Technical Support on EIA

SENASA provides technical support services to AESA for environmental impact assessment of public Infrastructure projects (aerodromes, heliports and flight fields for ULM) which are competence of AESA as well as any infrastructure for private or restricted use in which the Autonomous Communities do no not have competence and therefore AESA has subsidiarily assumed the competence.

Technical Support on Aviation Noise

The main support tasks that SENASA provides to the national authority in this field are:

• Elaboration of reports related to the development of legislation related to noise.
• Preparation of reports for monitoring noise-related operational restrictions.
• Analysis of environmental requirements in the airport certification process.
• Tasks derived from the approval of acoustic aviation easements of airport infrastructures.

Technical Support on ETS

In the field of Emissions Trading of CO2 (EU-ETS), SENASA carries out technical support for AESA in the development of new global market mechanisms, the incorporation of alternative fuels for aviation as well as the implementation of any activity in order to guarantee aviation sustainability.

On a three-year basis, SENASA prepares the Action Plan for the Reduction of CO2 Emissions, a strategic document through which the State can establish in the medium or long term the plans to deal with CO2 emissions in international aviation.

Flight Path

SENASA is the Coordinator of the European Commission-financed project Coordination of Renewable Fuel Stakeholder Strategy in the Field of Aviation, which aims to update the European Advanced Biofuels Flightpath. The purpose of this program is to identify barriers and solutions to make sustainable alternative fuels a real tool for the decarbonisation of the EU aviation sector. More information about the project can be found on the web: www.biofuelsflightpath.eu/

Spanish Biokerosene Initiative

The Spanish Initiative for the Production and Consumption of Biokerosene for Aviation was formalized on 27 October 2011 with the signing of an agreement between SENASA, the former Ministries of Industry, Energy and Tourism (through the IDAE), Public Works (through the AESA) and Agriculture, Food and Environment and various companies related to the production of raw materials, refining technologies, aeronautical logistics and sustainability processes.

This initiative is structured as a meeting platform between the different participating agents, that is, it intends to act as a bridge for the exchange of information, identification of needs and areas of action between the public sector involved and the private agents that collaborate in it.

This is the framework in which the dialogue for balanced stakeholder engagement is currently taking place.

CORSIA

Since 2013 SENASA has participated actively in the definition of a Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). At the 39th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), held in October 2016 in Montreal, the implementation of this scheme was agreed in order to tackle any increase of international aviation’s annual emissions from 2020 levels. Offsetting schemes involve the compensation of emissions produced in a certain sector through the reduction of emissions in other sectors. The logic behind this mechanism is based on the fact that the greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by aviation can be compensated through reduction, elimination or directly avoiding emissions in other sectors.

SENASA is currently managing the implementation of CORSIA in Spain from 2018. More information is accessible at: www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/market-based-measures.aspx

OBSA

From 2007 to 2018, SENASA managed the Aviation Sustainability Observatory (OBSA), which operated as a national reference center for the collection, preparation, analysis, evaluation and dissemination of existing information on aviation sustainability, considering its three dimensions: social, economic and environmental. OBSA contributed to aviation sustainability by actively working on technical projects, international programs (such as SESAR or AIRE) for the improvement of energy efficiency, international networks such as ANNA and consulting and training projects, as well as through the signing of different agreements with several public and private entities.

ITAKA

The ITAKA project for the commercial development of sustainable aviation biofuels had, between 2012 and 2016, the impulse and coordination of SENASA and the co-financing of the European Commission. Its objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of using large-scale biofuels for commercial aviation in Europe in a sustainable way. To do this, it connected the entire production chain and analyzed the different steps to guarantee technical and environmental viability. More information about the project can be found on the web: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/308807

Core Jet Fuel

From 2013 to 2016, SENASA participated in this project, which was part of the 7th Research Framework Program of the European Commission, performing tasks of analysis of raw materials and technologies available for the manufacture of alternative fuels for the aviation sector. More information on the project can be found on the web: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/605716

Forum AE

The Forum AE project, whose objective was the creation of a European network of specialists (academia and industry) related to the key issues of aviation emissions, had SENASA as a participant at all levels. It addressed environmental impacts (air quality and climate change), mitigation solutions (aircraft, engines, operations, alternative fuels) and technical regulation issues (CAEP, local regulations), including their standardization, dissemination and policy dialogue.

National Emissions Inventories

During the 2009-2016 period, SENASA collaborated with the former Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment in the preparation of the Emissions Inventory of the aviation sector. Spain undertook this task under the commitments made within the framework of the European Union and several international conventions on the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants at a national level.

Madrid-Barajas Airport Acoustic Analysis

SENASA, AIRBUS Group, ENAIRE, AENA and the IAG group collaborated on an evaluation and identification project for noise attenuation in the surroundings of Madrid–Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport, based mainly on PBN operations (Performance Based Navigation). This study involved the execution of flight simulations for RNP APCH approaches, evaluating together with AENA the acoustic improvements derived from a more efficient use of airspace.