THE RISE OF GREEN AIRPORTS

Right now, Edmonton Airport (YEG) in Canada is building a 627-acre, 120-megawatt solar farm on the west side of YEG’s lands. When completed, Airport City Solar is slated to be the largest airport solar farm in the world and could theoretically generate enough electricity to power every flight departing from YEG (assuming the technology was available to power larger aircraft). There would then be enough power leftover to run the entire fleet of ground service vehicles and provide airport heating throughout the Canadian winter.

Airport Solar City may be the biggest, but it is only one of a number of airport solar projects worldwide.

For example, the Dubai International Airport is leveraging the United Arab Emirates' natural resource, sunlight. The airport is presently entering its fourth year since installing a solar farm of 15,000 photovoltaic panels on top of the building at Terminal 2 – the biggest of its kind in the Middle East – which reduces the airport’s total energy costs by 29%.

Meanwhile the new Terminal One at JFK will be powered by its own microgrid and the largest solar array in New York City. By 2026 the terminal will be partially open, with a full opening scheduled for 2030.

In 2028, such airport renewable projects will both help charge electric aircraft and power the airport themselves. And not only larger airports will have these kinds of capabilities. More companies are stepping in to build microgrids for much smaller airports.

For example, BETA, which we featured in our 2022 Urban Air Mobility report, offers what might be described as an electric airport in a box-type setup, which consists of a series of shipping containers added together that has everything from an eVTOL landing pad, a control centre and lounge, a battery energy storage unit, and even sleeping quarters for the crew.

BETA also offers the ‘charge cube’ for charging aircraft and plans to have 150 publicly accessible electric chargers online by 2025.

Meanwhile, Clear Skies in the USA works with general aviation and regional airports to place solar panels on the aircraft hangars or within the airport estate – which is a smaller version of what’s happening in Edmonton. Clear Skies says that the end goal is to have an airport run 99% of the power produced via its own microgrid. Clear Skies then installs chargers which can be used for passenger electric cars, ground service equipment and vehicles and, of course, electric aircraft. By 2028 expect to see a lot of airports take advantage of this kind of infrastructure

The Green Airport Infrastructure

In addition to microgrids, sustainable construction and infrastructure will feature more prominently in airport buildings and designs. For example, The new King Salman International Airport in Riyadh, which is scheduled to open in 2030, will not only be powered 100% by renewable energy, but it will also aim for LEED Platinum certification. Meanwhile, the new Terminal Two at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru (India) aims to embody India’s ‘sustainable technology vision’ using 100% renewable energy sources. The majority of the building has also been made from engineered bamboo, which is considered to emit no carbon. In terms of water management, rainwater harvesting will result in 1.6 million litres of water being supplied to the Terminal every day. Beyond the Terminal itself, the airport has switched to more energy efficient LED lighting on the airfield.

We are also seeing airports experiment with sustainable concrete. For example, Indianapolis International Airport (IND) in 2022 worked with Canadian company Carbon Cure to lay a runway where the concrete has recycled CO2 injected into it. Once injected, the CO2 undergoes mineralization and is subsequently stored permanently.

According to the airport, the amount of CO2 sequestered is equivalent to planting 1.2 million trees.

The other element we are seeing incorporated into airport design, which we expect to become much more commonplace by 2028, is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions through the way airports taxi and land.

For instance, Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) has a new pier layout concourse design, which SLC says allows for newer, larger and more efficient aircraft and also eliminates aircraft bottlenecks and congestion.

In addition to greenhouse gas reduction thanks to more efficient taxiing procedures, there’s also a tangible benefit to passengers in fewer delays – an excellent example of how a sustainability initiative can also improve the passenger experience. In 2023 this kind of sustainable airport infrastructure is still in the experimental phase. By 2028 it will be commonplace.