Heathrow Airport’s attempts to paint themselves as environmentally friendly have taken a massive setback this week as a new report shows it to be the second highest polluting airport in the world.
The report, by Transport & Environment, ODI and the International Council on Clean Transportation, showed that Heathrow emitted 16.2 mega tonnes of CO2 in total. That is equal to the emissions of 4 coal power plants.
Claims that the airport is carbon neutral were found to only refer to the terminal buildings themselves and not aeroplanes.
Campaigners believe this report further undermines the case for Heathrow expansion.
Paul McGuinness, Chair of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said:
“Heathrow is already the single biggest polluter in the UK and now we learn that they are the second largest emitter of carbon from passenger transport in the world. With expansion they would clearly become the biggest emitter by a large margin".
A spokesperson for Heathrow made the case for Sustainable Aviation Fuels as a means to tackle the polluting impact of the airline industry.
“Scaling up the supply and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels, as well as modernising airspace, putting in place robust carbon removals to offset emissions and encouraging airlines to operate more fuel-efficient fleets, will help achieve net zero targets while protecting the benefits of flying”.
Currently Sustainable Aviation Fuels account for just 0.005% of flights, with mainstream rollout not set to even enter the short haul market for a very considerable period.
In September this year, the Government refused to reconsider the third runway despite Sir Howard Davies, chair of the Airports Commission, recommending that Heathrow Airport expansion was not currently necessary.
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