Snecma has long focused on sustainable development and reducing pollution of all kinds. When we develop our aircraft engines, we integrate a number of key factors: reducing fuel consumption and therefore greenhouse gas emissions; noise reduction; and choosing environmentally-friendly materials, manufacturing and maintenance processes.
These environmental issues have also become a political and economic challenge in the aviation industry, and especially for commercial aviation. Measures such as stringent standards that may restrict operations, the allocation of landing slots according to noise, and pollution taxes are increasingly widespread.
At Snecma, we develop products that are designed to comply with standards as they currently stand, and as they are likely to evolve in the future.
The use of new technologies must strike a balance between improving environmental performance and maintaining an acceptable maintenance cost for these engines.
Meeting all of these objectives requires heavy investments in R&D.
Snecma devotes a significant share of its Research & Technology budget to programs designed to reduce environmental impact, a policy we have applied for many years. For instance, we pioneered the introduction of new environmentally-friendly technologies on our commercial aircraft engines.
We are also heavily involved in the development and application of new environmental standards, working hand in hand with a number of French, European and international organizations.
In Europe, the “Vision 2020” report, published in 2001, defined the European aviation industry’s objectives for 2020. The environment is of course considered one of the major challenges, including the following ambitious objectives: 50% reduction in perceived noise and CO2 releases per passenger-kilometer; and an 80% reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions compared with 2000.
The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE), which groups all major players in European aeronautics research, defined the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) to meet these objectives. Snecma, as a member of ACARE, was a major contributor to the SRA, in particular by coordinating the sections concerning the environment.
Snecma’s environmental policy applies to all of our products and all of our industrial facilities. In particular, it aims to improve the environmental quality of our facilities, for instance by treating releases, sorting waste, reducing the use of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and using “cleaner” processes within the scope of a continuous improvement approach based on ISO 14001 certification (for the environmental management system).