TAG Farnborough Airport has been awarded carbon-neutral status under the Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme run by Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), making it the first business aviation airfield to achieve the status. In the past 10 years, the airport has reduced carbon emissions under its direct control by 42 percent and invested more than £1 million in improving efficiency since 2013.
“While carbon neutrality is an important milestone in our carbon reduction efforts, our work in this field by no means ends here and we will continue to identify new ways to improve our sustainable credentials,” said airport environment manager Miles Thomas. Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, hopes this will become a trend among other business aviation airports that become inspired by Farnborough’s example.
Projects contributing to its carbon neutrality include upgrading to LED lighting at the tower, which reduced power consumption by 13,902 kWh, or 15 percent, in the first two months. Further, the airport has committed to renewable energy guarantees of origin to reduce the annual carbon footprint by a further 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Electric vehicles—“from small ground handling trucks to a Tesla Model S”—have also played a part, with a network of 20 EV chargers on site. Further, a bicycle fleet is also available for staff to move about the site.
The airport also uses a carbon-offsetting scheme through Carbon Footprint, with one project involving the planting of 3,500 trees by schools and charities in the local area, paired with the Florestal Santa Maria conservation project in the Amazon.