ENVIRONMENT | MUNICH AIRPORT
Munich Airport tables its green charter
Michael Wühle has plenty to be proud of in his record as Munich Airport’s head of environmental protection. But Wühle still gets frustrated when some of his ideas for reducing carbon are rejected.
M
unich Airport has impeccable green credentials. It was the first airport in Germany to receive a level 3 award for its efforts to reduce carbon from The Airport Council Inter- national (ACI Europe). Munich earned the accreditation in 2010 by demonstrating that its CO2 emissions in 2009 were 17,000 tons lower than the average level of the previous three years. Wühle is especially proud of a certificate from the Eco-Management
and Audit Scheme (EMAS). “This is renewed every three years and it means we have good environmental policies. They say we analyse envi- ronmental data in the right way and continuously monitor our projects and processes,” he said. Whilst happy with the official approval of his work, Wühle says more could be done. He has a wealth of ideas which are sometimes blocked when colleagues fail to share his enthusiasm.
“In 2007, I started a project to use biofuels for our fleet of vehicles. I wanted to use rapeseed oil instead of diesel and bioethanol instead of fossil fuels,” he said. “My plan was to retrofit 400 of the 1,400 vehicles, but so far only 90 are running with biofuel,” he said. A few technical issues didn’t help, but the major stumbling block was the employees’ unwillingness to drive the vehicles in case they became gravely ill.
6 AIRSIDE INTERNATIONAL | MARCH 2012
“Many workers say rapeseed can cause cancer and refuse to use biofu-
els,” he said. “A lot of our bus drivers will go on strike if forced to drive these vehicles. In my view, the alleged connection between cancer and rapeseed oil is pseudo-science. But the drivers argue that ‘it may or may not be true, so we won’t take the risk.” Another of Wühle’s frustrated ideas is a plan to introduce recycled
grey water, for example in the airport’s rest rooms. This time money is the issue rather than his colleagues’ recalcitrance. “If you ask me, I would do it, but not everyone shares my enthusiasm and financial con- siderations come into play. I argue that if you look at initial costs it’s more expensive than fresh water, but over the life cycle it would be cheaper. But not everyone at the airport agrees with me.” Wühle has plans to introduce renewable energy to Munich, but for now the airport’s existing energy supply system does the job in a sustain- able and efficient manner.
The airport’s onsite power plant is efficient because it generates both heat and power. The heat produced during power generation is used as an energy source for heating and cooling systems. As a result, the car- bon emissions from the plant are around 30,000 tons a year lower than in conventional plants. This equates to the carbon produced by 20,000 automobiles travelling 10,000 km a year. This large amount offsets the entire carbon emissions caused by the 30,000 employees at Munich Air- port commuting to work every day.
The power plant is an adequate source of energy for now, but Wühle expects big changes to the airport’s energy policies in the next few years, partly as a result of wider political developments in Germany. “It’s an interesting time at the moment here in Bavaria,” he said. “Our politicians have changed their fuel source from nuclear to renew- ables as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. This policy development will influence Munich Airport. In the next two years, I am expecting a lot more projects using wind, water and solar power.” Fortunately, Munich Airport is well-positioned politically to gain as- sistance from the regional Government. The head of the airport’s board of directors, Markus Soeder, is a former Bavarian Minister of Environ- ment and Health and is now Finance Minister. “He knows a lot about the environment, as well as about Munich Airport. We will get a lot of useful help and support from him,” said Wühle.
Munich Airport is of great economic importance to the Bavarian
economy. It is the third largest airport in Germany and the seventh largest in Europe. It also has a high reputation with passengers. It was named the best airport in Europe in 2011 for the sixth time in the last seven years. The award, which is given by Skytrax, the London-based aviation market-research firm, is based on the assessments of millions of passengers worldwide. Munich’s high standing puts it in the top five airports worldwide. The Skytrax awards are a source of pride, but they are based on com-
fort and efficiency and do not really reflect the airport’s behind-the- scenes efforts to tackle emissions. However, here too, the airport wants to be one of the world’s best. Its ambitious target is to achieve carbon- neutral growth by 2020 compared to the baseline year of 2005. Munich first published details of its carbon footprint in 2008. Its performance was worked out according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) which calculates carbon emissions in three categories
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