Boeing Energy Conservation Program Lauded by EPA

From #Boeing:

CHICAGO, April 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] will be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a 2017 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award for the company's continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. Boeing will receive the award April 26 in Washington, D.C. This is the seventh consecutive year Boeing has been recognized by ENERGY STAR.

"We know that strong environmental performance is good for the planet and key to long-term business success. We are excited to build on the progress we have made and to further improve the efficiency of our products and our operations," said Ursula English, Boeing vice president of Environment, Health & Safety. "In our second century, we're aiming to be the most environmentally progressive company in the aerospace industry and to be a leader among our industrial peers."

Beverly Wyse, president of Boeing Shared Services Group, will accept the ENERGY STAR award on behalf of Boeing.

"We're thankful to the EPA for this recognition, but the greater thanks truly belongs to our Boeing employees who bring a strong commitment to environmental leadership to work with them every day," said Wyse. "It is their inspiration and innovation that allows us to keep incorporating new efficiencies and energy conservation technologies into our processes and operations."

During 2016, Boeing improved energy efficiency, invested in key energy infrastructure and continued public outreach with its conservation message. Boeing's key 2016 accomplishments in the U.S. include:

• Improving energy efficiency by 4.1 percent, a cumulative improvement of over 40 percent since 2009, all while reducing absolute energy consumption in 2016 by 2 percent and still delivering commercial aircraft at near-record levels.
• Absolute energy reduction of 863,000 MMBtu — equivalent to the annual energy use for 23,000 average U. S. homes.
• Replacing over 6,000 inefficient lighting fixtures with more energy-saving LEDs and making direct energy conservation investments of $6.7 million to reduce energy use by over 77,000 MMBtu annually.
• Expanding the company's environmental "Build a Better Planet" website to enhance employee engagement and share conservation messages and best practices in key forums and conferences.
• Expanding the Everett, Wash., site by 1.5 million square feet to include a new composite wing center built to LEED Silver specifications. Everett is home to the largest contiguous building by volume in the world.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent or 228,000 metric tons and water intake by 6 percent or 517 million gallons since 2012.

The 2017 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards are given to a variety of organizations that have demonstrated continued leadership in energy efficiency. Winners comprise a spectrum from small, family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 organizations — representing energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial, and public sectors.

For a complete list of 2017 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR's awards program, visit www.energystar.gov/awardwinners.

Boeing Next-Generation 737 Performance Improvement Package Delivers on Promise to Cut Fuel Burn

Press release:

Customers validate improvements on package's first anniversary

RENTON, Wash., July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Customers of Boeing's [NYSE: BA] Next-Generation 737 are validating the benefits of the industry-leading Performance Improvement Package (PIP), one year after the first airplane PIP airplane was delivered. PIP combines aerodynamic and engine performance improvements to reduce fuel burn by up to 2 percent and is part of the continuous innovation on the world's best-selling airplane. More than 420 Next-Generation 737s have now been delivered with PIP.

"The Performance Improvement Package has contributed to a remarkable fuel mileage improvement compared to the non-PIP airplanes," said Takeshi Katsurada, vice president of flight operations engineering for Japan Airlines. "We can validate its improvement through each delivery flight performance monitoring and also daily flight operations monitoring to the extent of more than 2 percent fuel mileage improvement."

Elements of the performance improvement package, provided at no charge to customers, have been gradually introduced on the 737 over the past year. They include aerodynamic-shaped anti-collision lights, streamlined slat and spoiler trailing edges, ski-jump wheel well fairings re-contoured to smooth the air flow near the main landing gear, and enhancements to the CFM engine. A re-contoured plug and cutback nozzle completed the propulsion portion of the performance improvement package. The final element of the package, a redesigned environmental control system exhaust vent, is scheduled for mid-2013.

"These improvements are important for our airline customers," said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager of the 737 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The improved fuel savings are part of our commitment to deliver market-leading value to Next-Generation 737 customers. Improving fuel efficiency by 2 percent saves more than $120,000 annually on each airplane and reduces the carbon footprint."

Boeing began performance improvement testing in November 2010 with the goal of reducing fuel consumption by up to 2 percent.

"Our latest tests have shown that aircraft, which incorporate the Performance Improvement Package, provide flydubai with up to 1.6 percent reduced fuel burn over non-PIP aircraft," said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai. "With a growing fleet, any savings we can make towards our fuel costs are positive from both a financial and environmental perspective. We look forward to Boeing introducing the final part of the package, which will provide us with even greater fuel savings."

Boeing, American Airlines 737-800 ecoDemonstrator Airplane Prepares for Flight Test Program

Press release:

FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) has completed assembly of an American Airlines, Next-Generation 737-800 to be used as a flying test bed for validating environmentally progressive technologies. The airplane, known as the ecoDemonstrator, is being outfitted with advanced technologies and test equipment before it begins a month of intense flight testing in Montana.

The 2012 ecoDemonstrator program is a partnership between Boeing, American Airlines, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

"The goal of the ecoDemonstrator program is to accelerate integration of these technologies for more fuel efficient, quieter, cleaner, more advanced sustainable material solutions for the future," said Jeanne Yu, Boeing Commercial Airplanes director of Environmental Performance.  "Demonstration programs give us a platform for better learning about new technologies in application.  This helps us incorporate these technologies more rapidly."

American Airlines is loaning one of its new Next-Generation 737-800s to Boeing for three months to serve as the test bed for these advanced technologies.  Each technology being fitted on the airplane for testing has the goal of reducing fuel consumption, lowering noise, and testing the viability of sustainable materials. After testing, the airplane will be returned to standard configuration and delivered later this year.

Technologies on the 2012 ecoDemonstrator airplane will include improvements to wing and engine efficiency as well as fuel-saving flight trajectory methods. 

"At American, we are committed to investing in or participating in pilot programs to test new equipment, develop alternative fuels and partner with like-minded companies, such as Boeing, to support promising developments that help reduce our carbon footprint," said David Campbell, vice president of Safety, Security and Environmental for American Airlines.  "The ecoDemonstrator is a critical milestone in helping to advance technologies that can help us fly more sustainably with future airplanes."

The 2012 ecoDemonstrator is part of a multi-year program. In 2013, a wide-bodied airplane will serve as the test bed.  See details of the technologies in the fact sheet athttp://www.boeing.com/farnborough2012/ and click on "Backgrounders."

The FAA is participating in the 2012 and 2013 programs, providing funding for two of the technologies and sharing in the flight test costs.  The funding is provided through their Continuous Lower Energy Emissions and Noise program (CLEEN).

Boeing, Airbus and Embraer to Collaborate on Aviation Biofuel Commercialization

Accelerating Availability is Key Pillar of Industry's Sustainable Growth Strategy

GENEVA, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA), Airbus and Embraer today signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on the development of drop-in, affordable aviation biofuels. The three leading airframe manufacturers agreed to seek collaborative opportunities to speak in unity to government, biofuel producers and other key stakeholders to support, promote and accelerate the availability of sustainable new jet fuel sources.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh, Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, and Embraer Commercial Aviation President Paulo Cesar Silva, signed the agreement at the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva.

"There are times to compete and there are times to cooperate," said Jim Albaugh. "Two of the biggest threats to our industry are the price of oil and the impact of commercial air travel on our environment. By working with Airbus and Embraer on sustainable biofuels, we can accelerate their availability and reduce our industry's impacts on the planet we share."

"We've achieved a lot in the last ten years in reducing our industry's CO2 footprint - a 45 percent traffic growth with only three percent more fuel consumption," said Tom Enders. "The production and use of sustainable quantities of aviation biofuels is key to meeting our industry's ambitious CO2 reduction targets and we are helping to do this through Research and Technology our expanding network of worldwide value chains and supporting the EU commission towards its target of four percent of biofuel for aviation by 2020."

"We are all committed to take a leading role in the development of technology programs that will facilitate aviation biofuels development and actual application faster than if we were doing it independently," said Paulo Cesar Silva. "Few people know that Brazil's well known automotive biofuels program started within our aeronautical research community, back in the seventies, and we will keep on making history."

The collaboration agreement supports the industry's multi-pronged approach to continuously reduce the industry's carbon emissions. Continuous innovation, spurred by competitive market dynamics that push each manufacturer to continuously improve product performance, and air traffic modernization, are other critical elements to achieving carbon-neutral growth beyond 2020 and halving industry emissions by 2050 based on 2005 levels.

"Having these three aviation leaders set aside their competitive differences and work together in support of biofuel development, underscores the importance and focus the industry is placing on sustainable practices," said ATAG Executive Director Paul Steele. "Through these types of broad industry collaboration agreements, aviation is doing all it can to drive measurable reductions in carbon emissions, while continuing to provide strong global economic and social value."

All three companies are affiliate members of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (www.safug.org), which includes 23 leading airlines responsible for approximately 25 percent of annual aviation fuel use. Boeing and Embraer are already collaborating on how to establish a sustainable aviation biofuels industry in Brazil and exploring new technology pathways to broaden biofuel sourcing and availability. Boeing and Airbus are also active around the globe in helping to establish regional supply chains, while the three manufacturers have all supported numerous biofuel flights since global fuel standards bodies granted their approval for commercial use in 2011.