Carbon Reduction

Reducing our impact on the climate is a focus of YVR’s 2022-2024 Strategic Plan and carbon reduction is one of the four key pillars of our 2020 – 2024 Environmental Management Plan . At the heart of our carbon reduction goals is our commitment to net zero emissions operations by 2030 with a major focus on decarbonizing the biggest building in BC: the Main Terminal at Vancouver International Airport / Aéroport international de Vancouver. But, our efforts don’t stop there. Recognizing the bulk of airport-related emissions are from air traffic, we are also working hard to support our airline business partners and the tenants of Sea Island in their own net zero journeys. We are also focused on resilience as we plan and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate.

YVR is Carbon Neutral

YVR has been a carbon neutral airport since 2020. We achieve carbon neutrality annually by measuring our emissions from operations and corporate travel, reducing emissions where we can, and then by purchasing high quality BC-based carbon offsets from projects such as the Darkwoods Forest Offset Project and the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project.

YVR is one of only three airports in North America and the only airport in Canada to achieve the Transiton (Level 4+) Carbon Accreditation from the Airports Council International Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme, recognizing our leadership in reducing carbon emissions.

Net Zero 2030

Looking ahead, we’ve made the bold commitment to become Net Zero carbon by 2030. This commitment reflects our plan to reduce the emissions we produce in the operation of the airport to zero. YVR is also a founding participant in the Government of Canada’s Net Zero Challenge, joining companies and industry leaders across Canada that are developing and implementing credible and effective plans to transition their facilities and operations to net zero emission before 2050.

We have developed a Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon that will guide us through to 2030 to ensure we achieve our Net Zero target. The plan outlines four decarbonization pathways to Net Zero:  

	ENERGY CONSERVATION AND ELECTRIFICATION IN OUR BUILDINGS Meeting operational requirements more efficiently and using less energy for heating/cooling, cooking, lighting and other electrical loads. Switching from natural gas to renewable electricity where possible.
	GREENING OUR FLEETS Investing in electric and hydrogen vehicles while also right sizing them to match operational requirements and switching to renewable fuels for heavier equipment.
	REPLACING FOSSIL FUELS WITH RENEWABLE ALTERNATIVES Investing in 100% green electricity and on-site solar, securing renewable natural gas for heating/cooking, and purchasing renewable diesel for generators.
	CLOSING THE GAP Investing in high quality carbon removals for the emissions that remain. This could include investments in technology like direct air capture or bio-sequestration projects.

Leading the Way in Decarbonizing Aviation

• Signing a MOU with the Province of BC to complete a SAF opportunities study, involving First Nations and partners in academia, aviation, energy and natural resources. And to support the creation of a net zero airports action plan for the B.C. airport network.
• Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus and ZeroAvia, to study the feasibility of hydrogen infrastructure at airports in Canada.
• Signing a commitment with Seattle (SEA) and Portland (PDX) airports under the Cascadia Innovation Corridor program to decarbonize aviation including development of sustainable aviation fuels.
• Advancing the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry by uniting industry leaders to explore a supply chain for made-in-British Columbia SAF, through BioPortYVR. 
• Transitioning to a sustainable multi-modal hub to reduce Sea Island’s greenhouse gas emissions associated with ground transportation. 
• Providing ground power units to enable crews to shut down aircraft engines and plug into BC’s clean electricity while aircraft are at the gate.
• Investing in airside charging stations to support electric ground support equipment and vehicles. As of 2023, YVR has 106 airside electric charging ports. 

2023 Progress Update

Carbon Reductions

Project Highlights

	Lighting We completed two major lighting projects, replacing 21,000 lights across the terminal with energy-efficient LED equivalents, saving enough energy to power over 200 BC homes every year. We’ve also installed energy storing flywheels, so that YVR’s airfield lighting systems are powered with electricity rather than diesel. These projects are saving more than 86 tonnes of carbon per year.
	Heating, cooling and ventilation The four major heating, cooling, and ventilation projects we’ve completed so far will enable us to optimize energy efficient heating and cooling through better control of temperature set points and scheduling. These projects will save in 375 tonnes of carbon reductions annually. We are also converting heating loops to accommodate lower temperature inputs in preparation for future connection to the geoexchange system.
	Hot water We’ve installed high-efficiency condensing boilers for hot water and connected some of our terminal tenants onto the hot water loop instead of an independent heater, resulting in 72 tonnes of carbon savings per year.
	Fleet We’ve reduced emissions from our light duty fleet by retiring gasoline-powered vehicles and purchasing nine battery-electric, two hydrogen fuel-cell and three plug-in hybrid models since 2021. Our fleet is now 21% electric. All of our airside buses are fully electric.
	Renewable Fuels YVR is purchasing carbon-neutral biofuels like renewable natural gas (RNG) for some of our energy needs. RNG is made from organic material like landfill waste or even cow manure. In 2023, we bought enough RNG to reduce our emissions by 304 tonnes of carbon while heating a portion of YVR’s main terminal. We also switched to 100% renewable diesel fuel for some of our fleet needs – purchasing 38,000 Litres and saving an additional 81 tonnes.

The Roadmap From Here

Key projects planned to be completed as part of YVR’s Roadmap to Net Zero include:

THERMAL ENERGY HEATING AND COOLING

YVR is building one of Canada’s largest geoexchange systems to harness the earth’s own heating and cooling properties, backed by high-efficiency boilers using renewable natural gas. When complete, it will save over 4,800 tonnes of carbon emissions every year. 

DECARBONIZING DOMESTIC HOT WATER

In addition to heating some of our terminal water with solar thermal heating, YVR plans to reduce carbon emissions from remaining hot water systems to zero by installing air source heat pumps for all three domestic hot water loops in the Main Terminal. This technology is four times more efficient than using electricity alone, and it will reduce YVR’s carbon emissions by 855 tonnes per year.

EXPANDING OUR CHARGING NETWORK

Through partnerships with local companies like Moment Energy and government support from programs such as Natural Resource Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Progam, YVR is continuing to expand our EV charging network to meet the needs of our growing EV fleet as well as the needs our commercial partners on Sea Island. 

Climate Change Resilience