News item | 21-12-2023 | 5:15 PM
Aviation makes a limited contribution to air pollution around airports. This is evident from studies conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. In the near future, the ministry will conduct research into four substances that could not currently be tested.
The ministry wants the living environment around airports to improve and the air to become cleaner. Various measures have already been taken to this end, and more are being developed. It is therefore important to know how many aircraft contribute to the total emission of harmful substances.
In the inhabited areas around Schiphol, 95 percent of the reduction in air quality is caused by sources other than aviation, and around regional airports this figure is even 99 percent.
In four inhabited areas, the maximum contribution of aviation to air pollution is above 1 percent. In one of them at Schiphol – Badhoevedorp – this percentage is the highest, at a maximum of 10 percent (this concerns nitrogen dioxide). But even there the contribution of aviation is still relatively low. For comparison: in a kitchen where cooking is done electrically, the total concentration is more than 4 times higher, in a kitchen with a gas stove even 10 times higher.
The research results
Following previous research by TNO, the ministry had four follow-up studies carried out.
Research agency Adecs looked at both Substances of Very High Concern (ZZS) and other air pollutants, and to what extent aviation contributes to their concentrations. With the exception of one point at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, all concentrations remain below the standards of the Environmental Management Act. At that specific point the maximum concentration of nitrogen dioxide is exceeded, but that is not due to aviation. This point is located next to a highway, where most emissions come from. The relative contribution of aviation here is 0.1 percent.
The Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR) conducted research into ZZS emissions at and around airports. The research tests the ZZS concentrations against the Maximum Allowable Risk Values (MTR). This is the concentration of a substance below which no negative effect can be expected according to the RIVM. The researchers conclude that aviation’s share of the MTR value is small. The ministry is having additional calculations done for four ZZS that could not yet be tested.
The research shows that ZZS are mainly emitted by taxiing aircraft: they account for more than 90 percent of total aviation emissions. Around the main platforms at Schiphol, approximately one third of the ZZS concentrations are caused by the auxiliary engines that aircraft (APUs) use when they are stationary.
Measures
An aircraft’s APU should only be used if no alternatives are available, such as shore power or electric Ground Power Units. The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate has already taken measures against Schiphol because the APU is being used too much.
Other measures are also underway to combat ZZS emissions at and around airports. For example, airports are in the process of electrifying their ground operations so that no more substances are emitted. Taxiing on one engine has now become the standard procedure for the vast majority of aircraft at Schiphol, which also reduces emissions. It is also being considered how taxiing can start further away from the platform crew, so that emissions affect them less.
Fleet renewal and uniform calculation method
Another study looked at the effect of using more modern aircraft in the coming years. If the number of aircraft movements remains the same, it appears that emissions will largely remain the same or decrease.
A new, uniform calculation method has also been developed to calculate the influence of aviation on air quality. There are still differences between the ways in which consultancy firms do their calculations. By using the same calculation method, this provides more clarity about future research results.
The ministry will submit the research results to independent experts for further clarification. The Regional Consultation Committees and the Schiphol Social Council will also be involved.