UPS promises deep aviation emission cuts

Delivery giant UPS has this week committed to cut carbon emissions from its airline by an additional 20 per cent by 2020 in a move designed to reduce emissions from its fleet by a total of 42 per cent based on 1990 levels.

The company said it was aiming to meet the new target through increased investment in more fuel-efficient aircraft, the adoption of fuel-saving operational procedures such as improved flight paths and the introduction of biofuels.

Bob Stoffel, UPS senior vice president and the executive responsible for UPS's sustainability program, said the aviation emissions goal will be followed by a series of additional environmental targets. "We set our first goal for aircraft emissions because our jet planes are the source of 53 per cent of UPS's carbon output," he said.

The new commitment forms part of the latest edition of UPS's Sustainability Report, which includes information on both the company's direct and indirect emissions.

Writing in the report, UPS chairman and chief executive Scott Davis urged other firms within the logistics industry to fully disclose their carbon footprint.

"Customers rely on the transportation and logistics industry as part of their supply chains," he wrote. "They need accurate information from the industry in order to calculate their own CO2 inventories and report them to the public. For that reason, we advocate full disclosure (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) for the entire transportation and logistics industry."

In related news, Alaska Airlines has reportedly begun work on a new project to cut emissions across its fleet through the use of new, continuous-descent approaches. According to reports at GreenBiz.com, the company has deployed the Required Navigation Performance technology necessary to enable the approaches across its entire fleet and last month began testing the optimal landing processes at 23 US airports.