Multi-Input Multi-Output Model of Airport Infrastructure for Reducing CO2 Emissions

Electrification of aircraft presents great potential in achieving long term emission targets of the sector. Electrification of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) also offers significant opportunity for reducing carbon emissions, as well as the air pollution in and around conventional airports. GSE electrification introduces charging and charging scheduling challenges. In this study, a generic Multi-Input Multi-Output Airport Energy Model (MIMO-AEM) is developed to understand GSE charging requirements and to investigate GSE charging scheduling for existing turnaround procedures. This model is scalable to represent any airport size and will help to quantify the increase in airport electricity requirements and the potential for CO
₂
emission benefits from GSE electrification at any airport. The model is capable of investigating the trade-off between the number of electric GSE (e-GSE) required and the number of recharges required for different e-GSE battery pack sizes. The model is also capable of sizing e-GSE battery packs of different GSE types specific to their use case. A test case of a small airport with seven flights per day has been used to investigate the model performance. Initial results show that GSE electrification could offer around 60% CO
₂
savings compared to conventional GSE operations. Moreover, compared to non-scheduled charging, scheduled charging of e-GSE by taking account of the minimum CO
₂
intensity and minimum electricity price of the grid could reduce both magnitude and duration of peak grid loads up to 23% and 28% respectively. This study has a potential for significant contribution to understanding the system-level requirements of electrification of an airport ecosystem.