• Energy Research

AbstractAnthropogenic climate change contributes to increased frequency and intensity of droughts, wildfires, storms, coastal sea level rise, and population displacements, in addition to causing lung and cardiovascular diseases from the emission of Criteria Air Pollutants (CAPs). The aviation sector is estimated to contribute 2%–3% of global anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This excludes GHG emissions from airport operation and maintenance activities due to limited research in the area. This systematic literature review examined the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) carried out by previous studies on the environmental impacts of airport operation and maintenance activities. This allows to assess existing literature on the impacts of these activities; identify knowledge gaps in LCA based on the findings of the review; and propose areas for further research and improvement in mitigating the environmental impacts of airport operation and maintenance activities. A total of 11 papers were selected for thematic analysis and narrative synthesis following a systematic review process based on the research question which yielded a total of 263 peer‐reviewed research articles and dissertations on the topic. The findings of the review showed that knowledge gaps exist in the LCA of environmental impacts of Auxiliary Power Units (APU) and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) operations in the airport during aircraft turnaround time. Further research is suggested in the use of feasible and affordable alternative energy sources (electricity, compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and hydrogen) at airports to reduce the environmental impacts associated with petrol‐ and diesel‐powered GSE and gate operations at airports.

Abstract In pursuit of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), nations are growing more conscious of the importance of implementing SDGs and adopting various tools and frameworks to advance environmental and human development. Current study aims to investigate the environmental impacts of airport ground operations through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and was conducted on three different Ground Power Units (GPU) namely, diesel, biodiesel, and electric-powered by adopting a system boundary of cradle-to-gate, using SimaPro version 9.4 software and adopted a CML Baseline V3.09 EU25 characterization model. Results show that the highest environmental impact was caused by diesel-powered GPU, followed by the biodiesel-powered GPU. At the same time, the electric-powered GPU contributed to lower environmental impact in comparison. The Abiotic Depletion (AD) in the diesel, biodiesel, and electric-powered GPU in a respective manner was (in kg Sb eq, 0.196, 0.196 and 0.162), global warming (kg CO2 eq of 1142, 1130 and 1044), Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) (kg CFC-11 eq of 0.0003, 0.0001 and 0.0001), Human Toxicity Potential (HTP) (kg 1,4-DB eq of 516.49, 510.96 and 549.29), Freshwater Aquatic Ecotoxicity (kg 1,4-DB eq of 441.56, 463.22 and 605.91), Terrestrial Ecotoxicity (kg 1,4-DB eq of 2.74, 2.31 and 2.35), Photochemical Oxidation (kg C2H4 eq of 0.609, 0.70 and 0.545), Acidification (kg SO2 eq of 11.01, 11.23 and 10.11) and Eutrophication of (kg PO4 eq 3.432, 3.459 and 3.2311). Batteries, diesel, aluminium, wheel rims, and synthetic rubber were the main contributors to these environmental impacts. It was concluded that lead-ion batteries are a good replacement to lithium-ion batteries due to their lower impact. Similarly, switching to stationary GPUs rather than mobile, can contribute to lowering impacts as the wheel rims in mobile GPUs are the main contributors to overall environmental impact of airport ground operations.

AbstractGlobal CO2emissions from different industries have been increasing at an alarming rate. This growth is outpacing the efforts, nations are putting in place to reduce their carbon footprints. In this topical review, we critically analyze the level of CO2emissions on a global scale and across various industries and activities within them and the dominant anthropogenic forcing instability. The global CO2emission from various economic sectors such as industries, transportation and variety of waste sources were traced globally and regionally. To contextualize our review, the sector wise CO2emission trends data for a period more than a decade is reviewed which highlighted the main sources of emissions. The data shows the overall reduction of carbon footprints and its progress across various sectors is very limited. The governing factors for this continued global pattern can be ascribed to two main factors: high consumer demands, and poor efforts towards shifting low and zero carbon services across all sectors. Some efforts have been witnessed to shift towards clean fuels and renewables, particularly in Europe and North America. However, rapid growth in industrialization limits the shifting of fossil-based energy systems towards less harmful systems. In Asia, particularly in eastern, southern, and south-eastern regions, the carbon footprints were found to increased owing to a huge demand for materials production, travelling and energy services. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to identify, understand and tackle the most persistent and climate-harmful factors across all industries and drive such policies to substitute the fossil fuels with renewables.