Stockholm Arlanda Airport is one of the most friendly international airports in Europe. There are many airports in Europe that claim to be the most environmentally friendly, but this airport offers different greenery methods than others to make it into the category of four of the most environmentally friendly airports in Europe.
Managed by a Swedish national company called Swedavia, the airport is located in Sigtuna Municipality, Sweden. Stockholm Arlanda Airport is Sweden’s largest airport and the third largest in the Nordic country. Not only superior in terms of building area, the airport is also superior in terms of environmental friendliness.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is recognized as one of the greenest airport pioneers in Europe. This airport even managed to be the first to receive the highest award from the Airport Council International Europe (ACI), an organization that houses over 600 airport managers of all sizes in 58 European countries.
Environmental issues are a top priority for Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Efforts are being made to implement smart solutions to address the environmental impacts caused by airports. Since 2009, the airport has been assessed to have successfully reduced carbon dioxide emissions at the highest level of European programs assessing airport environmental processing. This is in line with its main target to have zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the only airport in the world and the first to have a carbon dioxide emissions cap. Close carbon emissions have also obtained environmental permission from the local government. This means that emissions from aircraft taking off and landing, vehicular traffic to and from the airport, internal vehicle traffic, and from heating buildings are estimated to be fewer than those produced in 1990.
To help reduce the real impact of carbon footprints, Swedavia is working with Apcoa Parking to develop a taximeter system. This system will have a major impact on the efficiency of taxi services not only for the airport but also to the entire city.
Taxi drivers waiting for passengers at the airport will be queued up, then they can park their cars. When the queue number is mentioned, they then go to the terminal where they will pick up the passengers. With this alone, of course, can reduce carbon gas emissions because taxis wait in the state of the engine off.
However, the most beneficial thing is that environmentally friendly cabs (low-emission electric cars, hydrogen, and natural gas) will be prioritized and can precede the queue. This is what makes a big impact, with the friendly cabs in Stockholm jumping from 16% in 2009 to 84% in 2014.
Other eco-friendly efforts are also done by making electricity savings. The existing buildings at the airport are heated by using a district heating system fueled by biofuel. As for cooling, the district cooling system is used with water from lakes around the airport. All the electrical energy used in this airport activity is generated from renewable sources, such as biofuels, solar power, wind, and hydropower.
In addition, the airport is also gradually replacing its aircraft fleet with aircraft that are environmentally valued sustainable. This is done to support the Continuous Descent Approaches and landings program, or so-called “green landing”.
The program is implemented by the airport to reduce noise pollution due to aviation noise, for example by modifying the flight path and replacing the noisiest aircraft with a softer voice. Green landing also impacts on saving jet fuel and reducing gas emissions.
One of the most attractive eco-friendly systems in the airport is the use of heaters and coolers for terminals, hangars-where airplanes-and other buildings in the airfield. The airport is implementing an innovative system that uses a series of wells connected to a large underground aquifer. Water from this underground source is flowed up and into an air-system facility that controls the air temperature of the vents.
In the summer, the underground water will remain cool and this makes the terminal cooler than using air conditioners that require extra energy. In winter, water flows to the biofuel heating unit to regulate water with the appropriate temperature so that the building stays warm.
The uniqueness and innovation that exist at this airport prove that there are many ways to be environmentally friendly, as long as we want to try and be patient because of course, it will not be an instant achievement. Adjusting carbon gas emissions is also not a difficult thing to do because it has proven by Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
Old airplane now a Hostel
Old traffic tower now Apartment
Old traffic tower now Apartment
