Renewables paving a pathway to emissions reduction

Brisbane Airport: Renewables paving a pathway to emissions reduction.

A six-year project of carefully planned and well-executed solar photovoltaic installations have demonstrated Brisbane Airport’s commitment to creating environmentally and commercially sustainable value at Australia’s largest capital city airport.

Brisbane Airport was one of Australia’s first airports to include sustainability in its Airport Environment Strategy (AES). Since doing so, it has focused on creating prosperous airport business community within a sustainable environment.

Confronting the challenge of rising energy costs and increased emissions, in 2012 the airport embarked on an ambitious project of installing 22,000 solar panels across six sites at the airport, five roof-mounted and one on the ground. This was combined with a range of energy efficiency initiatives that lead to changes in the airport’s lighting, as well as its heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) technology.

Today the new solar installation accounts for approximately 18 percent of Brisbane Airport’s direct electricity consumption, or 6% of the total airport consumption p.a. This has resulted in reduced carbon emissions of approximately 8,000 tonne of CO2 p.a., which is roughly equivalent to the power usage of 750 average households.