Bristol Airport has announced new partnerships with five organisations in the first round of funding from the Airport Carbon Transition (ACT) programme.
The ACT programme is a fund launched by Bristol Airport in July 2021 to kick start and fast track decarbonisation initiatives in England’s South West region. The programme supports initiatives and projects reducing direct and indirect emissions from airport infrastructure with the airport as a test bed location.
A starting fund of £250,000 was open to businesses and organisations to bid and apply for funding with the projects being considered via an application and interview.
Following a selection process Bristol Airport has chosen five organisations with which to collaborate during the first round of funding: Buckinghamshire New University, easyJet, Jet2, The National Wildflower Centre and Johns Associates.
The first of the five, Buckinghamshire New University aims to tackle surface access and commuting emissions by conducting research to estimate the potential carbon and cost savings for Bristol Airport from the implementation of a number of feasible and controllable employee transport to work schemes and incentives.
Airlines easyJet and Jet2 will use the funding to develop infrastructure to accelerate the electrification of airside vehicles and equipment at the airport.
Part of The Eden Project, a well-known eco visitor attraction, the National Wildflower Centre aims to transform spaces across the airport site through ecology. Environmental consultancy firm Johns Associates will investigate how to maximise opportunities for airfield grassland carbon sequestration through innovative biochar absorption.
“We were thrilled by the range, scope and innovation of the applications to the ACT programme,” said Simon Earles, sustainability and corporate affairs director, Bristol Airport. “The breadth of projects was staggering, including new-to-market technologies, university research programmes, carbon sequestration and energy or propulsion generation.”
