Airport to slash emissions
Decarbonisation plan, electric vehicles in strategy to be most sustainable NZ airport
We want to be New
Zealand’s most sustainable airport
and to that end, putting a line in the sand on our carbon emissions is a powerful tool.
CEO Stuart Ainslie
Hawke’s Bay Airport wants to be carbon neutral by 2030. Yesterday’s announcement signals the airport will work to reduce and offset emissions from sources the company owns or controls such as vehicles and generators, and those generated by direct purchases, such as electricity.
CEO Stuart Ainslie said the organisation wanted to do what it could to reduce the impact of climate change, and he was confident they could reach their goal.
“We want to be New Zealand’s most sustainable airport and to that end, putting a line in the sand on our carbon emissions is a powerful tool.”
The airport has a decarbonisation plan in place and has identified nearly 40 initiatives to make a difference to emissions, he said.
Some of these are already under way — electric and hybrid vehicles are in the operational fleet; a bicycle hub is opening on site in the next few weeks and the airport has switched to 100 per cent renewable energy from Ecotricity.
It’s also looking at upgrading carpark lighting to LED or solar lighting, installing EV charging stations and incorporating energy efficient fittings into the new terminal building due to open in the next few months.
Ainslie said the airport was also open to other opportunities, such as emission-free ground services or supplying electric power solutions.
The airport had identified renewable energy generation as an area where it can diversify its own services and there may be options in the future to share energy produced with aircraft using the airport, he said.
It comes after the airport announced in late 2019 that it wanted to plant a solar farm to become carbon-neutral.
At the time, Ainslie had said “based on being able to achieve the right solutions”, the airport’s goal was to achieve neutrality by 2022.
“Those comments were made at the very start of the solar farm feasibility investigations – before the project timing had been properly established,” Ainslie said.
He said investigations into the feasibility of the solar farm “are progressing well”.
If the solar farm is approved, it would likely produce more than enough renewable energy to offset HBAL’s carbon emissions.
Timing of construction could see the solar farm operational as soon as mid-2023.
“The goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 is a board-approved goal that looks across all of HBAL’s operations.”
The airport recently became the first regional airport in NZ to gain level 2 certification under the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme and is aiming to achieve level 3 in the 2022/23 financial year.