In July, Finavia started a gradual conversion to using renewable diesel in all buses travelling between the terminal and aircraft at Helsinki Airport. It is also Finavia’s goal to encourage other companies operating at its airports to use renewable fuels.
“All air and land freight forwarders operating in the terminal area will have access to renewable fuel at the distribution station located inside the airport’s fences”, explains Mikko Viinikainen, Finavia's sustainable development director.
Transitioning to renewable diesel is part of Finavia’s long-term climate programme, which aims at reducing the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the operations of all the company's airports to zero by 2020. For Finavia, giving up fossil fuels in airport buses and building a solar power plant on the roof of terminal 2 are key actions for gaining pace to reach its ambitious climate objectives for 2017.
Tank full of waste and residue
Finavia has chosen to use a renewable diesel that is promised to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced during the life cycle of the fuel by up to 90 per cent. The diesel is produced in Finland and manufactured entirely from waste and residue, such as animal fat.
Finavia is a pioneer in this transition, since few airports in the world use renewable fuels. However, Finavia is determined to expand the scope of this work even further. The next step is to investigate the possibility of transitioning to renewable fuels at the biggest airports in Lapland.
Moreover, the company is hoping that there will soon be renewable fuel on offer for all equipment used at the airport. Viinikainen has this to say to fuel manufacturers: “Besides airport buses, we are also looking forward to reducing emissions from machinery and engineering vehicles, and therefore we are hoping to also access renewable motor fuel oil.”
