Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Limited (TIA) has bagged the prestigious Environmental Excellence Award at the 23rd Annual Greentech Environment Awards 2023 for outstanding performance in Emission Reduction initiatives undertaken. The Greentech Environment Award is a celebration of outstanding contributions to environmental preservation, acknowledging the dedicated efforts of individuals, teams, units, projects, and organisations. The coveted Environmental Excellence Award was presented to Trivandrum Airport on November 24, during a ceremony held in Jammu and Kashmir. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has been working diligently to advance sustainability at our airport and in the surrounding communities.TIA is investing in innovation to drive environmental stewardship while at the same time determined to meet its sustainable development goals of improving waste management, water & wastewater management, air quality, energy management, reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions, building healthy communities and contributing to the vitality and longevity of the region’s economy by encouraging tourism.
Sustainable initiatives such as sustainable waste management has benefited the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TIA) by 100 per cent energy recovery through advanced bio energy plant which has led to effective sustainable waste management and Zero Waste to Landfill. The use of green energy sources like adopting Electric Vehicles (EVs) for airport mobility, installation of EV charging stations and replacing R22 to R32 refrigerants by 100% to reduce Scope 1 emissions. TIA is giving high priority for environment protection activities wherein we are certified for ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management system and ISO 50001:2018 Energy management systems certifications recently. Converting to LED at TIA has resulted energy savings equivalent 660 times per capita Energy consumption of Kerala. It has contributed to savings equivalent to average energy consumption of 36 households. This means that 36 homes can get 24-hour illumination with this saved energy. This transition at TIA has resulted in reduction of CO2 Emission equivalent to 1345 passengers having round trips from Trivandrum to New Delhi. The move was initiated as the switching costs were lower and the carbon sequestration which would have resulted by planting 5800 trees was attained with this very cleaner and greener move.
The airport is on the move to have hybrid wind & solar panels installed as well. With an incubated green mindset, we also achieved a major green milestone by installing 4 EV Charging Stations at T1 and T2, with a capacity to charge up to 100 vehicles per day. So, whenever your EV is out of battery, just plug in and charge it at your disposal. Transitioning to Electric Vehicles is a crucial carbon mitigation measure towards achieving carbon neutrality and net zero in the long-term.We have converted 40pc of the airport-owned fossil fuel vehicles in FY 23 by procuring 12 Electric Vehicles. Around 2563 tCO2e emission reduction has been achieved through these sustainability initiatives as part of reducing our Scope 1 emission.