Amongst the many strands that make up airports’ strategies to reduce emissions and improve their green credentials, electrically powered vehicles are playing an important role
At Copenhagen International airport, the use of electrical vehicles has become an important ethical question. Not only is the Scandinavian gateway eager to meet stringent environmental targets, but it is also concerned about the negative impact of emissions on health.
“We have an urgent challenge to reduce the ultra-fine particles produced by all our GSE equipment and jet engines,” says Jesper Jacobsen, senior project manager in the airport’s Environmental Department. “Doctors related the cancers of three employees to the possible inhalation of these particles from diesel, so we want to take away this risk. For us, green vehicle policies are as much a health issue as an environmental issue.”
Three ground handling companies operate at Copenhagen – SAS, Novia and Copenhagen Flight Services. To earn the concession, they must conform to Copenhagen’s policies when they purchase GSE equipment. And the gateway’s guidelines have become more stringent over time.
In 2007, operator Copenhagen Airports introduced new rules designed to reduce emissions. “We wanted to say no diesel at all, but we had to be realistic,” explains Jacobsen. “We brought in electric vehicles, but we also used better-performing diesel vehicles, which were likewise classified as ‘green’ according to the 2007 regulations.”
Of Copenhagen’s GSE equipment, 47 per cent was ‘green’ back in 2007. But part of the agreement with the ground handlers was to undertake an audit of the equipment each year. The aim was to gradually increase the ratio of green vehicles, with the goal of reaching 70 per cent by 2012. “We exceeded this target, hitting 74.7 per cent, a great success for both the airport and the ground handlers,” he notes.
But the mounting evidence of the health dangers of inhaling ultra-fine particles caused Copenhagen to update its green policies; in 2012, the concept of ‘ultra-green’ was introduced.
“This is a stricter definition. Now for a diesel engine to count as green, it has to have a particle filter attached, and it’s hard to find filters which are effective for airport GSE,” Jacobsen points out. “So, for us, ultra-green means either electric or anything else with very limited emissions, such as hybrids, or gas. The handlers at Copenhagen tend to look at electric for the smaller GSE vehicles and gas as an alternative to diesel.”
The new regulations demand ongoing dialogue between the ground handlers and the airport. “We are aiming for 100 per cent green, but it also has to be feasible for the companies. They are very willing to co-operate, though. It is in their interests to protect their employees by using the greenest available machines.”
At the moment, 50 per cent of Copenhagen’s GSE vehicles conform to the ultra-green definition. But every time one is replaced from now on, the new vehicle should be ultra-green.
“If it’s a hybrid, we say it’s non-polluting. The old hybrids emitted a lot of diesel exhaust too, but the modern hybrid tractors are all plug-ins. They have diesel generators, but these are only turned on if the battery is too low, which is rare,” said Jacobsen.
For example, SAS uses Kalmar towbarless tractors, which mostly come equipped with high-performing diesel engines. But already three of the fleet of 40 are hybrids, and tractors bought from now on will in all probability be hybrids too. “Now manufacturers can build ones that handle bigger aeroplanes, although they are 30-40 per cent more expensive at the moment,” he observes.
Meanwhile, the smaller baggage cart tractors are mainly electrically powered and SAS is planning to phase out all of the diesel ones over the next few years.
Copenhagen is gradually building up its electric infrastructure in order to cope with all the new electric vehicles. “We’ve got a lot more electric conveyor belts, so we need more power connections. The costly part for the airport is cutting up stands and putting down electricity. Space is also a limiting factor. We have to be careful to have charging locations for different kinds of equipment located in different spots.
“Our aim is ultimately to limit the use of diesel to a bare minimum. We are not sure electric is feasible for our big buses and snow-clearing equipment, but we are looking at gas as another option. We’re running a feasibility study, looking into cost, efficiency and the viability of building filling stations,” Jacobsen adds.
Ambitious goals at Munich
Meanwhile, Germany’s Munich International airport has set ambitious targets to keep its emissions in check whilst simultaneously significantly expanding its capacity.
“Our overall aim is to go carbon dioxide neutral by 2020,” comments Hans Langer, GSE-Fleetmanger of AeroGround, the ground-handling subsidiary of airport owner Flughafen München. “The benchmark is not to go above our total 2005 emissions by 2020, a challenging target because of the airport’s rapid expansion. A new satellite will be completed in 2015 and we expect a continuous rise in passenger numbers. It means we have to save a lot of emissions by making vehicles more efficient.”
AeroGround aims to halve its GSE fleet’s energy costs by replacing diesel models. There are about 100 baggage tractors made by three German companies, Still, Linde and Mafi. Of this fleet, 25 are powered by electricity and there are plans to boost the ratio to 40 per cent in the next two years.
Since 1990, all of Munich airport’s conveyor belts have been electric. Plus, 50 per cent of the passenger stairs are electric, a figure to be raised to 60 per cent by 2015.
This year, AeroGround purchased two Laweco 7-tonne electrical high loaders. “We’ve got 25 high loaders and we want the proportion of electric ones to rise to 30 per cent. This will reduce emissions considerably as these big diesel engines have a lot of engine running time in standby time,” says Langer. “Fortunately, the cost has dropped a lot. These two are only 10 per cent more expensive than the diesel ones and we have calculated that we will save 50 per cent on running costs and fuel consumption over the life cycle.”
Cost is, of course, a major factor when AeroGround calculates how it will invest in electric vehicles. “We ask how often we will use the electric vehicles and work out if it is a sound investment. We concentrate on buying machines with the highest degree of efficiency. We can save a lot of emissions and the costs are manageable,” he highlights.
Electric power conveyor belts, for example, are about 20 per cent more expensive than diesel ones, but running costs are far lower. “We save money as there are fewer running hours and lower fuel bills. Fewer running hours also means less maintenance,” Langer notes.
There are disadvantages in having large numbers of electric vehicles, however. “Each type needs its own charging station. It’s different to diesel, where you can just have one station for all vehicles. So we need more space and money to make it happen,” he remarks. Nevertheless, all the electric vehicles are charged during off-peak hours.
Overhaul at San Francisco
In the US, few airports have gone as far as San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in overhauling their fleets. SFO’s stellar performance can be placed in the wider context of advanced thinking on the environment in the state of California. A City Ordinance on Global Warming and Climate Change requires all City Departments to reduce carbon emissions to 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2017 and 40 per cent below that level by 2025.
Airport spokesman Doug Yakel explains: “The West Coast is, in general, further ahead in implementing various environmental initiatives than the rest of the US. Along the West Coast, California has usually pioneered environmental initiatives ranging from solid waste recycling, more strict emission standards for vehicles, and various global-warming initiatives.
“San Francisco is one of the most environmentally conscious cities in California and SFO naturally follows suit and is perhaps the greenest airport in the US. But other Californian airports are not far behind SFO in implementing environmental initiatives,” he adds.
The major changes to SFO’s green policies came in following the adoption of a Clean Vehicle Policy in February 2000. The goal was to turn 100 per cent of airport and airport-permitted fleets into clean-air vehicles by 2012.
It has proved highly successful in a short space of time. For example, the majority of vehicles that ferry passengers around are now green. AirTrain, an automated people mover, has replaced the diesel-powered rental car shuttle buses, operating 600 round trips per day. Powered by hydro electricity, AirTrain eliminates all emissions for a service used by a quarter of Airport customers. Additionally, BART, the near-zero-emission regional electric rail system, operates direct to the International Terminal.
Meanwhile, 600 buses, vans, taxis, and cars are run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). At the airport’s two large CNG refuelling stations, pipeline gas is compressed to 4,500 pounds per square inch for delivery to 15 fast fill hoses. Two private operators, Trillium USA and Clean Energy, provide on-airport refuelling services.
SFO incentivises rental car companies to use clean cars, usually hybrids. The companies save 20 per cent on airport lease payments if a certain proportion of their rentals are at the top of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s rankings for fuel efficiency and emissions.
The control of emissions from taxis is helped by San Francisco’s forward-thinking policies. By City ordinance, taxicab companies are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost 50 per cent per cab from 1990 levels. As a result, almost all City cabs are now hybrid-electric, or CNG models.
SFO’s Clean Vehicle Policy extends to the airfield vehicles used by the gateway’s ground handlers, such as Menzies and Swissport. Now, some 350 pure electric GSE vehicles and 100 rebuilt diesels are in service. About half the off-road aircraft service vehicle fleet uses clean power, up more than 40 per cent in a decade. Meanwhile, major charter bus and scheduled airport operators have installed the most advanced particulate filters on about 90 diesel highway coaches.
SFO was the first San Francisco city department to operate all its own diesel vehicles – and a fireboat – on a 20 per cent biodiesel blend. “We will look closely at increasing the biofuel share to 50 per cent soon, specifying local fats, oils, and grease as the feedstock. Additionally, SFO is working with airlines to promote sustainable aviation fuel use,” Yakel observes.
Currently, more than 3,000 CNG, electric, biofuel, and advanced diesel vehicles are in operation at SFO. These include 90 highway coaches (filtered diesel), 30 transit buses (CNG, filtered diesel), 1,350 taxicabs (hybrid-electric, CNG), up to 1,000 rental cars (hybrid-electric), 450 airfield vehicles (electric, rebuilt diesel) and 130 AirTrain cars, and peak-period BART cars serving SFO (electric).
Indira Ghandi sets the tone
On the other side of the world, Indira Ghandi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi, has one of Asia’s most successful environmental policies. It has quickly replaced all of its diesel baggage tractors with electric ones.
Tough policies on clean-air vehicles were forced on IGIA because of the rate of its expansion. In 2011-12, the airport handled 35.8 million passengers, but this is predicted to rise to 100 million by 2030.
IGIA has been run by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) since 2006. DIAL took the decision to overhaul the airport’s green strategy at the opening of the colossal new Terminal 3 in 2010. The terminal, which has the capacity for 36 million passengers a year, is the 24th-largest building in the world and the world’s eighth-largest passenger terminal.
The policies have taken effect in a short space of time. “It’s been done rapidly because we have succeeded in educating our four different ground handling companies in the advantages of electric vehicles,” says Roy Sebastian, vice president airport systems.
“We saw a real change in attitude when they understood the benefits, especially costs. Despite the greater initial expenditure, electric works out cheaper than diesel over the life cycle. Pressure to conform has also come from the Delhi Government and the Indian aviation regulator, the DGCA.”
IGIA now has a strong fleet of electric, hybrid and gas-powered vehicles. Within Terminal 3, there are around 100 electric vehicles, including passenger carts, trolley pushers, sweepers and ceiling maintenance equipment. Terminal 3’s baggage handling area also has around 50 electrics in the make up/break up areas. The smaller Terminal 1 has around 15 electric vehicles. Meanwhile, there are 150 electric vehicles airside, including passenger buses, crew shuttles and light goods vehicles.
But IGIA is moving towards even greater efficiency. “Currently, our smaller GSE vehicles are green – either electric, or compressed natural gas – but the large push-back tractors are mainly diesel. We are encouraging the handlers to change them all to electric to meet our goal of becoming fully electric for all GSE operations by 2015,” Sebastian reveals.
“But this is a dream and I’m not sure it will be possible. They have already had to spend a lot on the smaller vehicles. But I think we will get a lot closer to 100 per cent by 2015.”
