Sacramento International Airport working toward greener future that includes electric planes
SACRAMENTO — California's capital city has some of the worst air quality in the nation, and efforts are underway at Sacramento International Airport (SMF) to help cut back on pollution emissions.
SMF is trying to ensure the 100,000 passengers coming and going this Thanksgiving leave as little carbon footprint as possible.
Glen Rickelton, the airport's planning manager, said they have some trendsetting technology that reduces pollution from idling airplanes.
"We were one of the first airports to transition all of our jetbridges to pre-conditioned air, which means when the airplanes come to the gate, they can hook up to that and have power," Rickleton said.
That means jets no longer have to run their engines when they are parked at the terminal.
From the baggage carousel to the escalators and overhead lights, more than a third of the airport is powered by an 8-megawatt solar farm that is located on-site.
"We saved over three-quarters of a million dollars per year in electricity costs by having a solar farm," Rickleton said.
The airport is also converting its fleet of shuttle buses from gas to electric. There also are now parking spots where people can charge up their electric vehicles.
Now, SMF is looking toward the future, when there will one day be electric airplanes landing here.
"We've been studying this quite closely, and we work with our industry partners to see exactly what the phasing of this sort of technology is right now," Rickleton said.
It's an effort to plan for even more passengers while minimizing the impact on the environment.
Rental cars and rideshare companies like Uber have also committed to switching their fleet at the airport to electric vehicles.
"We're growing," Rickleton said. "We're flying more people, bigger airplanes and things like that, so it's all part of the big puzzle. There's work to be done."