In 1988, the UN decided to create the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which in 2000 presented the results of its study on the current state of the global climate and its prospects. IPCC experts proved the anthropogenic nature of global climate change and called for decisive action to prevent it. Its impact on human life is noticeable today and will be even more noticeable in the near future and can affect a significant part of the world's population. In this regard, 2025 has been declared the Year of Environmental Protection and Green Economy in Uzbekistan. This was announced on November 20, 2024, by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis. Currently, a number of significant measures are being taken in the state, which in the future should have a positive impact on the creation of favorable conditions for the protection of the atmosphere and green cover of our planet. Aviation is one of the largest air polluters, its impact on the environment is expressed mainly in the emissions of toxins into the atmosphere with exhaust gases from aircraft engines. Aviation is responsible for 2.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, most of the emissions from aircraft occur in the climate-sensitive upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Due to emissions at high altitudes, people living far from the place where the aircraft emits carbon can significantly feel its impact. In the field of transport, air transport ranks second in the amount of emissions into the atmosphere.
Every ATC specialist at least once thought about what he personally can do to solve this global problem, and in this article we will try to think about how the latest ATC technologies and methods can contribute to environmental protection.
PBN - Performance Based Navigation.
At the dawn of aviation, there was an urgent need for pilot orientation on the terrain. In this regard, engineers created homing radio stations that helped with navigation. At that time, such familiar terms for pilots and air traffic controllers as "flight to a radio station" and flight from a radio station arose. But it was impossible to place homing radio stations in any desired place along the flight route, and so they required constant power supply and maintenance. So pilots had to build routes not along the desired trajectories, but through the locations of beacons. In this case, the flight was curvilinear.
With the introduction of new technologies, such as zonal navigation, it became possible to fly along any desired trajectories. Zonal navigation, or RNAV (Area Navigation), has successfully replaced traditional navigation methods using ground-based radio equipment in recent years. Today, on aviation frequencies, you can often hear the dispatcher command "CLEARED DIRECT TO", which means "I clear the flight directly to", while the waypoint to which the flight is cleared, as a rule, is not marked by ground-based radio facilities, but simply specified by coordinates. Such a command can only be executed using onboard RNAV equipment. Area navigation is widely used at all stages of the flight, including the most important - landing approach. In the future, with the development of satellite navigation systems, area navigation will completely replace traditional navigation methods.
The ability to fly without reference to the RNS provides a number of advantages. First of all, this is a significant reduction in flight time, i.e. direct savings on fuel and other costs associated with the operation of the aircraft. When performing a flight using RNAV equipment, a wide network of ground-based radio navigation facilities is not required. In addition, the use of RNAV allows for more efficient use of airspace, thereby increasing its capacity.
In order to calculate the fuel economy values, it is necessary to provide input data on the consumption of aviation kerosene by different types of aircraft. Thus, the hourly fuel consumption for an A320 aircraft is about 2.5 tons, for a B-787 about 5.5 tons, and for a B-777 - 7 tons. That is, the excess consumption of aviation fuel for an additional minute of flight will correspond to about 40 kg for the A320, 90 kg for the B-787, and 115 kg for the B-777.
To burn 1 kg of kerosene, approximately 3.4 kg of pure oxygen is required. Since air consists not only of oxygen, but also of other gases, the amount of air burned per 1 kg of kerosene will already be 14.8 kg. To calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emissions, a simple formula is usually used, according to which about 3 kg of carbon dioxide is released when burning 1 kg of kerosene.
Planned and implemented activities for the implementation of new RNAV routes in the airspace of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2025 and analysis of their environmental efficiency.
Over the past four years, specialists from the State Unitary Enterprise Center "Uzaeronavigatsia" have implemented 20 new RNAV routes and currently the total number of zonal navigation routes has reached 70. Maneuvering procedures based on zonal navigation (RNAV) have been successfully implemented at the airports of Zaamin, Kokand and Shakhrisabz. In 2025, it is planned to implement maneuvering procedures based on zonal navigation (RNAV) at the airports of Tashkent South and East, Andijan, Urgench and Sarasiya.
In 2025, the State Unitary Enterprise Center Uzaeronavigatsia has planned to implement two new zonal navigation routes and we can judge the environmental efficiency using the presented example.
A preliminary calculation showed that the first route will save 3 MM (5.7 KM) of the route. About 15,500 aircraft fly along this section per year. On an annual basis, the savings for airlines will amount to about 450 tons of fuel. Harmful CO2 emissions will decrease by 1,400 tons per year. Air savings will amount to about 21,000 tons per year.
The introduction of the second route will save 2 MM (3.7 km). About 3,300 aircraft fly along this section per year. On an annual basis, airlines will save about 100 tons of fuel. Harmful CO2 emissions will decrease by 315 tons per year. Air savings will amount to about 4,700 tons per year.
The State Unitary Enterprise of the "Uzaeronavigatsia" Centre considers environmental protection issues to be a priority in its activities and is taking confident steps towards sustainable development and improving the environmental condition of the country. Undoubtedly, the introduction of innovative approaches and new methods of air traffic control will ensure a healthy and favorable future for the current and future generations of Uzbekistan.