The ICAO Standard and Recommended Practice (SARP) for aeroplane Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions is published as Volume III of ICAO Annex 16. Article 9 of the Basic Regulation, as amended by the Civil Aviation (Environmental Protection)(Amendment) Regulations 2024, requires that aircraft shall comply with the latest amendment of this Standard.
The Standard is a certification standard for aeroplane CO2 emissions, based on the consumption of fuel. The CO2 metric value is based on specific air range (SAR) adjusted for the size of the fuselage. The metric value is quantified in units of kg/km.
The applicability provisions of the Standard require that jet aeroplanes having a maximum take-off mass of more than 5,700 kg, and propeller-driven aeroplanes having a maximum take-off mass of more than 8,618 kg, shall comply according to the following:
- From 1 January 2020 to new designs of subsonic aeroplanes, including their derived versions, with the exception of jet aeroplanes with 19 seats or less;
- From 1 January 2023 to derived versions of non-CO2 certified aeroplanes, and new designs of jet aeroplanes with 19 seats or less; and
- From 1 January 2028 to all in-production aeroplanes.
See Section 2.1 of Chapter 2 of Part II of the Standard for details.
Note that the Standard defines a derived version as an aeroplane which incorporates changes in type design that increases its maximum take-off mass or increases its CO2 emissions evaluation metric by more than a specified value.
The Standard requires that the certificating authority shall publish the certified CO2 emissions evaluation metric granted or validated by that authority. The publication of the UK CAA Aeroplane CO2 Emissions database fulfils that requirement. The database contains records of all aeroplane types and configurations for which CO2 emissions evaluation metric values have been approved to date. Note that new records will be added to the database as and when new aeroplane types and configurations are approved.
CO2 Database
The database can be downloaded from here:
TC and STC holders wanting UK CAA CO2 certification for an aircraft configuration not yet approved by CAA will need to formally apply to UK CAA for approval by following these links, Guidance on Type Design Approval for the issue of a TC or RTC and Guidance on minor and major changes or repairs.
Questions concerning the UK CAA Aeroplane CO2 Emissions Database should be sent to certco2@caa.co.uk.
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