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George Harvey
The aviation industry adds an estimated 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. We have been aware of the work being done to reduce the emissions from burning aviation fuel, but a small part of aviation’s emissions, about 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is from the airports themselves. That amount may not seem like much, but of the things that drive climate change, most are small enough that we might not think them urgent. And yet they all must be addressed, if we are to address climate change.
The Airports Council International (ACI) has been working on helping airports reduce their emissions with an accreditation program, which it runs globally. The Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program rates airports for their position on managing and reducing carbon emissions. The ACA gives accreditation to airports in four levels, depending on how advanced their programs are. The first level is Mapping, which is done as an airport evaluates its carbon emissions and begins to address them. The Reduction level is awarded when carbon emission management and reduction can be shown to be underway. The Optimization level indicates that other parties are engaged at the airport. The Neutrality level requires that all carbon emissions have to be eliminated or offset in some way.
The program is voluntary, but it brings participating airports several benefits. Not the least of these is reduced costs that come with increased efficiency. The ACA program helps airports take stock of where they are in their approach to efficiency.
The Albany International Airport (ALB) announced it has earned accreditation from ACI, with a Mapping level, for its ongoing commitment to identifying and reducing carbon emissions, while pursuing their eventual elimination from its operations. ALB is one of only 72 airports in North America, with 38 in the United States, with any level of accreditation. There are somewhat over 500 airports in the U.S. serving commercial flights.
The announcement of the accreditation was made in a press release. In it, Airport CEO Phil Calderone said, “Today’s announcement underscores Albany International Airport’s ongoing commitment to reduce our carbon footprint in recognition of the important role our industry must play in combating climate change.”
He also seems to have given away the fact that ALB is working toward the next level of accreditation, when he added, “The airport is engaged in projects with our partners to examine the use of solar power, hydrogen power, sustainable aviation fuel, the use of methane gas, – a by-product of the airport’s award-winning glycol recovery system – and the development of geo-thermal energy.”
Though airport carbon emissions are far smaller than the emissions of the aircraft themselves, they result from just about everything else that happens at the site. Use of gasoline, diesel oil, natural gas and propane all contribute to the emissions, fueling trucks, buses, ground transportation equipment, stationary emergency power generators, and heat. Electricity use and waste management account for a large part of the rest.
Some of the work done to reduce emissions was focused on lighting, replacing much of the traditional lighting with LEDS. The areas cited were runway and taxi lighting, street and high mast lighting, and terminal and hangar lighting. That will reduce the carbon emissions from lighting quite a lot.
Emissions associated with transportation equipment took up its own effort. Electric ground support equipment was added, along with buses and trucks powered by compressed natural gas, hydrogen power, and charging stations for electric vehicles.
There were other actions undertaken. ALB installed solar power, including 154 solar photovoltaic panels. The airport expanded green spaces and gardens. The roofs of buildings were given reflective surfaces, which keeps summertime heating down, a system that can also reduce heat loss in cold weather when it is done right.
Finally, the airport improved its method of treating glycol from storms. On this point, it is worth mentioning a couple of things about glycol. It is used as a de-icing agent during winter storms, it is sprayed on the wings, and it runs off. The glycol used, propylene-glycol, is rather benign and is not listed as toxic, even in fairly high doses. People who smoke electronic cigarettes breathe it in as they do so. Nevertheless, it is gathered at the airport and fed to microbes, which gobble it up. There is a by-product from this process, which is methane gas. ALB captures the gas and uses it to heat two buildings.
Clearly, Albany International Airport has a good start on addressing the airport’s own emissions and has a plan to get to better results. We will be watching with some anticipation.
Captions:
Albany International Airport. (Flyer84, placed into the public domain. Bit.ly/AlbanyInt.)
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