Green sustainable airports: The deployment of renewable energy at Vietnam airports. Is that feasible?

Abstract

The aviation industry is responsible for up to 2.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Although the aviation sector will not transform to an environmentally friendly industry overnight, airports have the ability, the means and the opportunities to invest in sustainable development. Particularly, renewable energy could be an alternative scenario to escape the dilemma between the urge of high growth and the concern on environmental damage in air transport. The benefit is that renewable energy increases the options available to airports for their energy needs. There also provides with other advantages, i.e. producing fewer emissions and reducing the environmental footprint. In addition, installing renewable energy generation technologies on site at an airport can lower the carbon footprint with minimal impact to airport operations. The question is whether the deployment of renewable energy in Vietnam airports for becoming more “green (eco-friendly), sustainable” airports could become feasible when taking into account both prospects and challenges in such field. So as to answer, this paper will summarise the deployment of renewable energy in airports worldwide, then critically assess both prospects and constraints of renewable energy projects in Vietnam. Some experiences from the Europe airports, through applying the “Green Sustainable Airports (GSA)” and “Airport Carbon Accreditation” programmes to establish and boost strategies and solutions for more eco-friendly and efficient regional airports should be useful to provide suggestions.