Stansted Airport focuses on green issues

Stansted Airport hosted an aviation industry event this week that focused on the various approaches being used to reduce the sector's environmental impact.

The Airport Operators Association's regional conference was attended by MEPs, local business organisations, aviation groups and other air travel hubs.

Speaking at the event, Dr Andy Jefferson, head of environment at Stansted, said the airport takes its environmental responsibility "very seriously" and has invested in new facilities including a wood chip biomass boiler.

"This has already helped us reduce our gas consumption at the airport by over 40 per cent. We have one of the largest biomass boilers in commercial use for heating in the UK at present and cannot express enough how satisfied we are with its performance to date," he commented.

"But we will not become complacent and will continue our efforts to influence schemes aimed at reducing emission sources on the ground at Stansted, a current example of which is our participation in a working group to encourage single engine taxiing of aircraft."

Representatives from British Airways, SAS and Qatar Airways attended a climate change forum in New York this week to announce a plan for the world's airlines to halve their carbon emissions by 2050, an unprecedented agreement in the aviation industry.

Posted by Merv, 25 September 2009 14:13

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