The EU Green Deal Airport projects, OLGA, STARGATE, and TULIPS, with the support of the European Commission through the presence of CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency) and DG MOVE (Directorate General for Mobility & Transport), organised a seminar on the transition to green airports on 22 June, as a side event within the 54th edition of the Paris Air Show.
OLGA project produced an aftermovie summarising the seminar. Get the event key takeaways here:
On the occasion of this landmark event, the three projects came together to showcase their environmental innovations. Several solutions for the greening and decarbonisation of airports and the aviation sector were presented:
OLGA green hydrogen demonstrator at Milan Malpensa Airport, which paves the way for EU airports towards becoming green- H2 production hubs. Milan Malpensa green-H2 hub will be operated for at least two years, providing green-H2 for local purposes (e.g. buses and operating vehicles, such as trucks, GSE, etc.).
OLGA “H2 airport masterplan”, a Paris Case Study, covering (i) H2 regulation for aviation, (ii) H2 airside and landside infrastructures for aviation, (iii) H2 operations and (iv) hydrogen-powered aircraft-airport compatibility, while also addressing the whole value chain (production, transportation, liquefaction, storage, distribution, refueling).
OLGA proof of concept for the traceability and sustainability of SAF, a tracking approach guaranteeing correct data acquisition and security throughout the whole value chain.
STARGATE Sustainable Airport Mobility Plan (SAMP), which translates the existing SUMP methodology (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) to an airport-specific context. The main goal of the SAMP is to guarantee optimal, sustainable, and multimodal accessibility of the airport.
STARGATE proof of concept for a small-scale, modular, and transportable SAF blending installation, which can easily be deployed at other (remote) airports where, e.g., there is no pipeline supply, or it can be used for targeted fuel supply for certain flights (e.g. business aviation) that wish to fly on high ratio blends.
TULIPS feasibility demonstrations for airports to handle energy supply for future aircraft, with its first results pointing to an electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2050, while also giving information on the number of flights and energy requirements.
TULIPS framework for the development of e-SAF facilities, presenting the main building blocks and success factors for e-SAF supply chains, as well as promising EU regions, to incentivize production.
The panel discussion highlighted the long-term potential of sustainable aviation fuels in boosting the green transition. Airports play a key role in the uptake of SAF, and while SAF uptake can contribute to solving regional challenges, such as waste management, energy security, local air quality, and economic resilience, it seems that the main challenge is generating sufficient supply with constrained feedstocks. Hydrogen and e-fuels were deemed paramount in reaching the decarbonisation targets. More innovations are in the pipeline for these projects, all meant to set the EU’s airports and aviation sector on the path to green transition. The future is not only bright, it is also green.
All presentations from the EU Green Deal Airport projects can be accessed below: