The Carbon Market for Airports

The growing concern for the impact of CO2 emissions on the environment has led to policies and regulations designed to control and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings account for about 30% of all energy consumption globally and a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. In the wake of the fact that as CIAL is going for many new projects including international terminal expecting a capital expenditure to the tune of Rs 500 Crores, designs based on Green Building energy codes help ensure that new buildings use energy efficiently, and this can reduce building energy use by 50% or more compared to buildings designed without energy efficiency in mind. This is important because buildings typically last 30-50 years, and it is much less expensive and time-consuming to design for energy efficiency than to retrofit a building later. The revised National Building Codes (NBC) 2005 on India, in its latest version provides guidance on aspects of energy conservation as well as aspects of sustainable development. The NBC provides general guidance on potential energy efficiency aspects of factors like daylight integration; artificial lighting requirements and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) design standards. A new chapter on sustainability is being added to the NBC to provide a holistic approach to designing and constructing sustainable buildings which could also be adapted to the New International Terminal buildings of CIAL. Based on the details available with the of the Asia-Pacific region, it is clear that building energy codes, when implemented, save energy and improve comfort in new buildings. By design, most building energy codes are costeffective, saving consumers significant amounts of money on their energy bills.

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There are many examples of airports investing in projects and practices that lower their carbon footprints and improve the environment. There are many international examples of airports installing solar panels and using other forms of renewable energy. Exploring ways to use energy more efficiently is common practice amongst airport operators and a proven way to lower carbon footprints. There are two primary sources of value that can be created for airport operators that host carbon offset and renewable energy projects. The first is monetary. Developers of projects can sell the environmental benefits of their projects in the form of offset credits or renewable energy credits (RECs). The second is good environment stewardship. Promoting renewable electricity generation is often cited as a critical part of reducing the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere, as renewable electricity generation is considered a carbon emission free source of electricity. Some airport developers have installed renewable energy sources to generate electricity to power airport operations and limit the amount of power they purchase from their local utility or other power provider. To date, solar has been the most common renewable technology installed at airports. A number of financial support mechanisms have been designed to promote renewable electricity. Government subsidies, tax breaks, and loan guarantees are often implemented by governmental bodies to promote renewable energy development within their borders. The green value of renewable electricity is also bought and sold in a marketplace. The popular market-based transactions system between uses tradable certificates in order to facilitate interested renewable electricity generators and

consumers who cannot economically generate the renewable themselves. Often referred to as RECs, these tradable commodities represent proof that one unit

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of electricity (usually a megawatt hour MWh or kilowatt hour kWh) was generated from a recognized renewable source. Offset projects and airport applicability Project Type Solar Project Description Solar PV project (400 kW to 600 KW System). Comments Solar REC production, savings of over Rs 25 lakhs per year; eliminated CO2 emissions equivalent to 14,547 gallons of gasoline consumption each year CIAL Already have a wastewater treatment facility on-site Examples of airports diverting organic waste from landfills to composting facilities have Included Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, and Seattle International Airports. GHGs from refrigerants likely make up only a small fraction of airport emissions

Enhanced Wastewater Treatment Organic Waste Composting

Install equipment at airport wastewater treatment plant to capture methane gas from wastewater Collect food waste in airport terminal and send to a composting site for methane capture Switch to less GHGintense refrigerants

Refrigerants

Both mandatory and voluntary markets for RECs exist. Potential purchasers include entities that wish to act as good environmental stewards or to improve their branding by claiming that the electricity they consume is sourced from a renewable energy resource. Other purchasers might be suppliers of electricity, who are required by law to source a certain percentage of their total electricity load from renewable energy resources. For these REC purchasers, obtaining RECs through third party renewable generators may be a lower cost option compared to building and generating their own renewable electricity. Renewable energy developers benefit from this type of program, as RECs

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represent an additional revenue stream that may be critical in securing financing necessary to build a new project Examples of projects at airports and associated environmental market instrument

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Boston Solar Trees 32 roof-mounted units at Terminal B parking garage

Reference 1. ACRP Report 057- The Carbon Market: A Primer for Airports

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