EMA wind turbines to produce a tiny amount of the airport’s electricity
needs
East Midlands Airport (EMA) today unveils two wind turbines that are expected
to produce 5% of the airport’s electricity, enough to power 150 households, and
produce a carbon saving of around 300 tonnes per year.
an aerodrome and has been passed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
now be produced into an ‘off-the-shelf’ product for other airports and businesses,
both in and out of the aviation industry. With a heavy reliance on air cargo operations,
EMA has attracted opposition from local communities over noise intrusion from
night flights but the airport has also managed to claim a number of environmental
firsts in the past two years, following a commitment in 2006 to making its ground
operations carbon neutral by 2012.
from across Europe on the project, including Wind Technik Nord from Germany. The
turbines measure 45 metres including the rotor blades, which have a radius of
15 metres, and can generate electricity from wind speeds as low as four metres
per second.
believing them capable of interference with ground radar. According to NATS, the
UK’s air navigation service provider, wind farms can appear as clutter on air
traffic radar displays, as well as degrade the performance of voice communications
facilities and en-route navigation aids. In conjunction with the British Wind
Energy Association and government departments including the Ministry of Defence,
the UK CAA has published guidelines to assist those involved with the development
of wind farms, particularly on their location.
for the airport and the environment,” commented EMA’s Director of Sustainability,
Neil Robinson. “Working with experienced companies who have a deep understanding
of wind turbines made the process a lot simpler and we are pleased that we can
now use the knowledge that we have gained to help other businesses that are looking
to create a sustainable future and help the environment.”
provide fuel for a biomass boiler in the terminal building, a trial of biodiesel
in passenger transport vehicles and a low-carbon extension to the terminal building.
The airport’s dedicated recycling zone has enabled a recycling rate of 88%, the
highest of any UK airport, it claims.
view aircraft operations in the airport’s vicinity, and says it is the only UK
airport to successfully retain its ISO 14001 environmental management systems
certification since 2002.
East Midlands Airport clears wind turbines for take off
Leicestershire airport unveils two 250kW wind turbines and says two more will
be installed in coming years
be installed in coming years
part of a trailblazing project that could offer a template for other airports
as they strive to reduce carbon emissions.
of the site’s energy requirements while saving around 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide
a year.
March 2008, and a spokeswoman told BusinessGreen that the other two turbines will be erected at some point in the next few years.
only that the wind turbines formed part of a £4m rolling investment programme
in environmental measures.
boiler in the terminal building, a trial of bio-diesel in
passenger transport
vehicles, and a low carbon extension to the terminal
building.
as the company had to carry out extensive research to demonstrate turbine safety.
The airport said the safety case will now be turned into an off-the-shelf product
for other airports and businesses to use.
place had to be found for the turbines. EMA worked closely with the Civil Aviation
Authority to ensure that all regulations were followed, and suitable wind turbines
also had to be sought,” said the spokeswoman.
was successfully completed] before construction could begin.”
is not the first airport to harness the power of the wind. Bristol Airport installed
a smaller vertical axis turbine earlier this year as part of an onsite renewables
pilot project.
that planes flying to and from East Midlands airport produce around 0.6 million
tonnes [ = 600,000 tonnes ] of CO2 per annum – based on the amount of aviation
turbine kerosene dispensed at EMA.
if flights are taken into account.
see
use – which is all very commendable and excellent stuff. However, it tends to
conveniently ignore the uncomfortable fact that the airport is in the business
of increasing the numbers of flights (and passengers) which cause huge carbon
emissions. Airports are able to only count their emissions on the ground, or for
planes up to 1,000 metres – the landing and take off cycle.