BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Port Authority released a $1 billion plan Thursday to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gases to reach net-zero emissions by 2031.
The plan focuses on cutting carbon emissions at facilities and equipment owned by Massport, acquiring renewable energy credits and offsets for the fossil fuel sources that cannot be reduced, and continuing to exert influence in areas the agency does not control, such as airlines’ use of jet fuel, the state agency said.
If it reaches its goals on time, Massport — which operates Logan International Airport, the Port of Boston, and other transportation facilities — will reduce its carbon emissions by about 110,000 metric tons (121,000 tons), an agency spokesperson said.
“The pandemic gave us an opportunity to rethink the way we do business going forward, and we are now on the path to Net Zero,” Massport CEO Lisa Wieland said in a statement. “This is a real commitment, with aggressive goals, tied to real actions that will take us to Net Zero by 2031, which also happens to be Massport’s 75th anniversary.”
The Environmental League of Massachusetts welcomed Massport’s plan.
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“ELM commends the Massport team for the clear-eyed assessment of their climate impact and the projects needed to decarbonize,” President Elizabeth Henry said in a statement. “This is the kind of analysis and planning that all public and quasi-public entities should be doing.”
Massport has an opportunity to turn itself into a worldwide example of how to pilot technologies to transform aviation and other hard-to-decarbonize transportation sectors, she said.
The plan includes improving energy efficiency in buildings, transitioning to clean fuel sources, and generating as much renewable energy as possible on-site. To that end, the agency will upgrade lighting systems to LEDs, rehabilitate Logan Airport’s central heating plant, upgrade the Logan Express and shuttle bus fleet to electric vehicles, and install more solar panels.
For areas where emissions cannot be reduced to zero, Massport will invest in carbon offsets through investments in greenhouse gas-reducing projects, such as solar farms.
The biggest emissions producer at Logan Airport is jet fuel, so the agency will encourage the use of sustainable aviation fuels and seek to have jets use just one engine while taxiing.
Massport’s goal is to become net zero without offsets by 2040.
The plan aligns with the state law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last March creating a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions limit statewide by 2050, Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan said.
The next steps in Massport’s plan will be prioritizing the projects, further data analysis, creating the budget strategy and timeline.
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