Carbon-neutral Farnborough doesn't rest on green laurels

摘要

Business aviation is an easy target for those who argue that aviation's impact on the environment is too high to be sustainable. Rather than just deflect the inevitable criticism with well-practiced lines about this mode of transportation's balancing contribution to economic good, Farnborough Airport in the UK decided in 2007 to aspire to a more definitive and voluntary response by setting itself the goal of going carbon neutral. Nine years later, in June 2018, the privately-owned business aviation gateway achieved that goal when it became the first airport in the sector to achieve carbon neutral status as defined by the Airport Council International Europe's Level 3+ Airport Carbon Accreditation program. It achieved this more than a year ahead of schedule. In the process, Farnborough cut its carbon dioxide (CO_2) emissions by 42 percent (reducing it by 2,183 tonnes per year), and this total has continued to fall since then. Any carbon still being emitted is then offset through approved programs to mitigate the impact of its activities on the environment.