Reduce aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions through immediately feasible and affordable gate electrification

Aircraft at airport gates require power and air conditioning, provided by fossil fuel-combusting equipment, to maintain functionality and thermal comfort. We estimate the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and economic implications from electrifying gate operations for 2354 commercial-traffic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research letters 2021-05, Vol.16 (5), p.54039
Main Authors: Greer, Fiona, Rakas, Jasenka, Horvath, Arpad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air conditioning
Aircraft
airport
Airports
aviation
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
climate change
climate damages
Economics
Electricity
Electrification
Emissions
Fossil fuels
gate electrification
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Life cycle assessment
Payback periods
Pricing
Thermal comfort
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Summary:Aircraft at airport gates require power and air conditioning, provided by fossil fuel-combusting equipment, to maintain functionality and thermal comfort. We estimate the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and economic implications from electrifying gate operations for 2354 commercial-traffic airports in the world. Here we show that complete electrification could yield GHG reductions of 63%–97% per gate operation relative to current practice, with greater reductions correlated with low-carbon electricity. Economic payback periods average just 1–2 years. Shifting to complete gate electrification could save a high-traffic airport an average of $5–6 million in annual climate economic damages relative to estimates of current practice. 10–12 million metric tons of annual GHG emissions are potentially saved if most airports in the world electrified gate operations, costing the 24 busiest global airports on average $25–30, U.S. airports $60–70, and non-U.S. airports $80–90 per metric ton of CO 2 mitigated, in some cases comparable to carbon-market prices. Environmental benefits depend primarily upon electricity sources and operational parameters such as aircraft fleet composition.
ISSN:1748-9326
1748-9326
DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/abf7f1