This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
Cochin International Airport, the world’s first 100 percent solar airport, is generating so much power from its massive solar array that the airport no longer pays for electricity.
Cochin International Airport is the world's first fully solar powered airport in the world. Located in the state of Kerala, the Cochin is the fourth largest airport in India in terms of international passenger movement and seventh largest in terms of domestic passenger movement. Photo credit: Cochin Airport
"We wanted to be independent of the electricity utility grid," Jose Thomas, the airport's general manager, told the CNNMoney.
Cochin started its solar journey three years ago when it installed solar panels on the roof of its arrivals terminal. It eventually blossomed into a 12 megawatt solar project after the airport commissioned German multinational engineering and electronics company Bosch to build the impressive $9.5 million plant that features 46,000 panels laid out across 45 acres of unused land near the airport's international cargo terminal.
The plant switched on Aug. 18, cementing Cochin's status as the world's first fully solar powered airport and the only power-neutral airport on the planet.
Thomas told CNNMoney that the panels generate on average slightly more than the roughly 48,000-50,000 kilowatts of power that the airport uses per day. The excess energy is sent to the state’s electricity grid.
Not only does the airport expect to have its return on investment in less than six years, the solar plant will avoid more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon emissions from coal power over the next 25 years, CNNMoney reported.
Building upon its success as a "green-port," Cochin is planning to double its solar power generation capacity. Photovoltaic panels will be laid over 3-kilometer long irrigation canal, new car park area and the unused land which houses the existing 12 megawatt array. The new project will meet the power needs of a new international terminal the airport is adding.
In another green initiative, the airport is making a foray into organic farming. Cochin is setting up the farm on same plot of land where the solar plant sits, the Deccan Chronicle reported, noting that the water used to clean the solar panels will also be used to water the plants.
Crops such as ash gourd, okra, cucumber, ridge gourd and snake gourd will be cultivated in the garden and will be sold commercially.
“The products will be initially sold through outlets set at the airports, however, we plan to make available the branded products in markets too at a later stage. The vegetable products reaped today were sold to the airport staff itself,” a senior official said.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Oregon Becomes First State in Nation to Sign Bill That Phases Out Coal, Ramps Up Renewables
Cities Unleash Secret Underground Weapon to Become Clean Energy Powerhouses
Patagonia to Fund Rooftop Solar Installations on 1,500 Homes
Whole Foods Teams Up With SolarCity, NRG to Install Solar on 100 Stores
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
The brushfires raging through New South Wales have shrouded Australia's largest city in a blanket of smoke that pushed the air quality index 12 times worse than the hazardous threshold, according to the Australia Broadcast Corporation (ABC).
By David B. Goldstein
Energy efficiency is the cornerstone of any country's plan to fight the climate crisis. It is the cheapest option available, and one that as often as not comes along with other benefits, such as job creation, comfort and compatibility with other key solutions such as renewable energy. This has been recognized by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for at least a decade.
By Andrea Germanos
Over 500 groups on Monday rolled out an an action plan for the next president's first days of office to address the climate emergency and set the nation on a transformative path towards zero emissions and a just transition in their first days in office.
20% of Global Population at Risk From Climate Chaos, Rising Demand of Mountain Water, Study Says
The drinking water of 1.9 billion people is at risk from the climate crisis and the demand for water is rising, a study published Monday in Nature has found.
Trending
Study Finds ‘Underexplored Vulnerability in the Food System’: Jet Stream-Fueled Global Heat Waves
Researchers have pinpointed a previously underexamined threat to global food production, and they warn it will only get worse as the climate crisis intensifies.