Carbon Neutrality at SFO Podcast Transcript
SFO Deputy Director for Design and Construction, Ivar Satero: The offsetting of SFO's emissions has allowed the airport to achieve carbon neutrality.
Narrator: Carbon neutrality? Do you mean it’s as if the airport isn’t emitting any C02 at all?
Ivar Satero: That's right. Carbon-neutral is a measure of how much you can achieve in real greenhouse gas emission reductions and how much you can achieve in offsets in comparison to your total greenhouse gas emissions.
Narrator: What kinds of carbon offsets are we talking about?
Ivar Satero: You know one of our biggest offsets is called the preconditioned air and 400 hertz systems. And these are systems that the aircraft rely upon when they're parked at the gates to provide power and air conditioning to the plane.
Since SFO invested in that technology, the airlines can avoid running their onboard jet engines when they're parked at the gates.
The other major component of SFO's offsetting of emissions is related to the AirTrain system. Prior to AirTrain, SFO used to run shuttle buses. they were all diesel buses and released significant carbon into the atmosphere.
So, with the airport's AirTrain system, we've been able to replace all our shuttle buses to our parking facilities, to our rental car center, and the AirTrain is completely electricity powered–hydroelectric power provided by the City and County of San Francisco.
The other major initiative is the green rental car program that the airport has instituted, it provides rental car patrons to receive a discount on the cost of their rental car, and provides an incentive to the rental car agencies.
Narrator: Is there anything I can do to help?
Ivar Satero: So the public can help SFO continue to achieve carbon neutrality by just taking public transportation to SFO. By using the airports recycling bins and by using the airport's green rental car program and renting hybrid vehicles.
The End.
