East Midlands Airport claims carbon-neutral first

East Midlands Airport has become the first carbon neutral operation of its kind in the UK, managers have claimed.

New results showed the site cut ground-based carbon emissions by 3,578 tonnes last year, hitting the energy target set in 2006.

Officials said this had been achieved by generating power on site along with more efficient energy use.

A £4m investment programme had seen two wind turbines installed with plans for a biomass boiler.

Solar problems

Neil Robinson, Corporate Affairs Director at airport owners MAG, said: "I'm delighted and proud East Midlands Airport has become the UK's first airport to have carbon neutral ground operations.

"It is a considerable achievement and the result of a lot of hard work by an extremely dedicated team."

A spokesman said investments included an on-site 26 hectare willow farm to produce fuel for the bio-mass boiler.

The airport had also achieved a recycling rate of 88%, they added.

Plans for a 25-acre solar energy farm, which had provoked opposition from some residents, were put on hold in 2011 after the government changed the amount it paid for power produced this way.