Sea-Tac Airport plans to supply air conditioning to parked planes so airlines can cool their jets without adding to air pollution.” That’s from The Associated Press, which writes the airport claims doing so will allow “planes to shut down auxiliary power plants will save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. … The cooled — or heated — air would be piped into planes at each gate from a central utility plant.” The Port of Seattle on Tuesday gave its initial go-ahead for the project, with construction expected start in 2010. AP says the ” ‘precondition air’ should be blowing by the end of 2012.”
Aviation News writes “once installed, the project is expected to reduce emissions by more than 69,000 metric tons per year and save airlines nearly $400,000 in the first year. The CO2 savings is equal to 2% of the yearly emissions from aircraft at Sea-Tac or equivalent to taking 13,000 cars off the road.” The cost is estimated at $33 million, about $22 million of which will be covered by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Source: USA Today
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January 17, 2009 at 12:20 am