A Swiss airport is showing strong leadership in advancing sustainable practices.
Genève Aéroport plans to generate 7.5 GWh of clean energy from solar panels placed across the airport’s roof, enough to meet the annual electricity needs of 2500 homes. It will do so as part of a partnership with Services Industriels de Genève (SIG), which boasts expertise in the photovoltaic field.
“Sustainable development has been defined as a cross-cutting strategic objective in all activities of the airport, which must develop its activities at the crossroads of economic, environmental and social requirements, in respect of its users, its partners and its residents,” said André Schneider, Director General of Genève Aéroport.
It is a move that has worked well at Belfast Airport, which has the biggest connection between a solar plant and an airport anywhere in the UK and Ireland. In 10 months up to April this year, its clean energy supply saved it £100,000.
Last month the Genève Aéroport also penned an agreement with Finland’s renewable diesel producer, Neste, to secure supply of the company’s MY Renewable Jet Fuel. This will support its plans to have at least 1% of the airport’s jet fuel consumption come from renewable sources by the end of 2018.
Efforts that are aligned with the ambitions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which wants all growth in aviation from 2020 to be carbon-neutral.
