Sustainable airports: How terminals can reduce carbon emissions for a net zero future
July 25, 2024
Airports have a range of opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and plan for a more sustainable future
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The aviation industry is under pressure to reduce its environmental impact. Airports generate about 200 million tonnes of the industry’s 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
But airport traffic isn’t going to decrease, because airports are crucial for connecting people and transporting goods. We couldn’t function without them. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts there will be 10 billion air passengers a year by 2050, and we’ll need to make sure we’ve decarbonised airports well before then.
Many airports have already started programs to reduce carbon. Globally, 357 airports are now carbon accredited. In Australia, Sunshine Coast Airport is our first fully carbon-neutral airport.
We’re exploring new ways to help airports reduce their carbon emissions, like energy-efficient designs and solar farms. That’s because we think airports have an important role to play in making the aviation industry net zero.
Airports play an important role in decarbonising aviation.
Reducing airport carbon emissions from energy
The most eco-friendly way to reduce airport carbon emissions is by upgrading buildings. But many terminals were built when airport sustainability wasn’t a factor, which can make this difficult.
What’s the best way to build more sustainable airports and reduce carbon emissions? Let’s start by using energy-efficient materials to build or upgrade terminals, improve insulation, and make them airtight. That’s because airports are enormous. And that space can waste huge amounts of energy through heating, cooling, and lighting.
We could use renewable energy to heat, cool, and light these spaces instead. Skylights, for example, could be an alternative to lighting and heating.
We should also look at the energy efficiency of design features. It’s important to avoid building unnecessarily big spaces or architectural features that waste energy. That doesn’t mean sustainable airports can’t look good. But we want to see architectural features that help improve an airport’s green credentials, rather than take away from them.
Recycling and reusing materials from old airport buildings is also important. It offers an eco-friendly approach to building upgrades or extensions and constructing more sustainable airports.
Leveraging technology to design eco-friendly airports
We think new technology can also make a major difference to the energy efficiency of an airport. Investing in technology that senses when areas are unoccupied could result in sizable savings and reduce airport carbon emissions.
Finding more efficient ways to move people through airports helps, too. It can reduce fluctuating loads on power systems. For example, cooling a customs area that’s empty one minute and filled with people the next. This would also improve the passenger experience.
A sustainable airport is one that is built for the future. That means we also need to start preparing for a new kind of aircraft.
There are also ways to save energy on the tarmac.
There are lots of airside vehicles and ground service equipment. Switching them to electric, hybrid, or alternative fuels could slash airport carbon emissions.
We could also replace the auxiliary power units (APUs) that keep planes running while they’re at the gate. At the moment, these units burn fuel and generate emissions when planes aren’t going anywhere. This is like idling in a car park with your engine running.
Replacing them with fixed electrical ground power would make a major difference to an airport’s carbon footprint. It’s especially true if they use clean energy.
Powering sustainable airports with renewable energy
Another way to reduce carbon emissions and improve airport sustainability? Making the airport’s main power source renewable energy. Generating it on-site could reduce airport carbon emissions even further.
Renewable energy initiatives include waste-to-energy facilities at London Gatwick Airport. One of Europe’s busiest airports is now recycling waste from planes and terminals for heating or transforming it into biofuels.
A sustainable airport is one that is built for the future. That means we also need to start preparing for a new kind of aircraft.
Melbourne Airport is using its land to build solar farms. The airport’s Oaklands Junction Solar Farm is 16 hectares in size, with an estimated 30,000 solar panels. Their new North Airfield solar farm will add another 20,000 panels. These will generate enough energy to power all four of the airport’s terminals.
Airports often have huge amounts of land. Rethinking how we use it could give us even more opportunities to improve airport sustainability. We think one option to explore is restoring natural habitats and encouraging the regrowth of native flora that will attract our native fauna.
Reducing airport carbon emissions beyond the terminal
Airports could also play a role in reducing the carbon emissions of those travelling to and from them. Airport staff, flight crews, and passengers make thousands of journeys to airports a day, all over the world. Options include increasing the number of EV charging stations at the airport. They could also make themselves low-emission zones that only electric vehicles can enter.
They could reduce the time flight crews spend commuting to city centre hotels by incentivising hotel chains to build hotels nearby. Staying at nearby hotels would also mean they could ‘clock off’ much sooner (and who amongst us would say no to that?).
Aircraft carbon emissions are outside of airports’ direct control. But, like ground transport, airports do have opportunities to help reduce them.
Along with APU, taxiing and runway movements make up 8 percent of total aircraft emissions, according to the IATA. That’s several times the amount of all other airport emissions combined. If we designed more efficient airfield layouts, we could reduce the distances planes have to travel from the gate to taxiways and runways.
Airport staff, flight crews, and passengers make thousands of journeys to airports a day, all over the world.
Sustainable airports that are fit for the future
A sustainable airport is one that is built for the future. That means we also need to start preparing for a new kind of aircraft.
The World Economic Forum estimates that ‘alternative propulsion aircraft (and hybrid variations of them) could make up over one-third of all aircraft in operation by 2050’. We’ll need to make sure airports have the right infrastructure in place by then.
This will include physical infrastructure at airports, such as hydrogen storage tanks and battery charging stations, as well as renewable energy.
Carbon capture and storage technology is another way to reduce carbon emissions, capturing and storing them before they’re released into the atmosphere.
Why sustainable airports can lead by example
Airports have an important role to play in decarbonising aviation.
We have a unique opportunity to lead by example and meet environmental challenges head-on by designing and building more sustainable airports. In the words of Lauren Uppink, head of Climate Strategy at the World Economic Forum: “If the right planning and investment decisions are made today, airports can play a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future for aviation.”
We need to keep innovating and collaborating. Then, we can help the airports of tomorrow be green, efficient, and ready to respond to whatever challenges come their way.