Two years ago, Egis partnered with 30 other companies to kick off the European-funded programme ‘TULIPS’ (DemonsTrating lower pollUting soluTions for sustaInable airPorts acroSs Europe1). The aim was to develop and test innovations that facilitate the transition to low-carbon mobility and enhance sustainability at and around airports. As we approach the halfway point, how are we getting on?
This ambitious programme, led by the Royal Schiphol Group, explores the following issues:
- Airport energy, from production to storage and use
- The challenges associated with the aircraft of the future
- How to use and store hydrogen solutions
- The role of SAF synthetic fuels and the SAF fuel ecosystem
- Waste management and circular systems
- Intermodality of transport, particularly incoming and outgoing flows
- Better air quality measurement at airports and deployment of carbon sequestration solutions.
The vast TULIPS programme spans four years, consists of 12 work packages and involves four key airport partners. Schiphol Airport is the ‘lighthouse’ airport, supported by Larnaka (an Egis operated airport), Torino and Oslo airports.
At the halfway point, 24 months in, 17 demonstrations of green airport innovations are underway, addressing either the circular economy, infrastructure energy management, hydrogen ground service equipment, carbon offsetting or transport management.
Wide-ranging contributions
As well as contributing to the direction of the TULIPS programme at Board level, Egis teams are leading or supporting the following activities:
Smart and resilient energy solutions. Currently, airport energy systems mainly use fossil fuels to meet their needs and those of their customers. With the growth in solar energy production at airports, Egis has been exploring SmartGrid solutions and storage strategies to help optimise fluctuations in energy supply and demand. Egis teams created thermal simulations of the main building at Larnaka Airport (Cyprus) in order to determine the energy gains that could be achieved by applying various proposals such as adjusting the temperature inside the terminals or increasing photovoltaic power.
Airport waste management. Egis is exploring the opportunity to re-use secondary materials in construction projects. For example, a virtual database of all materials, each with its own “passport” (indicating the supplier, location etc), is accessible by using a barcode applied to the material, that can then be scanned. This enables the airport to monitor carbon impact and propose the reuse approach.
Sustainable intermodal traffic connections. Systems management teams are working on digital tools to improve the management of traffic entering and leaving Schiphol airport, (including transit passengers and flow of goods) with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint. This requires platforms capable of real-time analysis of data from several sources that can identify bottlenecks and hot spots and propose resolutions. For example, Egis is providing dashboard and data modelling tools to help partners test a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) application that provides real-time navigation alerts to travellers and supporting systems-driven decision making on green intermodal vehicle choices for freight transport.
Soil carbon sequestration. Natural carbon sequestration is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in soils and vegetation through plant photosynthesis. The idea is to develop on-site sequestration taking advantage of the land assets of an airport. Solutions being studied include improving the vegetation cover of airport meadows and changing practices on agricultural land adjacent to the airport. As part of the TULIPS project, biochar (a kind of woody charcoal) produced from airport waste has been tested on three pilot sites at Schiphol, Larnaka, and Turin (the latter, in partnership with RECORD2) and results are expected at the end of 2025. Egis start-up Soil.is is leading this activity, monitoring the carbon sequestration linked to the biochar in the soils as well as developing other carbon sequestration solutions. The approach encompasses ecology, soil science and even airport safety, as the choice of ground cover or crops should not increase risk of bird strike.
Knowledge sharing. Another important aim of the TULIPS partnership is to boost progress through sharing knowledge and skills. Egis is leading the activities around clustering, standardisation and community building that underpin those knowledge sharing goals. As well as evaluating the clustering potential across other Green Airport projects, such as OLGA, STARGATE and ALIGHT, the team has identified thematic synergies including: SAF, airside operations, energy, intermodal transport hubs, circular airports, and sustainable infrastructure. The potential exists to develop joint high-level KPIs to assess the progress towards achieving the EU Green Deal targets in the transport sector, specifically related to sustainable airport operations in Europe.
Standardisation. The UK based Egis team has been collaborating with all TULIPS work package leaders to better understand what industry standards have been applied across the 17 demonstrators through the first half of the project. These standards have been mapped and analysed to identify where further standards may be needed. The next steps are to identify together which standards may be required to progress the work on demonstrators further.
A key focus in the coming months is on the organisation of two TULIPS events. The first is a TULIPS Progress Event ‘Accelerating Airports in the Green Energy Transition’. This event will enable us to share preliminary results and lessons learned from progress so far with TULIPS’ stakeholders. Taking place at Turin Airport on 10th October 2024, the event will be both virtual and in person. Places are limited and we expect to host most attendees through a livestream online platform. Visit the event page for more information, and to register your interest.
The second event takes place the following day, on 11th October, and is the industry-focussed ‘2nd Hydrogen Airports Conference’. This aims to bring together industry leaders and experts to share knowledge and discuss the role of airports in hydrogen flight. Topics on the agenda include: a common vision on hydrogen flight and related supply chain aspects, guidelines for incorporating hydrogen into current aerodrome supply chains, integrating hydrogen into current airport operations and long-term development strategies. Visit the event page for more information, and to register your interest.
Mapping the way forward
Having kicked off the demonstration projects in the first two years of the project, the focus of the second half of the TULIPS programme is to measure the benefits and forecast their impact on EU climate goals. One output will be roadmaps which present how these technologies and concepts could be deployed to different sized airports (from international hubs to regional centres) considering economic, geographical, and political scenarios across Europe and beyond.
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1 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101036996.
2 RECORD is spin-off of from the University of Turino which is specialized in pyrolysis process and biochar production.
