Having published its carbon roadmap in April 2022, Birmingham Airport in the UK is now more than a third (37%) of its way to becoming a net-zero-carbon operation.
Decarbonisation wins at the regional hub in the 2022/23 financial year include the air transport hub reducing its on-site gas and electricity consumption by 18% compared to 2019/2020. Coupled with efforts by the national power grid to move to greener operations, this cut in energy use led to a 34% drop in greenhouse emissions at Birmingham against its 2019/20 benchmark.
“We are pleased with our progress so far but are by no means complacent,” said Tom Denton, Head of Sustainability at the airport. “Back in April when we first publicly committed to our aim of hitting net zero by 2033, we said the first two thirds of this journey would be relatively straightforward.”
Other contributions by the airport to reduce its carbon footprint include closer monitoring of energy use, energy-saving behaviour by airport staff, replacing traditional lights with low-energy LEDs and optimising temperature-control systems.
“The final third is where the real challenge lies. We want to do this the right way. We want to achieve net zero by implementing low-carbon alternatives with minimal use offsetting,” Denton added. He explained that steps for next year and beyond include moving high-mast lighting to LEDs, investment in solar power, smart metering and beginning to transition from gas to electric heating.
He concluded: “It’s likely we’ll need to use technology not yet invented to make it to our final goal. Failure is not an option when it comes to protecting the future of our planet.”
