The International Civil Aviation Organization has lauded the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for promoting the green airport concept and energy efficiency enhancement to reduce airport-wide carbon intensity.
CAAP chief information officer Eric Apolonio said ICAO Secretary- General Fang Lui welcomed the country’s carbon dioxide or CO2 emissions reduction plan for international aviation, saying “the submission of State Action Plans provides an opportunity to establish and showcase strategies to reduce aviation emission.”
The CAAP’s commitment towards environmental sustainability as well as carbon reduction efforts earned the ICAO executive commendation.
The SAP is a voluntary planning and reporting tool for States to communicate information on their activities to address international civil aviation’s CO2 emission concerns.
It aims for better understanding of the share and projections of international aviation CO2 emissions, enhanced cooperation between all aviation stakeholders that can positively reflect on their operational areas, and the identification of the most relevant mitigation actions.
It also includes information on activities the Philippines has already undertaken and future mitigation strategies that it wants to meet regarding CO2 emissions reduction in the sky.
“These mitigation measures include the development of Bio-Fuel [used cooking oil] as alternative fuel to improve air traffic management and infrastructure that will significantly reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions and the establishment of a performance-based navigation [PBN] system in all public aerodromes which increases airspace capacity, improves aviation safety, and reduces aviation activities’ environmental impact,” said Apolonio.
As part of the green airport concept, all frequently used CAAP airports will now be installed with solar power systems to power up office lighting and small equipment as well as runways lights and lighted cones, he added.