Environment
As one of its green initiatives, Edmonton International Airport is looking into shielding beehives behind its solar panels.
of solar photovoltaic (PV) at airports that would be required into the future.”
Solar farms are clearly a popular way of cutting aviation’s carbon footprint. Apart from Edmonton and Dublin, airports as varied as Cochin, India; Orlando, Florida; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, are all jumping aboard too. Not that airports seem content to stop there. Rather, they’re ingeniously combining big solar panel projects with other green initiatives. Once again, Keehn and Edmonton are an excellent example. For one thing, their solar panels are bifacial, meaning they can absorb light both from the sun above and from reflected snow underfoot – this is Canada after all. For another, Keehn notes that his team is in touch with an apiary, with the ultimate idea of shielding beehives under the panels. Nor would Edmonton be the first airport to do so. In Dublin, Harrison describes his own beekeeping project – the fruits of which can now be enjoyed in the airport’s executive lounges. It’s fun to imagine bucolic beehives huddled under the flight paths of transatlantic jets. But as that last point implies, there is a financial aspect to this do-goodery too. Put it like this: every ounce of honey made by Dublin Airport’s 250,000 bees is an ounce that doesn’t have to be sourced from elsewhere, ultimately helping the bottom line. The same is true, of course, of larger projects too. Dublin’s solar panels certainly help the environment – but they also save on utility costs, especially after a planned 2.5MWh battery storage unit is installed. Not that Dublin is alone, either. Keehn, for his part, says that his airport’s raft of environmental measures make fiscal and economic sense, while Heathrow and Atlanta are just two of the major international hubs making similar noises.
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Go green by saving green With temperature rises showing no sign of slowing, what do the experts see for the future of airport sustainability? For Keehn, the direction of travel is clear. With solar panels now flanking Edmonton’s runways, his team have expanded their efforts to other corners of the airport. Among other things, that means offering discounted fees to cabbies who fill their taxis with sustainable petrol. And as that initiative implies, says Keehn, change is being prodded along in dollars and cents. “I think it comes down to an operating principle from a business perspective.” In Dublin, Harrison agrees. “Sustainability is,” he suggests, “a key part of our strategic pillars to grow our business.”
At the same time, it seems clear that regulators will keep applying pressure on airports to keep moving forward. In the US, the Federal Aviation Authority now talks of “integrating sustainability into airport planning” and has encouraged airports from Utah to Maine to develop detailed environmental schemes. Never slackers on the environmental front, officials in Europe are breaking similar ground. Announced in late 2020, the European Commission’s new ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy’ expects the continent’s aviation industry to be carbon neutral by 2050. Between deploying low-carbon fuels, lending to sustainable projects and exploiting smart traffic management systems, that certainly seems achievable. So who knows – perhaps the next great milestone in aviation will come not from an aircraft or a pilot, but from the environmental impact of their earthbound partners? ●
Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com
Edmonton International Airport
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