Airport’s CO2 levels fall 10%

Shannon Airport has achieved another 10% drop in CO2 emissions, for which it has received an improved accreditation level, further strengthening its “green” credentials.

Under European aviation standards, Shannon has now achieved the “Reduction” accreditation level — the second of four standards under the Europe-wide airport carbon management certification programme.

This latest accreditation means the airport has not alone mapped all of the CO2 emissions sources under its direct control, but also succeeded in reducing those CO2 emissions on a rolling three year average.

Shannon Airport director Mary Considine said: “Sustainability is very much what we are about at Shannon, not least in the environmental area and achieving the second of four European standards in the space of just three years reaffirms that commitment.”

“The very fact that we have delivered CO2 reductions year on year of 10% over 2010/2011 shows the pace of our progress.

“This is down to the dedication of our staff here at the airport to reaching these standards and our colleagues in the DAA’s [Dublin Airport Authority] health, safety, security, and environment department for their support.”

Some 67 airports, which account for more than 53% of European passenger traffic each year, are participating in the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.

The aviation sector produces about 2% of the world’s manmade CO2 emissions while, of that, airports only account for up to 5% of total emissions.

During 2010, the three DAA airports — Dublin, Cork, and Shannon — were amongst the first wave of European airports to achieve accreditation under the programme.