Open AccessReduce aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions through immediately feasible and affordable gate electrification
Author(s) -
Fiona Greer,
Jasenka Rakas,
Arpad Horvath
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
environmental research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.37
H-Index - 124
ISSN - 1748-9326
DOI - 10.1088/1748-9326/abf7f1
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , electrification , tonne , environmental science , electricity , aviation , electricity generation , environmental engineering , waste management , engineering , power (physics) , ecology , aerospace engineering , electrical engineering , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
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.