The Maintenance and Storage Facility for the LAX Automated People Mover train system includes a rooftop solar photovoltaic generation system capable of providing 40% of its own power demand and 7% of the overall APM system's power demand.

(Los Angeles) Airports Council International this week announced that both Los Angeles International (LAX) and Van Nuys (VNY) airports will continue accreditation as part of its internationally recognized Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program. These renewed certifications affirm the continued commitments from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) to reduce carbon footprints from airport operations at both airports.

"LAWA is committed to working with aviation industry partners to mitigate the environmental impacts of aviation, and initiatives like the Airport Carbon Accreditation program are of critical importance to our industry and our planet," said Justin Erbacci, Chief Executive Officer, LAWA. "We are proud of the work we have done at LAX and Van Nuys airports to realize this accreditation and to reduce carbon emissions across our operations and those of our partners, and I want to thank Airports Council International for its support as we work toward our bold goal of achieving net-zero emissions from airport operations at LAX and VNY by 2045."

The ACA program is designed to help airports lower carbon emissions by providing independent verification of carbon emission levels and the measures used to limit them. The program includes four levels of certification that reflect an airport's efforts to map, address and reduce carbon emissions. Accreditation for both LAX and VNY continues at the optimization level (Level 3), meaning that LAWA tracks and measures carbon emissions from its own operations and third parties working at each airport, as well as engages third parties in carbon footprint management.

LAX was first recognized at the reduction level (Level 2) in 2016. VNY, which was first certified in 2017 at the reduction level, remains one of only a few general aviation airports in the world to be certified.

The roadmap to net-zero emissions for both LAX and VNY can be found in LAWA's Sustainability Action Plan, which sets forth bold, achievable and actionable sustainability goals and targets for energy, water and waste, including net-zero carbon emissions from airport operations by 2045. As one of the nation's leading airports on sustainability, LAX has set a goal of reducing the airport's greenhouse gas emissions to below 55 percent of 1990 levels by 2025, 65 percent by 2035, and 100 percent by 2045. LAWA's Sustainability Action Plan closely aligns with the city of Los Angeles' updated 2019 Sustainable City pLAn, also known as L.A.'s 2019 Green New Deal.

Recent actions LAWA has taken to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions include:

• In 2021, LAWA participated in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's (LADWP) Demand Response events by reducing electricity consumption at LAX by at least 2,000 kilowatt (kW) per event. This participation resulted in a total savings of 24,000 kWh during peak times. As part of the program, LAX's Central Utility Plant came in second place in the LADWP's 2021 Sustainability Leadership Awards for Demand Response.
• LAWA continued to reduce emissions from ground service equipment (GSE) operating at LAX and is on track to meet its 2031 emissions target. Currently, there are almost 3,500 GSEs at LAX that are registered to more than 40 operators, including ten airlines, a number of ground service providers, cargo transporters, and parcel handlers. At present, 32% of ground support equipment operating at LAX is powered by electricity.
• In 2021, 8.5% of LAWA employees participated in the rideshare program, saving 88,895 gallons of gasoline, 1,955,689 vehicle miles traveled and 790 metric tons of carbon emissions. Approximately one-third of LAWA employees telecommuted full-time in 2021, saving 85,272 vehicle miles per week.
• LAX continued working toward replacing 25% of its current bus fleet with zero-emissions buses by 2023 and 100% by 2030. Once the transition is complete, 308 metric tons of emissions will be offset annually.
• LAWA continues to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers and more than 800 EV chargers are currently available at LAX. They can be found in many of our central terminal area parking structures and at our LAX Economy Parking facility.
• The LAX FlyAway nonstop bus served more than 1 million passengers last year, resulting in reduction of 633 metric tons of carbon emissions.

These and other sustainability initiatives are detailed in LAWA's 2021 Sustainability Report, which was recently released and is available on the LAWA Sustainability website. The report includes progress reports on LAWA's initiatives that help meet the standards of the ACA accreditation and LAWA's own ambitious goals, including energy and water conservation, waste management and habitat restoration of the LAX Dunes ecosystem.