Using electricity for aircraft on the ground saves 730 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft a year. Photo / Supplied
Using electricity for aircraft on the ground saves 730 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft a year. Photo / Supplied
Christchurch Airport has become one of the first three airports in the world to be recognised for demonstrating best practice in fighting pollution.
The airport last month was the base for the first demonstration flight of an electric aircraft here and won recognition for its moves to cut carbon usein its terminals, vehicle fleet, providing ground power for planes and by cutting waste.
Airports Council International (ACI) has awarded Christchurch the new Level 4 carbon accreditation certification - the highest carbon certification an airport can achieve.
Claire Waghorn, the airport's sustainability transition leader said: ''We know that climate change is happening - we need our airports to be addressing a future were aviation is de- coupled from fossil fuels.''
The key project was decommissioning the diesel boilers in the terminal and late last year commissioning a system that uses artesian water to heat and cool the building. Its carbon use dropped by 982 tonnes in 12 months.
The airport installed fridges which don't emit harmful gases, installed LED lights and implemented waste minimisation systems.
Ground power installed at eight out of 10 gates allowed aircraft to turn off their auxiliary power units when on the ground
Using electricity rather than jet fuel saved approximately 730 tonnes of CO2 per plane a year.
The submission to the airports council took three months to complete.
Waghorn said the airport has also provided a charging station for electric aircraft.
New Zealand's first electric plane was officially launched last month by Christchurch start-up Electricals.
ElectricAir ran a demonstration flight last month. Photo / Supplied
The plane is a battery electric two-seat light sport aircraft manufactured by Slovenian aircraft company Pipistrel and has begun demonstration flights from Christchurch.
She said it was hoped that electric planes would in a decade be able to carry up to 40 people 800km.
The airport's general manager planning and sustainability, Rhys Boswell, said the company's stated intentions are to be great kaitiaki (guardians of our environment), and its carbon policy goals were to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, and absolute zero emissions by 2050.
Air New Zealand's head of sustainability Lisa Daniell says the accreditation is recognition of Christchurch Airport's sustainability efforts.
"It's great to see this kind of industry-wide commitment and collaboration happening to reduce carbon emissions."
