Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review

Over 2500 airports worldwide provide critical infrastructure that supports 4 billion annual passengers. To meet changes in capacity and post-COVID-19 passenger processing, airport infrastructure such as terminal buildings, airfields, and ground service equipment require substantial upgrades. Aviatio...

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Main Authors: Fiona Greer, Jasenka Rakas, Arpad Horvath
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2020-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb42a
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author Fiona Greer
Jasenka Rakas
Arpad Horvath
author_facet Fiona Greer
Jasenka Rakas
Arpad Horvath
author_sort Fiona Greer
collection DOAJ
description Over 2500 airports worldwide provide critical infrastructure that supports 4 billion annual passengers. To meet changes in capacity and post-COVID-19 passenger processing, airport infrastructure such as terminal buildings, airfields, and ground service equipment require substantial upgrades. Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but that estimate excludes airport construction and operation. Metrics that assess an airport’s sustainability, in addition to environmental impacts that are sometimes unaccounted for (e.g. water consumption), are necessary for a more complete environmental accounting of the entire aviation sector. This review synthesizes the current state of environmental sustainability metrics and methods (e.g. life-cycle assessment, Scope GHG emissions) for airports as identified in 108 peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports. Articles are grouped according to six categories (Energy and Atmosphere, Comfort and Health, Water and Wastewater, Site and Habitat, Material and Resources, Multidimensional) of an existing airport sustainability assessment framework. A case study application of the framework is evaluated for its efficacy in yielding performance objectives. Research interest in airport environmental sustainability is steadily increasing, but there is ample need for more systematic assessment that accounts for a variety of emissions and regional variation. Prominent research themes include analyzing the GHG emissions from airfield pavements and energy management strategies for airport buildings. Research on water conservation, climate change resilience, and waste management is more limited, indicating that airport environmental accounting requires more analysis. A disconnect exists between research efforts and practices implemented by airports. Effective practices such as sourcing low-emission electricity and electrifying ground transportation and gate equipment can in the short term aid airports in moving towards sustainability goals. Future research must emphasize stakeholder involvement, life-cycle assessment, linking environmental impacts with operational outcomes, and global challenges (e.g. resilience, climate change adaptation, mitigation of infectious diseases).
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spelling doaj.art-24024c954ec04f609f9baf1712e10d452023-08-09T14:56:10ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151010300710.1088/1748-9326/abb42aAirports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive reviewFiona Greer0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9453-0640Jasenka Rakas1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9694-3588Arpad Horvath2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of AmericaOver 2500 airports worldwide provide critical infrastructure that supports 4 billion annual passengers. To meet changes in capacity and post-COVID-19 passenger processing, airport infrastructure such as terminal buildings, airfields, and ground service equipment require substantial upgrades. Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but that estimate excludes airport construction and operation. Metrics that assess an airport’s sustainability, in addition to environmental impacts that are sometimes unaccounted for (e.g. water consumption), are necessary for a more complete environmental accounting of the entire aviation sector. This review synthesizes the current state of environmental sustainability metrics and methods (e.g. life-cycle assessment, Scope GHG emissions) for airports as identified in 108 peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports. Articles are grouped according to six categories (Energy and Atmosphere, Comfort and Health, Water and Wastewater, Site and Habitat, Material and Resources, Multidimensional) of an existing airport sustainability assessment framework. A case study application of the framework is evaluated for its efficacy in yielding performance objectives. Research interest in airport environmental sustainability is steadily increasing, but there is ample need for more systematic assessment that accounts for a variety of emissions and regional variation. Prominent research themes include analyzing the GHG emissions from airfield pavements and energy management strategies for airport buildings. Research on water conservation, climate change resilience, and waste management is more limited, indicating that airport environmental accounting requires more analysis. A disconnect exists between research efforts and practices implemented by airports. Effective practices such as sourcing low-emission electricity and electrifying ground transportation and gate equipment can in the short term aid airports in moving towards sustainability goals. Future research must emphasize stakeholder involvement, life-cycle assessment, linking environmental impacts with operational outcomes, and global challenges (e.g. resilience, climate change adaptation, mitigation of infectious diseases).https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb42aaviationgreenhouse gasesenvironmental impactenvironmental footprintinfrastructure
spellingShingle Fiona Greer
Jasenka Rakas
Arpad Horvath
Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review
Environmental Research Letters
aviation
greenhouse gases
environmental impact
environmental footprint
infrastructure
title Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review
title_full Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review
title_fullStr Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review
title_full_unstemmed Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review
title_short Airports and environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review
title_sort airports and environmental sustainability a comprehensive review
topic aviation
greenhouse gases
environmental impact
environmental footprint
infrastructure
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb42a
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AT arpadhorvath airportsandenvironmentalsustainabilityacomprehensivereview