Dublin airport has been recognised as carbon neutral by the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, an organisation which “independently assesses and recognises the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions”.
The Level 3+ carbon neutrality status follows efforts by the airport to reduce its carbon footprint by 12 per cent in 2019, and overall carbon emissions by 25 per cent between 2013 and 2019.
Measures have included the installation of efficient LED lighting, a pilot solar farm project, and the introduction of low emission vehicles (LEVs). The airport is aiming to switch all of its light vehicle fleet to LEVs (pictured above) by 2024, and is also planning a second solar farm, which it says will have the potential to generate up to 7.5 megawatts of power.
In 2019 Dublin airport was one of around 200 European airports to commit to net zero carbon by 2050
More than 200 European airports commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050
To achieve Level 3+ status, the airport had to “work to reduce CO2 emissions from the sources under its control as much as possible”, while compensating for the remaining emissions through investment in carbon offsets.
These have included working with global climate finance and carbon neutrality specialist Natural Capital Partners, to purchase carbon credits to help restore community water points and enable easy access to clean water for rural families in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Commenting on the news Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said:
“Dublin Airport is committed to minimising its impact on the environment and achieving carbon neutrality is a hugely important milestone on that journey. We have been working tirelessly to reduce the amount of energy that we use at the airport for many years and are very pleased with the formal recognition of carbon neutral status.
“But carbon neutrality is not enough. We must go significantly further, and we are dedicated to doing that. We plan to reduce our overall energy consumption by a further 30 per cent by 2030 and we’re committed to becoming net zero for our carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest.”
Last year the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) proposed plans to introduce a drop-off fee, with the intention of reducing car journeys to and from the airport and to encourage travellers to make greater use of public transport.
