Cork Airport approaches carbon neutral status

4 Dec 2012

Cork Airport has landed a Level 2 rating under the European Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme in its efforts to cut its energy costs, and is now striving to reach Level 4, or carbon neutral status.

Since 2008, Cork Airport has reduced its gas usage by half and its electricity consumption by 25pc, as it works toward achieving Airport Carbon Accreditation, it announced today.

The European Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme, which ACI Europe launched in 2009, enables airports to implement carbon reduction programmes.

 “Since we introduced the European-wide Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme here at Cork Airport, a reduction of 2,490 tonnes of carbon has been recorded, which is a very significant achievement for Bill Daly, our head of Asset Care and all the team here in Cork. This equates to taking 725 cars off the road for one year,” said Niall MacCarthy, airport director, Cork Airport.

“During the construction of the new terminal, Cork Airport made significant technical improvements and further enhancements to systems that were previously in place, to promote green energy usage.

“The reduction in energy usage not only reduces the carbon footprint but also delivers real savings to our operating costs.

“Through our partnership with the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland), we will strive towards gaining Level 3 accreditation and onwards to achieving our ultimate Level 4 or carbon neutral status,” MacCarthy said.

Cork Airport’s next step is to achieve Level 3 status. This will involve the ongoing reduction of carbon emissions at the airport, while actively engaging with all third-party operators on-site.

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

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