BPIA plans projects to cut carbon footprint

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Bhubaneswar: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here has proposed projects worth `30 crore to reduce carbon emissions and to achieve the next levels of carbon accreditation set by the Airport Council International (ACI).
Airports worldwide contribute three to five per cent of global carbon emissions. To counter this, the ACI had developed an Airport Accreditation Programme which has four levels of carbon reduction plans. The BPIA and three other airports in the country achieved Level 1 in December 2018.
While Level 1 covers identification of major and minor carbon emitting sources, Level 2 comprises mitigation of the same.
The BPIA along with the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, the Trivandrum International Airport and the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi, were recognised as having achieved Level 1.
“While achieving Level 1, we identified that 97 per cent of carbon emissions were from thermal or hydroelectric power consumption. We have installed a 4.625 MW solar power plant costing `25 crore to counter that. This will generate 10,000 units of power a month,” BPIA Director Suresh Chandra Hota said.
Speaking about the other three per cent of carbon sources, Hota said they mostly comprised vehicles and air traffic at the airport.
“We are planning to buy electric powered hybrid vehicles. For enhancing runway occupancy time, construction of a parallel taxi track measuring 2.7 km costing `65.65 crore is underway which will be over by June,” Hota added.
BPIA sources said that the combined functioning of these projects along with the existing one at the airport will reduce carbon emissions from 97 per cent to 1.5 per cent. At present the airport has a solid waste management and water treatment plant.
Speaking about 100 per cent reduction of carbon emission, Hota said that it will be done in the next levels of the programme. Level 3 incorporates stakeholders, while Level 4 is carbon neutralisation by planting trees in and around the airport.
“We have already been working intensively to achieve Level 2 and reports on it will be submitted within two months. We have opted for LED lights in taxi runaways and in signage. We are also planning to replace transformer oil with synthetic oil,” Hota said.