After having reached in 2019 the Level 1 of the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme of the Airports Council International (ACI), lux-Airport continued its efforts to become carbon neutral in accordance with the guidelines of the ACI as soon as possible.
Moreover, already in January 2020, lux-Airport reached level 2 of the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. Implicating that after the mapping and measurement of the carbon footprint, the airport is now going into the phase of reduction with active carbon management. By this means the involvement of a diverse range of measures such as low carbon/low energy policies, carbon/energy reduction, and targets. Since 2016 until 2018, lux-Airport already reached a decrease of 11 Percent of CO2 Emissions. Most savings have been achieved due to the optimization of energy consumption and heating systems.
Heating systems and optimization of energy consumption are key
A very effective measure in reaching the Level 2 was to optimize the heating of old buildings using mazout, which represented 50% of lux-Airports carbon footprint. By this action, the reduction of CO2 between 2016 and 2018 counted 370 tonnes. In addition to the above lux-Airport has been using electricity generated from 100% renewable sources based on hydropower. Therefore, all electrical charging stations at lux-Airport, both for vehicles and aircraft, are fed with renewable energy.
End of December 2019, the ACI Auditors confirmed and verified the methodology used for measuring and comparing the carbon footprint and granted, therefore the Level 2 to lux-Airport. “We are already looking forward to obtaining Level 3 by also initiating third parties to privilege carbon-free solutions. A good example is the switch of our parking M shuttle bus, operated by our partner Emile Weber, from a conventional vehicle to a 100% electric bus. By this change, we save up to 110 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to an area of 11 ha of forest or 15 football fields. Moreover, all the electric power charged at lux-Airport is renewable. ”, said René Steinhaus, CEO lux-Airport.
The next steps towards CO2 neutrality by ACI programme
The next step towards carbon neutrality by the guidelines of the ACI is achieving level 3 by optimizing carbon emissions and implementing stakeholder engagement. Level 3+, which is the final carbon neutrality according to the ACI, will be reached through energy reduction and additionally by CO2 compensation. On top of that, lux-Airport has signed the ACI Europe commitment to deliver net-zero emissions by 2050.
Click here to get the list of participants of Airport Carbon Accreditation.
Curious how the electric shuttle bus looks? Discover the 100% electric bus in action on our YouTube Channel here.
More background info about the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, click here.
