Edinburgh Airport is Scotland’s busiest airport – an estimated 9.3 million passengers a year pass through the airport which is used by more than 40 airlines, serves over 100 destinations and employs over 2,500 people. Since 2009 Edinburgh Airport have been committed to measuring and managing their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and have employed external consultants to help them with this on an annual basis. The Airport is working to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions year on year against a backdrop of rising passenger numbers.

Edinburgh Airport commissioned Carbon Masters to:

• Produce their 2011 Carbon Footprint report, which looks at a wide range of emissions sources.
• Move their carbon accounting from spreadsheets onto Carbon Masters Industry-leading Carbon Guru software platform
• Certify them under the Carbon Masters Standard, our Environment Agency approved carbon emission reduction and certification scheme.

What we did

Carbon Masters used the Carbon Guru for Organisations software platform to collate the data required to calculate Edinburgh Airport’s 2011 carbon footprint. Carbon Guru was well suited in this context as the Airport were looking to report on more than 10 different emissions sources, across all 3 emission scopes and covering five different greenhouse gases. The report was produced in line the GHG Protocol and included all Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission sources (which are mandatory under the GHG Protocol). In addition we carried out an assessment of several Scope 3 emission sources including the Landing and Take Off (LTO) Cycles of aircraft movements in and out of the Airport below 1000m. This process required doing a complex analysis on the average amount of time and fuel burn rate for each type of aircraft and engine type in each phase of a LTO cycle. The Carbon Guru platform was configured to assist in this process.

As part of the engagement, we also worked closely with Edinburgh Airport to help them submit an application for the Carbon Masters Standard. This involved helping the Airport to calculate the carbon reduction they had achieved over a three-year period as well as providing guidance on a range of qualitative questions designed to test the Airport’s proficiency in carbon management. The Airport independently assessed on their performance by our audit-partners Grontmij, one of Europe’s leading environmental and engineering consultancies. As part of this process the airport also received an independent verification of their carbon footprint in line with ISO 14064.

The Results

Carbon Masters provided a bespoke carbon footprint report for Edinburgh Airport, which  measured their carbon emissions against key metrics such as passenger numbers and analysed 3-year emissions trends. Carbon Masters have also provided Edinburgh Airport with detailed guidance on how to improve their data collection techniques and ensure that their data continues to be as accurate as possible. By using Carbon Guru, Edinburgh Airport are able to view and understand precisely how the calculations were done and in turn to analyse their carbon emission data going forward. They are also able to generate their own reports and download these directly from the platform. This helps the organisation to improve their data management and engage further with carbon measurement and reporting.

Edinburgh Airport were successfully certified under the Carbon Masters Standard in May 2012 and were awarded their certificate by MSP Stewart Stevenson as a tribute to their successful achievement. They received positive coverage in national newspapers, such as the Daily Herald, as well as Airport specific publications (see example here)

Through this collaboration with Carbon Masters, Edinburgh Airport have demonstrated their commitment to managing and reducing their Greenhouse Gas Emissions and thereby taken a leadership position within their sector in tackling climate change.