DE
Hamburg Airport has been working to reduce CO2 emissions for three decades already. With demonstrable success: Since 2021, the airport has already been commercially CO2-neutral. And now the decisive step has been taken: with its climate strategy “Net Zero 2035 – Now. For the Future”, Hamburg Airport wants to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the airport city to zero by 2035, doing without offsets – the first major airport in Germany to do so. Hamburg Airport is underlining its pioneering role in climate protection.
Hamburg Airport is investing around 250 million euros in the “Net Zero 2035” climate protection project. The construction of the airport’s own wind farm near Kaltenkirchen (Schleswig-Holstein) alone is the target of around 70 million euros. Step by step, Hamburg Airport is moving towards independent, 100-percent renewable energy and heat supply for the airport city. Net Zero 2035 is an ambitious but achievable target, thanks to our climate protection measures, established over several decades and continually being adapted and adjusted.
Europe’s airports, working together under the umbrella of the Airports Council International Europe (ACI), have agreed to reduce their fossil-driven greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the year 2050. Hamburg Airport is part of this and is setting the pace. The goal: Hamburg Airport aims to be the first major German airport to completely convert its operations to renewable energy, abandoning fossil fuels and operating CO2-free by 2035.
By developing technical and operational solutions to reduce emissions, the airport has already succeeded in reducing the site’s greenhouse gas emissions by almost 80 percent since 2009. This is a great success, one which will be optimised in the coming years with numerous coordinated measures. Next comes doing without carbon dioxide emissions altogether, eliminating the remaining 12,200 tonnes of CO2. A tailored reduction path has been developed and is being pursued step by step, to culminate in 2035 in Net Zero. For the earlier CO2 emissions can be reduced, the better it is for the environment.
The next step: CO2 emissions from aircraft must also be reduced to a minimum. As an airport, we also see it as our duty to work with partners from industry and science to find solutions that work not only in Hamburg.
In order to achieve Net Zero by 2035, construction of the Heidmoor wind farm is planned for the airport’s own property near Kaltenkirchen (Schleswig-Holstein). Investigations are also underway to determine if the airport can make use of photovoltaic energy. Taken together, this will see the airport and its 100 buildings powered with in-house green electricity by 2028 already. The region can benefit from the locally produced energy, too. Surplus regional wind energy can also be used for in-house hydrogen production.
In order to reach this net zero target, the airport has developed its own route to reduction. The plan shows a timeframe for implementing decarbonisation, with four pillars key to achieving the goal. One step at a time, the plan is being implemented. By 2035, we want to move our airport operations completely away from fossil-based to renewable energy sources.
