S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
52 | BU S INE S S A I R P O RT INT E RNAT I ONA L JA N UA RY 2 0 2 0
infrastructure. TAG Farnborough also installed 116 solar
panels onto the roof of its main administrative building. “We
looked at a range of renewable energy options over the
years and solar came out best. The panels supply electricity
directly to the building, reducing what we have to procure
from the grid,” Thomas says.
One of the biggest projects, however, has been
Farnborough Airport’s switch over to LED lighting. The
airports offices, masts, hangars have all been converted to
LED lights, which in some circumstances has led to more
than 50% less energy draw. “Lighting projects are expensive,
but they yield great savings. The payback comes in a short
time so there’s a strong business case to do them as there
are financial and environmental savings,” says Thomas.
As well as large visible projects, many smaller jobs
were also undertaken to improve energy efficiency. This
ranged from identifying areas where heating pipes needed
to be insulated, to installing switches and equipment that
automatically turned off lights and heating systems. “They
Fuel suppliers move towards sustainable sources
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is
produced from renewable feedstocks
and is very similar in its chemistry to
fossil jet fuel. Tom Parsons, Air BP’s
commercial development manager, low
carbon, says that its SAF is currently
made from used cooking oil and other
waste materials.
Importantly, SAF gives an impressive
reduction of up to 80% in CO emissions
over the lifecycle of the fuel compared
to fossil jet fuel, depending on the
sustainable feedstock used, production
method and the supply chain to the
airport. With the aviation industry
expected to double in size to 8.2 billion
passengers by 2037, it is essential that
the industry acts to reduce its carbon
emissions. Supplying SAF is one way
icompanies such as Air BP are doing that.
SAF can be blended at up to 50%
with fossil jet fuel and all quality tests
are completed as per a regular jet
fuel. Once blended, SAF has the same
characteristics as fossil jet fuel. It can
be handled in exactly the same way as
a regular jet fuel, so no changes are
required in the fueling infrastructure or
for an aircraft wanting to use SAF.
Air BP is committed to helping
increase the supply and availability
of SAF. There is also real commitment
from the industry to reduce the impact
of aviation on the environment. In
2018, a global coalition of business
aviation organizations joined forces
to help promote the adoption of SAF
by launching the Sustainable Aviation
Fuel initiative and Business Aviation
Guide to sustainable alternative fuels.
This was followed by the first SAF fly
in to the EBACE trade show in Geneva,
Switzerland. In support of the initiative,
Air BP supplied customers at Caen
Carpiquet airport in France and at
Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden, to
travel to EBACE.
The company has been supplying
SAF in the Nordics since 2014 and
globally has supplied around 15 airports
and 20 customers including Airbus and
Delta Air Lines.
In 2016, Air BP announced an initial
investment of US$30 million in Fulcrum
BioEnergy, which has developed and
demonstrated a reliable and efficient
process for producing low-cost SAF from
household waste.
In 2018, Air BP announced a
collaboration with Finnish oil refining
company Neste that aims to explore
and develop supply chain solutions for
delivering SAF to airports and airlines.
In April 2019, through this collaboration
with Neste, Air BP was able to increase
the supply of SAF in Sweden across a
number of airports.
“We want to do more
than just enough
and inspire others to
follow suit”
Clive Jackson, founder and CEO of Victor
Systematic approach
Energy efficiency is key to improving
sustainability and there are a number
of steps airports, FBOs and aircraft
operators can take to become
more energy efficient. Some of thee
measures are large undertakings,
while others are easier wins.
TAG Farnborough’s environment
manager Miles Thomas helped develop
the airport’s sustainability masterplan.
First the airport’s carbon footprint was
calculated. Management then began
monitoring the emissions from the airport’s
various systems in order to see where work was
required most.
Some of the major projects included changing
the airport vehicle fleet from diesel to electric, which
also included installation of the necessary charging