Seattle port officials release Sea-Tac greenhouse gas emissions study
In one of the 'first of it's kind' studies detailing pollution from a major airport, Sea-Tac International Airport has found that nearly 84 percent of the greenhouse gases generated by the airport comes from airplanes.
The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which sampled emissions generated at the airport during 2006, also found that 4.8 percent of the total airport-generated greenhouse gases come from airport facility operations with the remaining 11.4 percent being generated by members of the public egressing the port. The findings generally match those found at other airports worldwide, though the airport industry has yet to develop a standard method for measuring, collecting and reporting such emissions.
Port of Seattle officials, who manage the airport, claim that the inventory is the first broad-based study of its kind in the industry and hope that the study will become a standard tool for other airports seeks to quantify their own emissions.
Released on Jan.18, the inventory looked at the airport's greenhouse gas impact over a wide-spectrum ranging from a broad worldwide-impact to the impact of specific emissions on the Puget Sound area.
Port officials said that based on the study's findings, they will soon consider both local action and advocacy at the federal level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.