HOW aviation is tackling its environmental impacts was one of the key issues addressed at the Airport Operators Association regional conference held at Stansted Airport this week. Representatives from the region s airport s, MEPs, local authorities, busin

HOW aviation is tackling its environmental impacts was one of the key issues addressed at the Airport Operators Association regional conference held at Stansted Airport this week.

Representatives from the region's airport's, MEPs, local authorities, business organisations and aviation groups gathered at Stansted's Radisson Hotel to hear how the East of England's air transport infrastructure is gearing up to meet the environmental economic and social challenges of the 21st century.

Speaking at the event, Dr Andy Jefferson, Stansted's head of environment updated the guests on how the UK's third busiest airport is boosting its green credentials.

He said: "We take our environmental responsibility very seriously and Stansted is proud to be the largest UK airport to hold the coveted ISO14001 certification, a status we have held since 2005.

"Maintaining the certification is only possible by striving to continually improve all aspects of our environmental performance."

Dr Jefferson explained that every area of the airport's operation is being looked at to reduce the tonnage of CO2 generated.

In 2008, Stansted introduced a state of the art wood chip biomass boiler into the airport's new �50 million terminal extension.

"This has already helped us reduce our gas consumption at the airport by over 40per cent. We have one of the largest biomass boilers in commercial use for heating in the UK at present and cannot express enough how satisfied we are with its performance to date," said Dr Jefferson.

"But we will not become complacent and will continue our efforts to influence schemes aimed at reducing emission sources on the ground at Stansted, a current example of which is our participation in a working group to encourage single engine taxiing of aircraft.

"This summer we also published our first Airport Carbon Footprint which outlines how our footprint is comprised today, and help inform future decisions relating to emissions management at Stansted moving forward.