The Government announces COP25 preparations at Santiago Airport
Transport and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt highlighted that electric taxis will be available at the airport, and are also being introduced in areas outside of Santiago.
Transport and Telecommunications minister Gloria Hutt, along with Energy Minister Juan Carlos Jobet and Public Works Undersecretary Lucas Palacios, have announced preparations at the Arturo Merino Benítez Airport in Santiago for receiving the people who will be attending COP25 in December.
“This year our country will host the world’s most important climate summit. Thousands of people will arrive in Santiago and the great majority will come through this airport. It is important for us to highlight the airport’s initiatives like recycling, donating trees, producing clean energy and implementing electromobility because by doing so we also encourage other transport-related stakeholders to replicate them,” said minister Hutt.
The Minister drew attention to the ministry’s promotion of electric taxis around the country. Eleven are currently operating at the airport. “We will add six double charging stations for electric automobiles. The company, Engie, is in the process of increasing the number of electric vehicles operating at the airport to 60 and adding others outside Santiago in order to reach 150 around Chile in the medium term,” she added.
Other sustainability initiatives to be implemented include installation of 2,500 solar panels before year end; 10 stationary bikes to charge devices like cell phones; and carbon footprint measurement.
Santiago airport is currently promoting a series of sustainability initiatives related to energy, electromobility, biodiversity and recycling. Highlights include installing over 10,000 LED lightbulbs, which will reduce energy consumption by 70%; donating over 600 trees that are endemic to Chile to the municipality of Pudahuel; reforesting more than seven hectares of land with pine, quillay (soapbark trees) and huingan (Chilean pepper) trees; and implementing programs for recycling glass, paper, plastic and cans.
In this context, the concessionaire, Nueva Pudahuel, has set targets to cut its carbon footprint by an additional 40% by 2030 and become a net zero carbon emissions airport by 2050.