's specific location.

The composite debris, recovered from the island nation in May, is the latest fragment found along western Indian Ocean shorelines linked to Malaysia Airlines MH370.

The Boeing 777 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers and crew.

Despite an extensive underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean far off Western Australia's coast where investigators believe the plane crashed, no trace of the aircraft has been found there.

The wing part "was a trailing edge section of Boeing 777 left, outboard flap, originating from the Malaysian Airlines aircraft registered 9M-MRO (MH370)", the government agency leading the search, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), said in a report.

"A part number was identified on a section of the debris," the ATSB said, adding that another "unique work order number" assigned by the flap manufacturer corresponded to MH370.

Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said investigators "remain hopeful" MH370 would be found.

"The finding of this debris... continues to affirm the focus of search efforts in the southern Indian Ocean," Chester said in a statement.

A large piece of debris found in Tanzania that has been confirmed as a

 part of a wing flap from missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet MH370 

(AFP Photo)

"It does not, however, provide information that can be used to determine a specific location of the aircraft."

The ATSB report came two weeks after the agency said officials had yet to link debris recovered from Madagascar by US amateur investigator Blaine Gibson to MH370 or a Boeing 777.

Officials also said the debris found in Madagascar was not exposed to fire, quashing earlier speculation.

The failure to locate any debris in the search zone has fuelled speculation the plane may have crashed outside the area.

Several pieces of debris linked to the flight have been discovered along western Indian Ocean shorelines -- in Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius.

The Mauritius part is the third fragment to be confirmed as coming from MH370. Malaysia said in mid-September that debris found in June off Tanzania came from the doomed airliner.

The first piece found -- a two-metre (six-foot) wing part known as a flaperon that washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion in July 2015 -- was confirmed by French authorities as from MH370.

More than 110,000 square kilometres of the search area has been scoured so far, Australia said this week, adding that the hunt was set to be completed in December.

Aviation industry agrees deal to curb carbon emissions

The international airline industry has reached deal on limiting carbon emissions, billed as the first such worldwide deal for a single sector. Critics say aspects of the plan are unfair - or just too little, too late.

Deutsche Welle, 7 Oct 2016

The agreement to set limits was adopted by the overwhelmingly by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at a meeting in Montreal on Thursday.

The deal was approved by a meeting of the ICAO's 191 member states.

Airlines that exceed limits, as most are expected to do, will have to buy credits from other industries to offset their emissions.

To avoid them having to do so, the ICAO - a UN agency - is pushing for great use of fuel-efficient engines that run on biofuels, lighter aircraft materials and route optimization.

"It's a document arising from compromises and consensus," said Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, president of ICAO's governing council.

Malaysia's aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, who chaired the session said the deal - to cap carbon-dioxide emissions at 2020 levels by 2035 - was "historic."

The first phase of the airline agreement - which is voluntary - covers 2021 to 2027, while participation will become mandatory from 2028 through to 2035.

Responsibility for putting the agreement into effect will fall onto individual nations.

India and Russia sit out voluntary phase

More than 60 states - representing some 8 percent of global air traffic - will participate in the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.

Russia and India have already said they will not join the voluntary phase, and said the deal placed an unfair burden on emerging countries. However, China - which also expressed reservations - said it would take part.

The system is the first global emissions pact to cover a single, specific industry. However, there has been criticism that the arrangement will fail to sufficiently reduce emissions from commercial flights.

The fact that the initial phase is a voluntary one, and that exceptions are in place to protect smaller aviation markets, has led environmentalists to suggest that the scheme will not achieve its aims.

"This agreement is a timid step in the right direction when we need to be sprinting," said Greenpeace UK Chief Scientist Doug Parr.

rc/bw (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Indonesia and Airbus Join Hands on Sustainable Aviation Development

Jakarta Globe, Sarah Yuniarni, October 03, 2016

French aircraft manufacturer Airbus and the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation's
Directorate General of Civil Aviation have signed a long-term partnership in
Montreal, Canada, in a bid to mitigate aircraft carbon emissions. (Reuters Photo/
Edgar Su)

Jakarta. French aircraft manufacturer Airbus and the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation's Directorate General of Civil Aviation have signed a long-term partnership in Montreal, Canada, in a bid to mitigate aircraft carbon emissions.

The agreement to share information and conduct best practices in improving sustainable aviation development was signed on Sept. 26, during the two-day World Aviation Forum on Aviation Partnerships for Sustainable Development, which was organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Under the terms of the agreement, Airbus will assist Indonesia to implement environmental best practices and equip its latest-generation aircraft with the company's newest technologies to optimize air traffic management and the use of sustainable fuels to reduce noise and fuel emissions.

The Airbus "Sustainable Aviation Engagement Program" was established by the Airbus in 2015 to educate and share information on environmental issues with airplane operators worldwide.

"We are very pleased to see the sustainable aviation engagement program taking shape with world-leading airlines," Airbus environment head Jean-Luc Taupiac said in a statement received by the Jakarta Globe on Monday (03/10).

He added that the company is working closely with its customers and building long-term partnerships with them.

Civil Aviation director general Suprasetyo said in the statement that Indonesia is committed to reducing emissions and demonstrating the change in environmental performance on the next-generation aircraft, as the demand for flights keep growing in the archipelago.

He said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation seeks to work with strategic partners and welcomes the opportunity to work closely with Airbus.

Related Article:

Aviation industry agrees deal to curb carbon emissions