- After announcing a commitment for 2050 in June 2019, Nice airport finally promised on Tuesday to no longer emit CO2 from 2030.
- Photovoltaic panels and carbon sinks should make it possible to achieve this objective for ground infrastructures.
- "It is a backfire to pass their extension project," denounces a collective.
“Nobody is imposing it on us. It is not an answer to anything. It has simply been part of our project for several years. "Interviewed by 20 Minutes, Dominique Thillaud, the boss of the airports of the Côte d'Azur, made a point of clarifying by announcing Wednesday his will to pass the infrastructures on the ground of the Nice platform in" zero emission "mode »Of greenhouse gases from 2030.
"Random calendar", this initiative comes when a terminal 2 extension project raised concerns on the ... environmental level. The two events are disconnected, provides management.
“We are making this commitment, twenty years ahead of our previous objective [announced in June 2019], to support the development of air traffic. We just wanted to go faster, ”says the Chairman of the Management Board of Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur (SACA). The Nice airport welcomed 14.5 million passengers in 2019. It targets 21 million in 2030.
"Carbon sinks"
The 101 grams of CO2 emitted for each passenger, when they pass through the airport in 2019, should be a thing of the past in ten years. “This year, the electrification of 80% of service vehicles will already reduce emissions by 83%, notes Isabelle Vandrot, head of the sustainable development department. Photovoltaic panels will then help achieve the goal. "
At the same time, the airport will install “carbon sinks” to absorb it. Trees in short. "We will also experiment with capture columns loaded with microalgae", specifies Dominique Thillaud.
"A backfire to get their extension through"
There remains the air activity itself, that of aircraft traffic, the most emitting. And by far. For this, the airport announces that it will engage in the “LTO cycle”, approach, taxiing and takeoff, ie 10.75 kg of CO2 per passenger. "We are going to propose a lowering of the fee from 5% to 10% for the planes which produce the least gas", indicates the president of SACA.
"It is a backfire to get their extension, Airy Chrétien tranche of the Collectif citoyen 06, upwind against this expansion. These measures only compensate for a tiny part of the pollution generated. "
“An appeal will well be filed before the Nice administrative court against the building permit for the extension of terminal 2. It is a matter of days. It will be worn by regional associations ”, advises Airy Chrétien from the Collectif citoyen 06. Signed by the prefect on December 20, the permit was withdrawn on January 13 to take into account the completed opinion of the commissioner-investigator, indicates the prefecture. of the Alpes-Maritimes. A new permit was validated the same day.
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- Pollution
- Airport
- Greenhouse gas
- Nice