Finnish airport operator Finavia has announced a series of environmental improvements at Helsinki Airport.
The company revealed that its carbon dioxide emissions were cut significantly in 2011, by 2,474 tonnes compared to the previous year. This corresponds to an emissions reduction of 0.4 kg per passenger, or the amount of fuel transported by 23 container trucks. The reduction was achieved through a range of measures including replacing the airport’s heating and lighting systems and the roll-out of electric cars.
“Air traffic amounts to 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. About 5% of this is caused by airport activities. Even though this is a relatively small share in the entire sector’s emissions, Finavia wants to contribute to emissions reduction at its airports,” said Mikko Viinikainen, Finanvia’s Senior Vice President of Environmental Management. “This deals with concrete steps: the achieved emissions reduction was implemented by making the airport’s energy consumption more efficient, by adjusting the heating system, optimising the lights and by providing the staff with training on economical driving habits.”
Helsinki Airport is one of 59 global airports to have been accepted into the international Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme.
