Hello and thank you to the Session 1 panel for some very informative presentations and a lively discussion of the role that technology will play in our carbon reduction efforts.
Thanks to ATAG for inviting me here to give the airport perspective on environmental stewardship and walk you through some of the good work airports all over the world are doing to help the industry meet its ambitious goals.
All of the initiatives I’m about to discuss can be found in ATAG’s new publication, “Aviation Climate Solutions.” It provides a wealth of information with examples from across the industry that are replicable, innovative and scalable.
Let’s start with the Hong Kong International Airport Carbon Reduction Programme, which involves Airport Authority Hong Kong and 46 airport business partners, and aims to reduce airport-wide carbon intensity by 25% between 2008 and 2015. Highlights of the programme include the airport’s 2009 installation of Hong Kong’s largest-ever LED replacement programme, swapping out more than 100,000 traditional lights with LEDs in terminal buildings. Each year the project saves around 15 million kilowatt hours of electricity and reduces carbon emissions by over 9,000 tonnes.
Munich Airport started an LED replacement project in 2009 as well, replacing traditional lighting fixtures in the road, car parks and on the apron.
Over to Heathrow Airport: The Heathrow Sustainability Partnership led to the development of an Energy Code of Practice in collaboration with World Duty Free Group to contribute to Heathrow’s carbon reduction target of 34% by 2020.
Other projects include the Clean Vehicles Partnership and the Cooking Oil Recycling Club, which turns cooking oil from the airport’s restaurants into biodiesel, contributing to the goal of recycling 70% of the waste generated at Heathrow by 2020.
And onto harnessing the power of the sun. Athens International’s photovoltaic park produces more than 13 thousand Megawatt-hours of emission-free electricity annually, corresponding to approximately 25% of the airport’s own electricity needs. This results in an average annual CO2 emissions reduction of 11,500 tonnes.
Solar panels installed at Brisbane Airport produce an estimated 125 Megawatt-hours per year of green energy. They directly save 118 tonnes of CO2 per year compared to using grid electricity.
At Paris-Orly airport, a 10 Megawatt geothermal power plant takes advantage of deep underground water naturally heated to 74°C to heat all the terminal buildings with renewable energy. In 2014, the plant generated 30,100 Megawatt-hours of thermal energy, providing 64% of the power required for internal heating and 23% of the total energy needs of the airport.
Orly’s sister airport, Charles de Gaulle, installed a wood-fuelled heating system in 2013 which cuts CO2 emissions by 18,000 tonnes per year. All this is part of Aéroports de Paris’ goal to reduce emissions by 25% between 2009 and 2015.
When building a new terminal extension, authorities at Oslo Airport investigated ways to help cool the building during summer as efficiently as possible. They turned to the huge amounts of snow which are stockpiled each winter. The cold meltwater from a snow storage area helps to cool the building on hot summer days. The water is then returned back to the snow storage area and the process repeated. As the snow and ice melts, clean meltwater is released gradually into the ground, helping to maintain the water balance in the soil.
And environmental stewardship doesn’t necessarily mean making huge investments in new technology; sometimes it can be as simple as doing things differently. In order to help manage the hundreds of taxis and have a real impact on their carbon footprint, Swedavia—the operators of Stockholm Arlanda Airport—teamed up with APCOA Parking to develop a new taxi metering system where eco-taxis are given priority and jump forward in the taxi queue. The share of environmentally friendly taxis at Stockholm Airport jumped from 16% in 2009 to 84% in 2014. This airport initiative influenced the taxi fleet for the entire city of Stockholm.
Cork Airport has achieved savings of 33% in total energy consumption resulting in considerable cost and CO2 reductions through energy management and low/no cost practices, without significant capital expenditure. The initiative included implementation of monitoring to ensure energy use in the terminal building matched passenger and staff occupancy levels; commissioning of greener variable-speed drive motors and reduction of fan speeds across air handling units; switching off the chilled water system for the winter period and the boilers in summer; and optimisation of all air handling unit schedules to minimum requirements. Having improved operating efficiency so significantly, Cork Airport is now in a much better position to consider investment in energy efficient technology.
Finally, Corporacion America’s Galapagos Ecological Airport, as the name implies, is an environmental stewardship exemplary. The terminal building itself is made from 80% recycled material from the old terminal and the structure that supports the new terminal was built from recycled petroleum exploration pipes. Even the furniture at the gates and in the coffee shops is made of certified recycled material.
Alongside LED lights, the building is designed to take maximum advantage of natural light and the skylights automatically adjust themselves to allow more or less air inside to change the temperature. For power generation, the airport takes advantage of a solar panel array and a wind farm currently being developed to get 100% of its energy from renewables.
These are just a handful of the airport initiatives included in ATAG’s “Aviation Climate Solutions” document. I would encourage all operators and stakeholders to consult this valuable reference document for inspiration as we continue on the path to carbon-neutral growth as an industry.
I’d like to end with a quick note on how ACI is working within the industry to mitigate the environmental impacts of aviation. Airport Collaborative Decision Making, or A-CDM, consists of bringing together the different on-airport partners and instilling information sharing protocols and channels among them. Munich Airport was the pioneer of A-CDM when it began its programme in 2007. Following the success in Munich, Eurocontrol and ACI EUROPE jointly launched a wider deployment programme. There are now 35 airports in Europe at various stages of implementing A-CDM, with 16 airports fully integrating the concept in their procedures.
And I’m proud to note that Airport Carbon Accreditation, developed by ACI EUROPE in 2009 for airports to achieve self-determination in setting and meeting rigorous environmental standards, went fully global last year when the ACI North America and Latin America-Caribbean Regions joining Africa and Asia-Pacific.
As well, ACI’s do-it-yourself airport carbon inventory tool, ACERT, is now available in version 3.0 and can be used across all accreditation levels with a focus on helping smaller airports join the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. At ACI’s World Annual General Assembly earlier this month, our Members passed a new resolution to support the ATAG joint industry position on aviation and climate change, supporting ICAO’s work on climate change and affirming support for airport operator efforts on managing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
Clearly, airports are on board when it comes to ensuring environmentally sustainable operations, and I know from working closely with many of the presenters that you’ll hear from during this event that the industry at large has pulled together in an unprecedented manner to ensure that aviation’s future is one of minimal carbon emissions. I thank you for your time.