Birmingham Airport takes a step closer to net-zero-carbon operations

Birmingham Airport has revealed it is more than a third of its way to becoming a net-zero-carbon operation.

In April the company published its carbon roadmap setting out its plan to become a net-zero-carbon airport by 2033.

According to data published today (December 22), the airport is 37% of the way to this goal.

Decarbonisation wins this financial year include Birmingham Airport reducing its on-site gas and electricity consumption by 18% compared to 2019/20.

Coupled with efforts by the national power grid to move to greener operations, this cut in energy use led to a 34% drop in greenhouse emissions at BHX against its 2019/20 benchmark.

Other contributions to this year’s progress include closer monitoring of energy use, energy-saving behaviour by BHX staff, replacing traditional lights with low-energy LEDs and optimising temperature-control systems.

Tom Denton, head of sustainability for BHX, said: “We are pleased with our progress so far but by no means complacent. Back in April when we first publicly committed to our aim of hitting net zero by 2033, we said the first two thirds of this journey would be relatively straightforward.

“The final third is where the real challenge lies. We want to do this the right way. We want achieve net zero by implementing low-carbon alternatives with minimal use of offsetting.

“It’s likely we’ll need to use technology not yet invented to make it to our goal. Failure is not an option when it comes to protecting the future of our planet.”

Plans for next year include moving high-mast lighting to LEDs, investment in solar power, smart metering and beginning to transition from gas to electric heating.