Newcastle Airport in UK powers vehicles with renewable diesel to reduce CO2 emissions
Newcastle Airport in North East, England, announced Aug. 12 that its strategy to reduce carbon emissions from airport vehicles continues.
Thirty-one percent of the vehicle fleet is already electric while the remainder vehicles have switched from using diesel fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), also known as renewable diesel, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by up to 90 percent.
HVO is a low-carbon biofuel made from plant waste, oils and fats making it a more sustainable and lower-carbon alternative to diesel.
The switch to HVO will save the airport 329 metric tons of carbon a year—equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power 400 homes in the U.K.
It is part of the airport’s ambitious plans to become net zero by 2035.
“Being a responsible organization and a good neighbor is extremely important to us,” said Alice Andreasen, Newcastle Airport’s chief sustainability and communications officer. “Switching our vehicles from diesel to HVO will not only reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90 percent but it will also help improve air quality. This builds on the fantastic work we are doing as a business, which has seen us become a leader in our field for sustainability and helps move us closer to our net-zero 2035 goal.”
The switch to HVO comes as the airport continues to make strong progress on its key sustainability and environmental targets.
The airport has achieved a 31 percent reduction in its carbon emissions since 2019, surpassing its target by 6 percent.
The first phase of its solar-farm project has been completed and it can provide 100 percent of the airport’s electricity requirements on a sunny day.
The airport has continued to invest in the roll out of a fully electric vehicle fleet, with 18 new electric vehicles being brought into service.
And through the planting of 40,000 square meters of hedgerows on airport land, a 34 percent increase in biodiversity has been attained, surpassing the 2023 target by 24 percent.
The airport recently achieved its target of Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 3 status, the only institutionally endorsed, global carbon-management certification program for airports.
It also gained “Sustainability Sector Leader” status and was ranked third in the world among participating airports in the 2023 GRESB Infrastructure Assessment.
GRESB is an industry-led organization that collects, scores and independently benchmarks the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) data of over 2,000 assets worldwide, which provides an insight into business performance on a range of complex sustainability topics.
