A few days ago, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Civil Aviation Administration of China jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Environmental Impact Assessment and Promoting the Green Development of Civil Transport Airports", requiring that the environmental impact assessment of the planning and site selection stage be done in accordance with the law, and the environmental impact assessment of the layout plan should be carried out in accordance with the law, and the environmental impact analysis and demonstration of the site selection stage should be deepened, and the environmental impact research and analysis of the overall planning of the airport should be strengthened.
Fan Chenggong, director of the "Double Carbon Airport" Management Service Center of the China Civil Airports Association, said that since the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the civil aviation industry has issued a series of plans and measures to reduce pollution, reduce carbon emissions and expand greenery, such as the Action Plan for the Construction of China's Civil Aviation Type Four Airports (2020-2035), the Guidelines for the Construction of Type Four Airports, the Guidelines for the Evaluation of Green Airports, the "14th Five-Year Plan" for Civil Aviation Development and the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Green Development of Civil Aviation" and so on, to further promote the green, low-carbon and circular development of the industry to make overall arrangements.
Among them, the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the green development of civil aviation makes arrangements for civil aviation carbon emissions and air pollution control, and for the first time puts forward requirements for noise prevention, efficient water use, solid waste treatment, and ecological improvement. In terms of governance methods, it not only emphasizes the continuous promotion of the application of new technologies and the optimization of operation and management, but also makes clear arrangements for the application of clean energy and the construction of market-based mechanisms for the first time.
Fan Chenggong said that with the efforts of all parties, the green development of civil airports has made certain achievements. According to the data, in 2022, the fuel consumption of China's civil aviation ton-kilometer will be 0.302 kg, a decrease of 11.4% compared with 2005 (the base year of the industry's energy conservation and emission reduction target).
With the rapid development of civil transportation, a large number of hub airports are facing problems such as reconstruction and expansion, increased flight development and flight density, which bring about new noise and exhaust gas treatment; the existing green and low-carbon technology of airports is relatively lagging behind, and the awareness of ecological protection is not strong enough; and the main responsibility and environmental management of individual construction units are not in place. In order to solve these problems, the "Notice" proposes to improve the "green content" of civil airports and even the entire civil aviation industry by strengthening and standardizing the management of environmental impact assessment of civil transport airports.
Zou Wenbo, deputy director of the "dual carbon airport" management service center of the China Civil Airports Association and senior engineer of airport engineering, said that the "Notice" has truly realized the early intervention of the EIA at the project level, ensuring the effective participation of environmental protection in the site selection stage, and ensuring that the EIA plays a preventive role at the source. Focusing on green and low-carbon development, the "Notice" combines the experience and advanced technology of green airport construction, and puts forward specific requirements for ecological and environmental protection to adapt to green development by element, providing technical support for local governments to strengthen project EIA management and providing guidance for the green and low-carbon transformation of the industry.
In terms of strict ecological and environmental protection measures, the "Notice" proposes noise pollution prevention and control, ecological protection and restoration and biodiversity conservation, water environmental protection, air pollutant and greenhouse gas emission control, and other environmental protection measures, as well as strengthening environmental management during the construction period, and encouraging scientific research related to green and low-carbon airports. In order to strengthen the supervision of ecological and environmental protection during and after the event, further strengthen the way in which the construction unit implements the main responsibility, and refine the supervision responsibilities of the ecological environment department.
Tao Zan, an assistant researcher at the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology, said that the civil airport industry should not only strengthen the assessment and management of environmental impact, but also continue to improve the carbon emission management capacity of civil transport airports. In the next step, we can continue to make efforts in strengthening the leading role of planning, improving the intelligent management level of the management and control platform, continuing to carry out the evaluation of "dual carbon airports", and promoting the construction of a green and low-carbon energy system.