Rob Gibson – Head of Environment Strategy, London ... - DAIR Project

18 th December 2012
Getting to Heathrow sustainably, is this desirable or essential
Rob Gibson
Environmental Strategy

Today I’ll discuss....
• Noise, air quality and climate change.
• What are local priorities and why
• The solutions – what are they
• Does improving surface access resolve all
of the problems equally

Airport Expansion Issues - Heathrow
Important to note, LB Hounslow is
• Against a third runway
• Against mixed mode
• LBH do not want Heathrow to close
on economic grounds

LBH Environmental Priorities - Heathrow
1. Noise
2. Air Quality
3. CO 2 Emissions

Reasoning for stance
1. Noise
– Affects everyone in the borough to some degree
– It causes annoyance and poor health
– It’s an immediate issue
– It’s a political priority
2. Air Quality
– Well defined health effects, less visible
3. CO 2 Emissions
– Recognised as important but it’s a long term issue

For all environmental parameters
• Surface transport is a significant
influence on emissions
• Transport congestion is an issue
in its own right

Noise – London Noise Map
Source - http://www.londonnoisemap.com/

Heathrow Road Noise Map

Heathrow Air Noise
2011 LAeq 16hr dB actual
Source – DfT https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3933/heathrow-2011-report.pdf

Air Quality in Greater London
Copyright - Mayors Air Quality Strategy
Predicted Annual Average Nitrogen Dioxide Level (2005) μg/m3

• Heathrow and carbon emissions

Heathrow’s CO 2 Emissions (Aviation Related)
• In 2005
– Domestic flights to and from Heathrow
and international departures from
Heathrow generated 17.1 million tonnes
of CO 2

Heathrow’s CO 2 Emissions (Carbon Footprint)
Activity
CO 2 emissions
(tonnes)
Aircraft landing 260,000
Aircraft departing 420,000
Aircraft moving on the ground 630,000
Passengers travel 380,000
Staff travel 240,000
Energy use 330,000
Water use 30,000
Other >0.05
Total
2.31 million
http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/community-and-environment/sustainability/environment/climate-change

Solutions - Improved Transport
• Staff / Passenger travel
• Improved modal split (currently 40%)
• Restrict parking
• Prevent “kiss and fly”
• More buses
• Cleaner bus fleet (Second biggest bus
terminus in the UK)

Solutions- Heavy Rail Links
• Existing
– Piccadilly line
– Heathrow Express
• New
– Western Access
• We want
– Airtrack Lite
• High Speed 2

“Novel” Solutions - Heathrow Pod Parking
Transit link between car park and T5

Solutions will.......
• Reduce car use (pods don’t!)
• Reduce CO 2 depending on electricity
generation (for rail)
• Improve air quality
• May reduce noise for some
– Rail noise

Issues of
• Cost
–Particularly who pays
• Priority
• Public acceptance

Putting Heathrow Expansion in Context
• Heathrow now
– Approx. 480,000atms / 68mppa
• Could get to
– 90mppa
• Mixed mode
– 540,000atms
• Runway 3 605,000-702,000atms / 122mppa
• Runway 4

Conclusions
• Heathrow is a significant emitter of CO 2
• Getting people to and from the airport is a
significant proportion of Heathrow’s emissions
• Most solutions reduce noise CO 2 and air
pollution
• There are issues around implementation
• Airport expansion makes all things worse

18 th December 2012
Getting to Heathrow sustainably, is this desirable or essential
Rob Gibson
Environmental Strategy