Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: Roadmap for sustainable aviation

The Port of Seattle of Seattle, Washington, which operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), together with 15 airlines established a memorandum of understanding to collaboratively develop a strategic plan to reduce carbon emissions and air pollutants at SEA, including certain aircraft emissions.

Through strategic engagement with SEA and its airline partners, Ramboll led the development of a plan that explores a variety of mechanisms to achieve carbon and air emission reductions, including technology, infrastructure, operations and future aircraft technology solutions. The strategy identifies airside measures that require direct oversight by airlines as well as landside measures that require collaboration among multiple project partners.

As part of the plan, Ramboll identified cost-effective solutions to achieve GHG reductions equivalent to the reductions from sustainable aviation biofuels.

The project established a multiyear roadmap to achieve the Port of Seattle’s Century Agenda emission reduction targets for Scope 3 emissions and evaluated GHG reduction potential and cost of each strategy action.

The airline-focused carbon reduction strategy has led to two additional projects that Ramboll is leading and include:

• A ground transportation emission reduction strategy, which is a companion document to the airline-focused effort and will address emission reduction opportunities related to ground transport access to and from SEA

• A comprehensive carbon roadmap for SEA, which is a culmination of the airport’s carbon reduction efforts that Ramboll has been an integral part of