English Abstract Global emissions of CO2, CO, NOx, total VOC, CH4, SO2
and H2O from civil and military aircraft are reviewed. The major
contribution of emissions by aircraft stems not from the Landing and
Take-Off cycle, to which most national emission estimates are limited, but
from the cruise flight. Subsonic aircraft appear to spend roughly about 20%
of the fuel consumption in the tropopause or in the stratosphere. Estimates
are presented of value and uncertainty of global emission factors and of the
global annual fuel consumption for civil and military air traffic (1990), as
well as emission inventories made for the Netherlands (1988) and for Germany
(1984). The fuel consumption by aircraft in 1990 is estimated to be about
7.61 EJ of 175 Mton, of which 28% is accounted for as bunker fuel ; the
share of military aircraft is estimated to be about 21%. The uncertainty
range in the emission estimates of NOx, CO and VOC/methane is reported to be
of the carbondioxide of 2. National emission budgets appear to depend
considerable on the definition used for accounting "national" aircraft
emissions.
