Rome's Fiumicino Airport has found a novel way to use the empty land alongside runways - by covering it with 2.5 km of solar panels.
Creating the largest airport solar farm anywhere in Europe, the electricity produced by the panels will be used within the airport and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
The new installation will help Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport to reach its goal of being net zero by 2030, much sooner than most other airports are aiming for.
Rome Airport's solar farm: Is it visble from flights?
Passengers flying into Rome, which welcomes 50 million passengers a year, will be treated to a bird's eye view of the 55,000 solar panels. They are installed along the eastern side of runway three.
This is just the start of Rome airport's plans for solar. They plan to install more panels around the airport over the next five years, ultimately hoping to produce enough energy to power 30,000 Italian homes.
“The project shows how it is possible to reach the Net Zero Carbon goal and how decarbonisation can be achieved not through sacrifice but rather by becoming more modern and carbon neutral”, Italy’s Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin told at the project launch.
Under an Italian ministerial decree, it's hoped that other unused land can be used for renewables.
“The law includes all those areas like abandoned quarries or areas between highways and rail tracks,” said the Minister. “There are so many stretches of land in Italy that cannot be used for agriculture and that can be instead repurposed for these types of projects”.
Do airports have high carbon emissions?
Yes, it takes a lot of energy to power an airport, hence why many have targets in place to cut their carbon emissions.
By using airport land to generate renewable energy, airports can reduce their reliance on fossil fuels while contributing to the green transition.
Marco Troncone, CEO of Aeroporti di Roma, told Euronews Travel how the new solar farm will help the airport to become net zero.
“These solutions, such as using renewable energies, mainly photovoltaic systems, together with electric vehicles to move around the airport, are part of the green transition. This is just the first step in a process that will lead the airport to achieve net zero emissions in the next four to five years.”
Italian environmental NGO Legambiente welcomed the new solar farm, expressing hope that both the airport and Italy could become a model for growth of the green economy worldwide.