Massport to Increase Energy Efficiency and Transition to Sustainable Fuels

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by | Mar 23, 2022

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(Credit: Pixabay)

The Massachusetts Port Authority has planned a Roadmap to Net Zero, which focuses on 100% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions directly controlled by Massport-owned facilities, equipment, and purchased electricity, with continued influence in areas the Authority does not control such as the use of clean fuel. 

Components of the phased plan controlled by Massport include items like upgrading lighting systems across all facilities to LEDs, which has already been started, to rehabilitating Logan Airport’s Central Heating Plant, upgrading the Logan Express and shuttle bus fleet to electric vehicles, and installing more solar panels and renewable energy sources.

Massport is pursuing outside funding to help pay for some of these projects. The Authority was recently awarded $600,00 by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for a pilot project to build electric vehicle infrastructure at Logan Airport to catalyze the electrification of the ride-for-hire industry. In 2020, Massport received a $4M VALE grant to acquire charging stations at Logan for electric ground service equipment.

Massport will accomplish its goals by improving energy efficiency in buildings through design standards and operational controls, transitioning to clean fuel sources such as renewable electricity and renewable natural gas, generating as much renewable energy as possible on-site, and making off-site renewable energy purchases. 

It will also be acquiring renewable energy credits, renewable identification numbers, and carbon offsets as a transition strategy, for the fossil fuel sources that cannot be reduced, electrified or switched to renewable energy in the near-term.

The plan also describes other emissions Massport could influence like enabling the use of sustainable aviation fuels at Logan – a technique many airlines are implementing. SAFs are a renewable/cleaner substitute for fossil jet fuels that reduce carbon emissions and improve the air quality. This past fall, President Biden announced a goal for US companies to produce at least 3 billion gallons of SAF per year by 2030 and, by 2050, sufficient SAF to meet 100% of aviation fuel demand, which is currently projected to be around 35 billion gallons per year. Massport will work to enable use of clean fuel at its three airports and encourage airline partners to transition to this alternative fuel, as well.

Past projects that Massport has implemented includes the Rental Car Center at Logan. This LEED Gold certified building consolidated nine rental car agencies into one center, reduced 100 diesel buses trips to 28 hybrid buses per hour, decreased shuttle bus vehicle miles by 70%, with an accompanying 35% decrease in airport-related emissions, Massport says. The facility also has rooftop solar panels that account for 5% of the building’s energy usage.

The aviation industry is constantly making sustainable changes. JetBlue recently began a program that will use data to track travel emissions to help the airline make decisions regarding sustainability efforts, and Boeing made a supply agreement for two million gallons of blended SAF with EPIC Fuels to power its commercial airplanes operations in Washington state and South Carolina.

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