From duty free shop lighting to cooking equipment, cooling to ventilation, the running of airports equates to an average of 19.7 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and 34.7 thousand btu of natural gas, per square foot annually. Lighting and cooling use accounts for 46% of the overall energy use for an average airport, according to Business Energy Insider.
The importance to switch airport energy use away from the burning of fossil fuels is not only beneficial for airports when it comes to finances, but instrumental for the environment as well.
Introducing and implementing alternative, greener, energy sources such as air source heat pumps and solar is being utilised by airports worldwide.
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From producing all renewable energy onsite to sourcing external renewable energy providers to reach 100%, airports worldwide are making the switch over to greener, cleaner fuel use.
Creating a sustainable power source with Melbourne Airport
Melbourne airport being recognised for its sustainable approach, after the recent completion of a solar farm spanning around 192,000 sq m, which is the equivalent of 26 football pitches. The solar farm is currently one of the nation’s largest installations, which took just six months to complete.
Project construct took place during the down time brought about the Covid-19 pandemic. The solar farm will produce 17GWh of electricity annually – enough to power all four passenger terminals – which is projected to cover almost 15% of the airport’s energy consumption needs.
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By GlobalDataAlongside the new solar farm providing economic benefits when it comes to energy saving costs, the project is a step in the right direction to reducing the airport’s carbon footprint.
Melbourne Airport chief of landside access, utilities and facilities group, Lorie Argus said in a press release: “With the airport’s electricity demand expected to grow, the construction of our solar farm makes sense for several reasons. The project is expected to deliver significant annualised energy cost savings, a timely benefit with the impacts of COVID-19 wreaking havoc on the aviation industry.
“We are committed to growing the airport in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable way. This renewable energy project is another chapter in that story.”
Installing a massive solar farm next to a major airport presented challenges for the design and construction team. These challenges – which were addressed prior to construction commencing – included mitigating the reflected glare from solar panels into cockpits. To reduce the possibility of dazzling pilots, Melbourne Airport installed fixed ground racking systems.
Another challenge which presented itself for the airport involved the surrounding wildlife to the airport, especially birds. Ongoing discussions around nesting and airports are frequently brought forward in airport planning meetings, however plants surrounding the solar farm were selected specifically to minimise bird roosting chances. Shrubbery planted around the solar farm are simple, and do not produce food for birds, like seeds and berries.
Bristol airport turns 100% renewable
With the city of Bristol being named the UK’s most sustainable city by the environmental charity Forum for the Future in 2008, it is no surprise that the city and its airport are continuing to push an agenda that includes sustainable, environmentally-friendly energy.
Bristol Airport recently announced that it has switched to a 100% renewable energy supply, an important step towards reducing their overall carbon footprint. The airport uses a combination of solar panels and air source heat pumps to power lighting and heating in the airport as well as renewable energy provided by global renewable energy supplier Orsted.
Around 15% of the renewable energy is being produced by the airport itself with the remaining 85% being provided by Orsted. Bristol Airport’s infrastructure and development director, Andrew Goodenough said: “At the airport we’ve have about 5% of our energy being generated with solar. We’ve just had planning approved to expand this and double it. The good thing about solar is technology is improving on a daily basis.
“We put some panels in around the 18 months ago, and we’re just figuring the next lot of solar, which is the project we just got approval on. We can get 50% more output from the panels now than the ones we put in a few months ago.”
The airport is working towards increasing the amount of renewable energy it produces, and has published a carbon roadmap. It sets out how the airport aims to achieve its ambition to become net zero and carbon neutral by 2025.
“We’re working really hard behind the scenes to beat the targets that we put in our roadmap. Since then, we have embedded sustainability into strategic intense as well, so sustainability is in there,” said Goodenough.
“Sustainability is now is at the core of our business decisions going forward. We are very much looking at our sustainability, looking at the impact, looking at opportunities and looking at the best way that we can mitigate any impacts.”
Paving the way to a sustainable airport
Abu Dhabi International Airport has been harnessing the use of sustainable energy via another method – using passengers’ steps to power lights. Installed by UK-based Pavegen, the energy harvesting walkway tiles use electric-magnetic induction caused by steps to generate electricity.
The installation of the 16 sq/m pathway captures the footfall of around 2 million passengers per month, which is converted into electricity.
This energy which is produced is used to power lighting along the walkways found between terminals 1 and 3 of the airport, as well as a screen to showcase how much energy is being sustainably produced.
Through the initial collaboration with Pavegen, it is hoped Abu Dhabi Airport will further develop its commitment to sustainability and educating the airports passengers about sustainable energy sources.
With reducing environmental impact high on the agenda for many airports and organisations, the journey towards increasing renewable energy use and production within the industry is expected to be an area many will continue to develop.
