Europe publishes controversial NOx report

By Aimée Turner

The controversial report into how aviation NOx's greenhouse gas contribution should be tackled has now been published on the European Commission's website.

Advisers to the EC who conducted the study believe it should hold off imposing new rules governing engine emissions of nitrogen oxides until there is a greater body of scientific knowledge about their global warming impact.

Late last year the EC told a high-level group of the 42-member state European Civil Aviation Conference that it had received the cautionary advice from Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft.

CE Delft, the original architect of the European Union's emissions trading scheme, was commissioned by the EC to conduct a thorough review of the science, as well as any future regulatory framework regarding aviation NOx emissions, as a prelude to additional rules for airlines.