Page 34 - CIJ Jan 2025 - Digital edition

COVER STORY

“If your infrastructure is not
supporting your plans or initiatives, it
becomes difficult to implement them.

Data collection is one area that is
currently lacking.”

– Amit Jain

Sustainability and Carbon sustainability, we have to look at the entire lifecycle.
For a 30-year building lifecycle, the Capex cost
Neutrality Efforts comes down to just 2%. The bigger picture is the
The efforts of NMIA and NIA are fully aligned operating costs, which account for about 98%. So,
with the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s initiatives to even if a building is not 100% energy-efficient, the
promote carbon neutrality across airports in India. decision to use solar lights, hydrogen, and electric
The implementation of solar panels, either under net vehicles should be weighed carefully, as they can help
metering or captive modes, alongside the adoption of bring down operational costs significantly in the long
self-consumption of solar and renewable energy, is run.”
happening at a significant scale. More than 100 Indian Amit also mentioned that at airports, engineering
airports have adopted 100% green energy procedures. and maintenance costs can account for up to 30-35%
“Solar energy is by far the most effective solution,” of the entire operational budget, making it important
said Bharti. “The cost of installing solar panels has to consider sustainability from an operational
decreased over the years and is now subsidized, standpoint for long-term benefits.
which makes it much more accessible compared to
earlier. For airports, solar power works best since it Tech-enabled Sustainability and
provides a continuous supply of energy, especially in Energy Efficiency Solutions
remote areas where electricity can be hard to come
by.” Some of the noteworthy tech-enabled sustainability
Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) was and energy-efficient solutions include:
one of the early adopters of solar energy, starting in • Cutting down on thermal energy usage by
2013. Just two years later, they scaled up to 13.11MW switching to solar in the facility management
of power generation and are now fully operational on industry
solar energy. According to CIAL, their green energy • Replacing paper-based records with tablets,
generation has reached 25 crore units, with 75 lakh significantly reducing paper use
units coming from their hydro power project. • Using digital dashboards to minimize in-house
To further support sustainability, CIAL has also paper usage
installed two fast-charging stations for electric • Maintaining e-checklists and QR-code-based
vehicles at both the domestic and international processes for facility management
terminals.
• Real-time digital monitoring of energy
Lifecycle Approach to consumption — water, electricity, and gas — to
earn carbon credits
Sustainability • Implementing SCADA systems for energy
Discussing the lifecycle of airport infrastructure, management to monitor lighting and reduce CO2
Amit Jain shared insights: “When it comes to emissions

34 JANUARY 2025•Clean India Journal•www.cleanindiajournal.com