Heathrow claims there will be NO NET INCREASE IN CO2 EMISSIONS, with 50% more flights….
The expansion of Heathrow, with a 3rd runway, would – logically and in the absence of any real means of reducing the carbon emissions per plane in any significant way – be likely to increase the CO2 from flights by something like 40%. But the consultation by Heathrow, published on 18th June, gives NO figures for the amount of extra carbon that would be emitted by the extra planes. They say the current amount of carbon emitted by flights, the airport, surface access is about 20.83 million tonnes of CO2 per year. But they consider the extra fights not to add any carbon at all (except domestic flights) because all will be offset using the UN CORSIA scheme. So it is entirely cancelled out and ignored. Heathrow say: “Current baseline GHG emissions have been estimated at 20.8 million tonnes of CO2e (MtCO2e). Air transport accounts for over 95% of Heathrow’s GHG emissions followed by surface access transport at 3%.” And “Heathrow’s carbon neutral growth aspiration means that growth in CO2 emissions from additional flights after expansion would be offset through carbon credits, resulting in no net growth in emissions.” Caroline Lucas MP commented: “Heathrow is taking economy with truth to new levels`’
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The number of flights is anticipated to rise, with a 3rd runway, from around 475,000 per year now to 740,000 (a 55% increase). Link
The consultation:
The consultation can be found at https://aec.heathrowconsultation.com/
Links to the vast number of documents can be found at
https://aec.heathrowconsultation.com/documents/
Click on a collection below to view all relevant documents.
- Overview and Summary
- Construction
- Environment
- Preliminary Environmental Info Report – vol 3
- Consultation Feedback Report
- Local Communities
- Transport
- Preliminary Environmental Info Report – vol 1
- Mitigation and Compensation
- Heathrow Supporting Information
- Preferred Masterplan
- Runway Operations
- Preliminary Environmental Info Report – vol 2
- Property Policies
- All Documents
Carbon
The main document on carbon is probably this
On carbon emissions, this document states:
9.6.9 Current baseline GHG emissions have been estimated at 20.8 million tonnes of CO2e (MtCO2e). Air transport accounts for over 95% of Heathrow’s GHG emissions followed by surface access transport at 3%. Table 9.7 presents Heathrow’s baseline GHG emissions by sub-aspect and includes published results for 2015 and 2016 for context, noting that not all activities were reported in these earlier years: the additional activity included is the air transport CCD phase (which is 90% of the 2017 footprint).
and
“Heathrow’s carbon neutral growth aspiration means that growth in CO2 emissions from additional flights after expansion would be offset through carbon credits, resulting in no net growth in emissions. This aspiration also applies to GHG emissions from ground transportation for passengers and colleagues and the embodied carbon that would result from construction of the DCO Project.
On carbon emissions, this document states:
“9.6.9 Current baseline GHG emissions have been estimated at 20.8 million tonnes of CO2e (MtCO2e). Air transport accounts for over 95% of Heathrow’s GHG emissions followed by surface access transport at 3%. Table 9.7 presents Heathrow’s baseline GHG emissions by sub-aspect and includes published results for 2015 and 2016 for context, noting that not all activities were reported in these earlier years: the additional activity included is the air transport CCD phase (which is 90% of the 2017 footprint).”
and
“Heathrow’s carbon neutral growth aspiration means that growth in CO2 emissions (Note 27) from additional flights after expansion would be offset through carbon credits, resulting in no net growth in emissions. This aspiration also applies to GHG emissions from ground transportation for passengers and colleagues and the embodied carbon that would result from construction of the DCO Project.”
(Note 27 says: 27 As explained in Section 9.4, current DfT policy (DfT, 2017 and DfT, 2018) is to consider only CO2 emissions from air transportation. )
It then goes on to say (here come those peatlands ….)
9.16.5 Much of the growth in CO2 emissions from the DCO Project would be offset by airlines as part of their obligations under CORSIA. However, since CORSIA applies only to international flights and a small number of destinations are exempt, for example flights to small island states and some of the world’s least developed countries, there is a small gap in emissions not covered by CORSIA.
9.16.6 To meet the aspiration for growth from the DCO Project to be carbon neutral, Heathrow wishes to close the gap for emissions not covered by CORSIA (Heathrow Carbon Neutral Roadmap 2018). To achieve this, Heathrow is engaging with airlines and governments to consider implementing measures such as voluntary agreements with carriers or financial incentives to drive sustainable operations.
9.16.7 In addition, Heathrow wishes to promote carbon market approaches that can support innovation and is developing best practice for offsetting in the UK. As an example of work in this area, Heathrow has funded a pilot peatland project to help offset a portion of the emissions from its own facilities, as well as helping to make the case for UK peatland offsets to be eligible for use in CORSIA. In collaboration with non-governmental organisations, the government and other sectors, this work is also exploring how Heathrow can support the development of a UK market for the ecosystem services that peatland and other habitats can provide. This aims to enable the different benefits such as carbon, biodiversity and water quality to be combined in a way that lowers the cost of environmental improvements, helps scale up investment in these measures, and increases the rate of their implementation.
They happily quote the National Policy Statement saying:
“Any increase in carbon emissions alone is not a reason to refuse development consent, unless the increase in carbon emissions resulting from the project is so significant that it would have a material impact on the ability of Government to meet its carbon reduction targets, including carbon budgets.”