Schiphol ground vehicles to run on 100% renewable fuel

All ground handling vehicles on the apron at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) will refuel using renewable, fossil-free diesel fuel HVO100 beginning in January 2023, reducing carbon emissions by about 98%. “The renewable diesel will be used as an intermediate solution until all vehicles run on electricity or hydrogen and are emission-free,” according to a Dec. 8 release from operating company Royal Schiphol Group. Neste will supply the fuel and AMS’ fuel provider KLM Equipment Services (KES)will deliver HVO100 instead of gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel beginning Jan. 1, 2023. [caption id="attachment_57133322" align="alignright" width="312"] Photo / Royal Schiphol Group[/caption] HVO100 is a renewable alternative to diesel and is made artificially without the use of fossil resources. Its properties are comparable to those of GTL and fossil diesel, so modifications to diesel engines are not necessary. Some ground handling vehicles do not have electric or hydrogen-powered alternatives, making alternate fuel sources important, Denise Pronk, head of sustainability at Royal Schiphol Group, said in the release. All of Schiphol’s partners will use the new fuel, including Aviapartner, dnata, Menzies, Swissport, KLM Ground Services and Viggo, Pronk added. Around 40% of Schiphol’s motorized equipment runs on electricity, and the airport plans to expand that percentage, as well as the number of available charging stations, according to Paul Feldbrugge, manager, engineering sales and logistics overseeing the zero-emissions program at KES. “For a number of specialist heavy vehicles it is a technical challenge to develop a battery with sufficient capacity that can also be charged quickly enough,” Feldbrugge said. “This is therefore a good intermediate solution.” Specialized towing vehicles In a related development, Schiphol and its partners have started conducting follow-up sustainable taxiing tests using TaxiBots, specialized tow vehicles that pull aircraft on the runway at high speeds without the aircraft using its own fuel or generating emissions. The Taxibots can accommodate 737 and A320 planes, and recently performed a test of a KLM plane from Schiphol-Centre to and from a platform near AMS’s Zwanenburgbaan runway with its engines switched off. The trial run marks the start of various tests with the two semi-robotic taxiing systems that Schiphol purchased earlier this year, Royal Schipol Group said, adding that additional TaxiBots will be deployed at the airport over the next year and a half. AMS ranked No. 18 in Air Cargo World’s ranking of the Top 50 Cargo Airports for 2021 based on cargo throughput.

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