Environmental life cycle assessment of commercial passenger jet airliners

This paper uses a life cycle assessment of an Airbus A320 commercial airliner to determine the relative environmental impact of each service life phase. It was conducted in accordance with ISO 14040/44, the EcoInvent inventory database, customised unit process entries for the most important processes and materials and the Eco-Indicator 99 weighting method. The conclusions highlighting the very low contribution of the manufacturing phase to the overall service life emissions.

► This paper presents a holistic LCA study of a commercial jet airliner.
► Operation is the highest contributor to the overall environmental impact (99.9%).
► The impact associated with the manufacturing is comparable to 6.5 days of operation.
► 50% Reduction in JET A1 consumption would increase the manufacturing impact by 0.04%.
► Use of biofuel reduces CO2 emissions but the impact of land use becomes significant.