Brussels Airport wants to reach net zero by 2030

Brussels Airport has demonstrated through new digital twin technology that its buildings can achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, dramatically accelerating the airport’s initial target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

“By deploying carbon-free solutions in our airport buildings, there are promising opportunities to have a positive impact on reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions,” says Christel Vandenhouten, Head of Sustainable Development at Brussels Airport. “While there is still much work to be done, digital twin technology can help us simulate the impact of different net-zero solutions.”

The project marks a significant step forward from the current use of digital twin technology at airports, where it is most commonly used in experiments to optimize commercial operations.

“(Digital twins) are also playing an increasingly important role in informing longer-term investments in decarbonising the economy, allowing organizations to simulate and predict the impact of different scenarios to provide a clear path to net-zero policies “, says Giulia Barbano, R&D Operations Manager at IES Cities today.

IES developed the digital twin for Brussels Airport, as part of the EU-funded Stargate initiative, which received a €24.8 million grant from the European Green Deal to develop concrete solutions to improve the sustainability of airports and improve aviation.

IES created a digital replica of the 40 most energy-intensive buildings at Brussels Airport before modeling scenarios such as installing solar PV, EV chargers and electrifying heating to find the most effective routes to achieving net zero by 2030 carbon emissions for the airport.

Through various modeling phases, plans were simulated to reduce emissions in the buildings through various energy saving measures, including replacing gas boilers with heat pumps and installing on-site solar energy. In doing so, these measures allowed them to verify the potential for CO2 savings of up to 63 percent compared to the base year 2019.

“Through the digital twin, we have been able to verify that Brussels Airport can make a complete transition from natural gas to the use of fully electric systems,” said Barbano. “This is critical to ensure that excess energy demand, which cannot be met by on-site generation, can be decarbonised with renewable off-site sources.”

The Stargate project is being implemented together with a consortium of 21 partners, including airports in Athens, Budapest and Toulouse, who are also working with IES to develop digital twins to support their decarbonization goals.

Image: Brussels Airport