Green Initiatives of Civil Aviation Ministry
The Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju recently reviewed the progress of energy and water conservation measures at Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports across the country.
Had a detailed workshop with 10 airport directors today on energy and water conservation measures at Airports of AAI pic.twitter.com/mGU8YnNviZ
— Ashok Gajapathi Raju (@Ashok_Gajapathi) July 9, 2016
The important review meeting was attended by Minister of State Jayant Sinha and Secretary of the Department, besides Chairperson AAI and other senior officers.
Airport Directors of 12 important airports also attended the deliberations so that they could be sensitised to implement these initiatives at their respective airports.
Points discussed at the meeting:
During the meeting, the Airport Director, Jaipur dwelled at length on the energy conservation measures recently undertaken at the airport.
30 MW solar power at AAI airports in pipeline; reducing carbon foot print by 4600 MT. Long term plan of addl 116 MW pic.twitter.com/mBFahnt8TX
— Ashok Gajapathi Raju (@Ashok_Gajapathi) July 9, 2016
These included maximum use of LED lighting, installation of efficient air-conditioning equipment, provision of energy efficient pumps and motors, a roof top solar power plant of 1 MW capacity and a 1.8 MW ground-based solar power plant under implementation.
All Airport directors were encouraged to adopt similar initiatives, some of which have a payback period of as low as two years.
The status and scope of water conservation, water-recycling and sewage treatment plants at the airports was also deliberated upon.
The Union Minister directed the Chairman AAI to provide similar infrastructure at all airports under his jurisdiction.
Mr. Raju appreciated the efforts of AAI and conveyed that not only should our airports be self-sufficient in energy and water requirements, but we should now look at feeding power to the national grid as we have sufficient open spaces available.
He also directed that an airport-wise action plan on both energy and water conservation should be developed by AAI within one month.
MoS Mr. Jayant Sinha also appreciated the efforts at Jaipur airport and advised AAI to go ahead with its ambitious program in a structured.
Initiatives undertaken:
AAI
has
already
installed
solar
power
plants
at
16
airports
with
a
total
capacity
of
5.4
MW.
So
far,
51
lakh
energy
units
have
been
generated
from
these
plants
leading
to
a
reduction
of
4,600
metric
tonnes
in
carbon
emissions.
By
December
2016,
additional
24.1
MW
of
solar
power
plants
will
become
operational
at
11
more
airports.
In
fact,
the
perspective
plan
of
AAI
targets
augmenting
the
solar
power
generation
to
116
MW
by
including
16
more
airports.
AAI is already using re-cycled water for horticulture, fire-fighting and air-conditioning requirements at several airports.
Civil Aviation Ministry honoured:
In June 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the AAI were honoured with the National Excellence Awards 2016 by Government of India in Ministry and PSU category respectively for taking outstanding steps towards use and promotion of solar energy.