Airport powers up with world-first green fuel

by ClickGreen staff. Published Mon 09 Nov 2009 11:45

East Midlands Airport to trial new eco fuel

In a world-first, East Midlands Airport and the UK's first commercial producer of Liquid Biomethane, Gasrec, will be entering into a six month trial to run an airport passenger transfer bus powered by Liquid Biomethane fuel (LBM), a carbon neutral fuel.

The bus uses gas produced by the decomposition of biomass (ie. organic waste, such as food byproducts) which is created by extracting the natural gas produced by biomass in landfill or by digestion of the biomass byproducts of industries, such as food manufacture and retail.

The production of LBM takes potentially environmentally damaging greenhouse gases, and converts them into an environmentally friendly fuel that can be directly substituted for both Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

The airport is over half way towards its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2012 and the trial of Biomethane is the latest in a line of innovative environmental projects it is implementing.

The airport’s carbon neutral ambition targets all aspects of operation within their direct control, namely ground support vehicles and the energy used in buildings. The Biomethane trial is one of a number of projects taking place at the airport to reach this target.

It is expected the benefits of using this carbon neutral fuel will include; significant improvements to air quality, a reduction in CO2 emissions and a reduction in costs.

Following the six month trial period that will test vehicle performance compared to the performance of a similar vehicle fuelled with diesel, the airport will consider progressively increasing the number of vehicles using this environmentally friendly fuel on the airport site.

Neil Robinson, Director of Sustainability, East Midlands Airport said: "We have always put the importance of our local community and the environment around us at the centre of our plans. We have made significant efforts in recent years to mitigate the environmental impacts of our operations and we are really proud to be launching another airport first."

The airport already has a wide range of environmentally friendly projects in place including an energy efficient pier which obtains heat from 27 boreholes, a source that is five times more efficient than other heating sources, the use of rain water (known as grey water) in toilets and incorporating natural and low energy lighting throughout the building.

Ground transport has been a key area that East Midlands Airport has focused heavily on and one that has seen the airport invest in alternative fuels for on site vehicles including bio-diesel (chip fat) and electric.

In addition to these carbon friendly initiatives, the airport was also the first in the UK to propose plans for four wind turbines to generate 10% of the airport's electricity supply. In the coming months the airport plans to install the wind turbines on site and further reduce the impact of their buildings and vehicles.

Neil Robinson continued: "In addition to trialing alternative fuel use on the airport site, we have recently made further positive steps towards achieving our goal of carbon neutrality and significantly reducing the carbon emissions from our operation. These steps include; drawing up plans for new green energy and technology, continually working to drive down noise and excessive fuel use through working with our airline partners and improving green transport options for passengers and staff."