Image: Dublin Airport Authority
Dublin Airport reports that 20pc of its vehicles have now been upgraded to LEVs and a further 5pc are hybrid vehicles.
Today (17 July) Dublin Airport announced plans to convert its existing fleet of 111 vehicles to low-emission vehicles (LEVs) over the next five years.
This is just one of the steps Dublin Airport will take to improve sustainability in a new strategy that includes targets based around carbon, energy, waste, water and the fleet of vehicles used on the airport campus.
Some areas of Dublin Airport’s operation require specialist four-wheel drive vehicles. To make sure the entire fleet can be converted to LEVs, Dublin Airport will adopt a recently developed plugin hybrid replacement for four-wheel drives that were traditionally powered by two-litre diesel engines.
Dublin Airport general manager Vincent Harrison said: “Our licence to grow Dublin Airport is predicated on operating in a sustainable manner and we take our responsibilities in this regard very seriously.”
Harrison added: “Using low-emission vehicles is another great step in achieving our sustainability targets and being an exemplar to other airports and organisations in Ireland and across the world. Our fleet management team continually monitor the developing LEV market to identify appropriate vehicles that can replace existing vehicles in line with our vehicle maintenance strategy.”
In recent months, six LEVs have been introduced to the airport’s fleet, with two more due for delivery in the coming months.
According to Dublin Airport, around 20pc of the airport’s vehicles have now been upgraded to LEVs and a further 5pc are hybrid vehicles.
In Dublin Airport’s strategy, it sets out a plan to also convert bus operations to an LEV fleet by 2022. Aircoach helped Dublin Airport run trials of electric buses on the airport campus earlier this year.
The capital’s airport noted the ways in which it has improved sustainability in recent years: “Dublin Airport has reduced its primary energy consumption by a cumulative value of 9,285,011kWh. This is the equivalent to average yearly usage of about 450 to 500 semi-detached houses.
“In the last 10 years, water consumption per passenger has reduced by 26.8 litres. That’s the equivalent of filling almost 10m baths.”
