Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) has been working with airlines to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint and build a sustainable third terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, TIAC president and chief executive officer Fan Hsiao-lun (范孝倫) said yesterday.
“Pursuing sustainability is not an extra workload, but an attitude,” Fan said in a speech at the sixth Taiwan Future international summit held by Business Today in Taipei.
Fan and other guests were invited to share their experience of using innovative technologies to pursue sustainability in the aviation industry.
Photo courtesy of Taoyuan International Airport Corp
The airport relies on more than 35,000 employees from 240 public units and private businesses, such as customs and immigration agencies, airlines, duty-free shops and equipment manufacturers, he said.
The sustainability of the airport requires close cooperation among these parties, he added.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association and the Airports Council International (ACI) have issued guidelines and taken measures to promote the sustainable development of the industry, he said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The ACI launched its Airport Carbon Accreditation in 2009, assessing the efforts of airports to manage and reduce carbon emissions through six levels of certification: mapping, reduction, optimization, neutrality, transformation and transition.
The levels indicate the stage of an airport on its journey toward comprehensive carbon management, the Web site of the accreditation program says.
Taoyuan airport is at Level 3 optimization, and “is continuing to work on it,” Fan said.
The ACI started the Green Airports Recognition program in 2017 to recognize airports’ outstanding accomplishments in environmental projects by presenting awards to airports that perform the best in the theme set each year, he said.
Taoyuan airport was awarded Gold recognition last year, when “carbon management” was the theme, among airports serving 15 million to 50 million passengers per year.
By switching to highly efficient pumps and LED lighting, the airport reduced carbon emissions by about 4,000 tonnes per year, Fan said.
Installing preconditioned air and fixed electrical ground power on air bridges helps airlines reduce 11,491 tonnes of carbon emissions per year, he added.
The airport is still replacing old equipment with new air-conditioners, cooling towers and escalators with an energy-saving mode, as well as replacing gasoline vehicles with electric vehicles to further reduce carbon emissions, he said.
The construction of the third terminal, which began in 2015 and is scheduled for completion in 2026, is in full swing, he said, calling it “a terminal of a new era.”
The design of Terminal 3 incorporates advanced technologies, such as smart lighting control systems, as well as sound-proof and heat-proof materials, to make it energy efficient and sustainable, he said.
The airport would continue to explore the applications of new technologies in its operation, such as sustainable aviation fuels and hydrogen energy, he said.
EVA Airways Corp chief executive vice president Ho Ching-sheng (何慶生) and China Airlines senior vice president Peng Pao-chu (彭寶珠) said that their companies are committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and are deliberating the use of sustainable aviation fuels.
Taoyuan International Airport special report
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS