More than 50 CEOs across the aviation ecosystem — from equipment manufacturers
and fuel producers to engineering firms and airports — have joined the World
Economic Forum’s Airports of
Tomorrow initiative.
In partnership with Airports Council International World, the initiative
seeks to address the energy, infrastructure and financing needs of the aviation
industry's transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“We see airports as strategically located epicenters of activity, where leaders
from across the aviation ecosystem can convene and work together to transform
the industry,” said Lauren
Uppink, Head of Climate Strategy
at World Economic Forum. “If the right planning and investment decisions are
made today, airports can play a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future for
aviation as well as other transport sectors. The Airports of Tomorrow initiative
will help airports harness these opportunities — enabling them to fulfil their
potential as clean-energy hubs and standard-bearers for the net-zero economy.”
Airports of Tomorrow
members include
Airbus, Arup, Atkins, Boeing, Mott MacDonald, Neste,
LanzaJet,
Dufry, Menzies Aviation, Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), global
transport-systems operator Mundys and its Aeroporti di Roma, London
Heathrow, and many more.
Participants will be working together to:
-
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Create a series of blueprints to articulate infrastructure requirements for
airport ecosystems to transform their operations for sustainable aviation
fuels
(SAF), electric- and hydrogen-fueled aircraft
-
Produce a geographical distribution map of the 300 SAF plants that will be
needed to stay on track to achieve net-zero aviation by 2030, broken down by
region to maximize the sustainable feedstock potential in each part of the
world
-
Mobilize capital through innovative financing mechanisms — for example,
through the co-design of a SAF fund and creative regulatory and policy
instruments
-
Deliver a sustainable finance toolkit to mobilize the billions of dollars of
investment needed to transform airports into clean-energy hubs
While individual airlines are working to advance their own sustainability
efforts
and help scale industry-wide availability of
SAF,
more collaborative industry efforts are required to offer any hope of
approaching the initiative’s goal of achieving net-zero aviation by 2050. WEF
projects reaching a net-zero aviation industry will require an annual investment
of approximately $175 billion — reaching $5 trillion by 2050 — to enable the
transition to emerging technologies and alternative propulsion methods including
SAF and battery-electric/hydrogen-powered flight. Participating stakeholders
will help mobilize this capital and forge a path towards net zero.
"Airports serve as powerful cornerstones of the aviation ecosystem where we can
unite, collaborate and facilitate the industry's sustainability transformation,"
said Sean Donohue, CEO of
DFW Airport. “By making the right planning and investment decisions today, we
have the unique opportunity to shape a sustainable future for aviation and set
examples for other public and private sectors. Through initiatives like Airports
of Tomorrow, we are dedicated to harnessing these opportunities — unlocking our
full potential as clean-energy hubs and setting the standard for the net-zero
economy.”
The shift will entail huge changes in infrastructure, both on and off airport
sites. For example, it is estimated that airports could consume five times more
electricity than they do today to power alternative propulsion methods, with
global electricity demand for airports set to reach 600-1,700 TWh of clean
energy by 2050 — equivalent to the energy generated by a solar farm half the
size of Belgium.
The massive land footprint of airport sites also allows for new infrastructure
that typically has not been associated with airport activity before — such as
solar
farms,
blending facilities for liquid fuels, and storage for either liquid or gas
hydrogen.
Most airports have space for hydrogen liquefaction and storage infrastructure,
but not enough land to generate all of the clean energy needed to power
battery-electric and hydrogen aircraft. Airports will have to establish new
supply networks and partnerships to develop and scale off-airport infrastructure
in addition to their on-site infrastructure changes — primarily in power
generation, electrolysis and liquefaction — as well as the supply of sustainable
aviation fuels.
4 key pillars
Airports of Tomorrow will work towards the goal of net-zero carbon emissions
industry-wide by 2050, through four separate work pillars:
-
Infrastructure: Focusing on the production, distribution and storage of
hydrogen and renewable energy on the airport grounds.
-
SAF and Scope 3 emissions: Focusing on the scale-up of at least 300 SAF
plants by 2030.
-
Financing: Working on de-risking and upscaling innovative sustainable
finance solutions for airports.
-
Blue Skies Pioneers: Partnering with WEF’s UpLink
platform to create a startup
challenge
inviting new innovators to join the community.
“Any pathway to achieving net-zero aviation will require a fundamental
transformation in energy provision — with implications across both airport
infrastructure and wider energy networks,” said Graham Bolton, Global
Practice Leader for Aviation at engineering firm Mott MacDonald. “By considering
the airport as part of a wider ecosystem, we can develop new solutions that
facilitate decarbonization of
aviation
and deliver wider community benefits. As Mott MacDonald, we are already
integrating aviation, energy and climate expertise to help airports meet their
environmental and social commitments; and we are excited to build on this as a
champion for Airports of Tomorrow.”
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jul 6, 2023 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST