Lester B. Pearson International Airport

Energy Consciousness at Lester B. Pearson International Airport

Lester B. Pearson International Airport has been conscious about its need to have an independent energy supply, ever since Toronto experienced one of the most widespread power outages in its history on August 14, 2003. All of Ontario, and much of the Northeastern and Midwestern states of Canada suffered from loss of power on that day. The power failure lasted until August 15. When the power went out at the airport, thousands of passengers found their flights cancelled, leaving them stranded within the airport.

Because of this incident, and because aviation authorities realized it is unwise to let the airport become dependent on the provincial power grid, the Cogeneration Facility was designed and established. This 117 MW Cogeneration Facility is solely responsible for the electricity consumed by the airport, and also supplies power to the provincial grid as well, particularly when consumer demand is at its highest. The Cogeneration Facility relies on clean power from natural gas to supply electricity to the airport. As of 2006, around 4,000 MWh of electricity was saved since the Cogeneration Facility started operating.

The massive power outage in 2003 taught the airport community that energy usage and conservation should be major priorities for all concerned, even when supply of electricity is constant. It becomes particularly important when temperatures are extreme and threaten to stress the provincial grid too much. Lester B. Pearson International Airport practices energy conservation measures everyday now - measures such as reliance on daylight during the day in terminal buildings; planned reduction of nighttime lighting within airport buildings; use of programmable photocells where applicable; and use of energy-saving controllers for moving walks and escalators.

Road System being Changed

Lester B. Pearson International Airport had its Terminal 2 demolished in January 2007. As a result, bridges leading to that terminal had to be destroyed as well, and the road system is now being redirected as well. Work on the new road system should be completed within 2007. Terminals 1 and 3 remained operational even while Terminal 2 was being demolished, and are expected to stay open even while the road system is being changed.

Wildlife Program at the Airport

Lester B. Pearson International Airport does its little bit to help the environment by running an ongoing wildlife program. At present, the airport has four hydrid Gyr/Saker falcons who help the airport by driving away other birds of different breeds that may obstruct air travel for aircraft. The wildlife program relies on hacking, a technique that adopts birds of prey (such as falcons) and releases them into the wild before they learn how to fly. The birds of prey that have been re-trapped later on are eventually trained for their airway clearing functions.

Environmental clean-up

Every year, employees take part in cleaning up the nearby Spring Creek which runs through the airport and several communities in the area. This year, over two dozen airport employees participated in the Spring Creek cleanup which produced 40 bags of garbage. Some items of garbage that were harvested from Spring Creek included a Christmas tree, and an inflatable boat whose rims were intact - making one wonder: how did such items get into the creek in the first place?

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