The Airport and the Environment


 

With the growing demand for air travel, we must consider that there are several environmental impacts that affect airport operations. Let us look at one impact, how it affects aviation, and identify mitigation strategies that could decrease the effect or possibly eliminate the impact altogether. I believe an important environmental impact on airport management is air pollution. Air is significant to airport management because not only does the aircraft itself need quality (non-polluted) air to operate with optimum performance so does everything else on the planet.  




The environmental pollution center defines air pollution as the existence of substances or compounds in the atmosphere which are normally not present, and which lower the value of the air or cause harmful changes to the quality of life. (What is air pollution, n.d.) There are various forms of air contaminates initiated by airport operations and aircraft.  Jet emissions affect a 25-mile area around an airport and affect everything for 12 miles from the end of the runway. (Aviation and air pollution, 2011) The concern for aviation air quality is mainly associated with places connected to airports and nearby them.

Dr. Sebastian Eastham, from the Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment in MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics stated: 

"When you consider the full flight, which includes emissions from takeoff, cruise, and landing, aircraft emissions are also responsible for around 16,000 premature deaths a year from impaired air quality. This is small compared to other sectors, being only around 0.4% of the total deaths attributed annually to global air quality degradation but is often overlooked in policy analysis." (IOP,2019) Their research found that air quality influences of aviation emissions substantially exceed the impacts on the climate, with the impacts to air quality being 1.7 to 4.4 times higher then the climate impact per unit of fuel burn. (IOP,2019)

I believe we could mitigate the environmental impact of air pollution with cleaner technology. Nowadays the technological advancement of our current aircraft already has a smaller impact on the air quality compared to half  a century ago it has been reduced by about 50% less carbon monoxide and 90% less smoke and unburned hydrocarbons. (Improving air, n.d.) We could also limit the influences the airport creates by having them provide stationary electrical ground energy and pre-conditioned air supplies at the gates. (Improving air, n.d.)  Allowing the aircraft to switch off their APUs at terminal gates, reducing overall pollutants. 




References 

Aviation and air pollution. (2011, September 04). https://aviationjustice.org/impact/aviation-and-air-pollution/

Improving air quality. (n.d.). https://aviationbenefits.org/environmental-efficiency/improving-air-quality/

IOP Publishing. (2019, November 7). Aviation emissions' impacts on air quality larger than on climate, study finds. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191107202553.htm

What is air pollution: Environmental Pollution Centers. (n.d.). https://www.environmentalpollutioncenters.org/air/

 

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