Environmental protection
Climate and energy
CO2 emissions balance
The CO2 balance is drawn up annually in order to be able to derive developments and trends accordingly. Based on the findings, suitable measures are developed to reduce emissions.
The calculation, which has been carried out by the external laboratory for environmental analysis since 2015, takes into account all sources in the area of the airport - air traffic, aircraft handling, stationary and infrastructure-related sources, as well as landside traffic. For each of these sources, the CO2 emissions were divided into three areas in accordance with international standards. The CO2 emissions from the airport's own business activities were reported, as well as those from the energy supply and the emissions of external companies. In each case, a distinction was made between those that could be influenced directly and those that could be influenced indirectly.
The total CO2 emissions in 2021 amount to 174,956 tonnes. Of these, aviation accounts for the largest share of CO2 emissions at 82 percent. Stationary or infrastructure-related
sources (mainly district heating and fuels for ground-based equipment and vehicles) account for 10 per cent of total emissions.
Aircraft handling accounts for 6 per cent. The remaining 2 percent can be attributed to landside motor vehicle traffic.
Numerous projects to reduce greenhouse gases have been and are being implemented at Vienna Airport. For example, Vienna Airport
already obtains all of its electricity in a CO2-neutral manner. The expansion of photovoltaics at the site sustainably supports the goal of CO2-neutrality of Vienna Airport. District heating will also be CO2-neutral from mid-2022. The expansion of the electrically powered vehicle fleet and the compensation of CO2 emissions, which are currently still caused by fossil fuels by FWAG and external companies (especially in the area of aircraft
handling), should lead to the operation of Vienna Airport being climate-neutral from 2023 onwards.
ACAS (Airport Carbon Accreditation System)
With the help of a CO2 emissions balance, Vienna Airport also participates in the ACAS (Airport Carbon Accreditation System, www.airportcarbonaccreditation.org) programme run by the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe).Airport Carbon Accreditation is a system developed specifically for airports to record greenhouse gas emissions from airports with independent verification of the calculated carbon footprint as well as the tracking of reduction targets. The certification programme was initiated by the umbrella organisation of European commercial airports ACI Europe.
Vienna Airport was already Level 1 certified in 2013. In 2015, the airport was promoted to Level 2 and in October 2016, Level 3 certification was achieved for the first time and has since been confirmed annually by the ACI. Level 3 certification provides for a further reduction in CO2 emissions with increased involvement of all companies located at the airport. To achieve this Level 3, all companies located at the site had to be involved in CO2 reduction measures.
The targeted climate neutrality of airport operations from 2023 will enable Vienna Airport to achieve Level 3+ (climate neutrality for direct emissions through offsetting) from 2024.
More information on the programme can be found at www.airportcarbonaccreditation.org.
Environmentally friendly vehicle fleet
Today, Vienna Airport already operates one of the largest natural gas car fleets in Austria with 92 cars and 2 trucks. With the second generation, a further halving of CO2 emissions could be achieved. We have set up our own natural gas filling station for refuelling, which is also available to third-party customers. In the area of baggage handling, we have been using electric-powered baggage carts for about 30 years. The mobile passenger stairs have also been moved only with electric auxiliary drive for several years. By 2020, we plan to convert around 30 diesel-powered catering lift trucks to electric drive.
Energy efficiency
For Vienna International Airport, energy efficiency is the conscious use of energy and an expression of responsible action. In order to keep the operating costs of the entire company as low as possible, an energy efficiency team is constantly on the lookout for savings potential.
For example, through various modifications. Unnecessarily bright areas were adapted to the legal minimum lighting, lighting in the airside area is only used where it is really necessary. LED technology for runway and taxiway lighting is characterised by lower power consumption and lower maintenance costs, while at the same time providing optimal visibility. In the refrigeration centres, modern conveyor machines replace old pumps and in the waiting areas of the lifts, the air conditioning has been optimised. Through further future energy-efficient savings packages, operating costs can thus be reduced annually. All these measures, realisable through environmental ideas and technical possibilities, bring measurable energy savings.
Sustainable management means careful use of available resources. Also when it comes to heating and cooling. A 4300-metre-long district heating pipeline from the Schwechat refinery consists of two pipelines and supplies Vienna Airport with heat that is obtained in a particularly environmentally friendly way.
The Schwechat refinery will convert the airport's existing supply to environmentally friendly district heating in the first half of 2022. In doing so, the refinery will use the waste heat from the desulphurisation plant, a diesel production plant and the vacuum distillation plant and convert it into CO2-free district heating. This saves around 21,000 tonnes of CO2 annually in the airport system.
Air & Pollutant measurements at the airport
For about 25 years, air quality measurements have been constantly carried out at Vienna Airport in the immediate apron and
runway area. The pollutant measurement system is supervised by the Lower Austrian provincial government and integrated into
the nationwide air quality measurement network. This consists of a total of 39 stations that deliver the current measurement
data to the control centre every half hour. The measured values of the individual measuring points - including those from
Vienna International Airport - can be accessed at www.numbis.at. This means that the values of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
dioxides, and since 2017 also those of particulate matter, are available at any time and can be compared with the measured
values of other pollutant measuring stations in Lower Austria. The measured values are also compared with the legal limit
values and thus provide information on the air quality.
The situation at the site corresponds to the outskirts of a large city with low immissions of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide,
dust, benzene and heavy metals, as well as moderate pollution from nitrogen oxides. Somewhat higher concentrations, corresponding
to an urban level, only occur in the central apron area of the airport. The ozone values in the airport area correspond to
the large-scale situation in the Vienna Basin.
http://www.noe.gv.at/umwelt/luft/luftguete-innoe/messnetzinformation.html
Waste and waste separation
The focus of the eco-model developed at Vienna Airport is: Avoid, Reduce, Recycle. The less waste generated, the less waste has to be separated and disposed of. Waste is separated according to strict guidelines, which makes recycling easier and more cost-effective. All possibilities for efficient waste management are exhausted. This is not an easy undertaking, as in addition to aircraft waste, catering waste and commercial waste, there is also hazardous waste that has to be treated differently. Biogenic waste, glass and plastic bottles are collected separately and recycled. Special environmental islands in the terminal areas also offer passengers the opportunity to dispose of their waste in accordance with the labeling.
Waste water - Disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way
With the growth of Vienna Airport, the wastewater load to be disposed of also increased from year to year. A central point of the drainage project is the complete sewerage of the airside sealed areas. From the individual catchment areas of the airport - runways, aprons and taxiways alone account for more than 2.4 million square metres of surface area - precipitation wastewater leads to the central VIE wastewater disposal system. At the entrance of the main collectors to the central VIE wastewater disposal plant, the load of the wastewater is measured online and a decision is made on its further treatment. If the wastewater is uncontaminated, it is discharged directly into the receiving waters of the Danube and Schwechat, while contaminated wastewater is pumped via separate pipes to the VKA Schwechat. Through the targeted separation of polluted and unpolluted wastewater, it was possible to reduce the amount of wastewater to be treated at VKA-Schwechat. The current drainage system complies in all respects with the official requirements.
The drainage of the airport site is separated into municipal wastewater and stormwater and separated into municipal surface water, wastewater and aircraft de-icing water, which is delivered to the Schwechat-Mannswörth Association Sewage Treatment Plant (VKA).
De-icing agents are collected separately
In winter, aircraft must be cleared of ice and snow before take-off for safety reasons. Fully biodegradable glycol mixtures are used as de-icing agents, which place special demands on wastewater treatment. Therefore, the waste water produced at the de-icing positions is collected separately and slowly added to the waste water. For the past 3 years, it has been possible to significantly reduce specific consumption by dosing the de-icing agent according to the current air temperature and humidity.