What would Heathrow third runway mean for pollution, emissions and noise?
More climate-heating carbon emissions, more people enduring noisy aircraft over their homes and, most likely, more air pollution – these would be the environmental impacts of building a third runway at Heathrow airport, a plan that has been backed by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
Despite many years of lobbying for a third runway, there is no current proposal that can be analysed for its environmental impacts. However, the last proposal was extensively assessed by the Airport Commission (AC) in 2017 and remains relevant.
The most profound impact would be the rise in CO2 emissions driving the climate crisis, which is already supercharging extreme weather disasters around the world. The AC estimated an additional 4.4m tonnes of CO2 a year from a third runway.
The only significant development since then has been the nascent development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). However, the government is only planning for 10% of jet fuel to be sustainable by 2030, which its official advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), says is already 'ambitious'.
The CCC says overall UK emissions must fall by 63% by 2035, compared with 2019. But there is agreement among analysts that building an SAF supply chain to displace much of the existing demand for jet fuel, let alone that from a big expansion in flights, will be slow and difficult. SAF created by using renewable electricity is expensive and there is a limited supply of the waste fat that is used to make SAF. The government's own forecast is that SAF will only cut emissions by 6.3m tonnes by 2040.
Small electric planes exist for very short journeys but it will be many years, if ever, before large long-haul planes can be powered by batteries. Aircraft are becoming more fuel efficient but the rate of improvement is marginal compared to the increase in flights a third runway would bring.
Most importantly, the CCC has been clear on whether airport expansion is compatible with the UK's legally binding targets: 'No airport expansions should proceed' until a UK-wide management system is in place to ensure extra flights are balanced by cuts in aviation emissions overall. No such system exists.
A new study by the New Economics Foundation also suggests that all the reductions delivered by Labour's plan to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 would be wiped out in five years if the third runway goes ahead, along with smaller expansions at Gatwick and Luton.
Noise pollution is already a serious issue, with Heathrow being the UK's busiest airport. The AC said a third runway would expose 12,000 to 28,000 more people to noise impacts exceeding 70 decibels. The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) said a third runway would lead to 300,000 people experiencing being flown over by aircraft for the first time.
The number of flights is capped at 480,000 a year, but could go up to 720,000 with a third runway, according to Heathrow, an average of almost 2,000 flights a day. Newer aircraft are quieter, but the huge increase in flights and people affected would drown out this improvement.
A third runway would also have a substantial impact on the local environment, demolishing 800 homes, diverting five rivers and building a tunnel under the M25, according to the AEF.
Air pollution has long dogged Heathrow, partly from the aircraft and airport operations themselves, but also because it sits in a corner between the busy M25 and M4 motorways.
Heathrow has been in London's ultra low emissions zone since August 2023. This means heavily polluting vehicles have to pay to enter the airport, which will be reducing air pollution. But expanding the number of travellers a year from 80 million to 140 million, as Heathrow has suggested with a third runway, is likely to increase air pollution. What happens will depend on how many passengers can be persuaded to take the train or tube to the airport.
However, the AC was less concerned about air pollution, placing 'limited weight on suggestions that air quality represents a significant obstacle to the delivery of expansion at Heathrow'. It said measures such as providing electrical power to aircraft in stands could mitigate the problem. Nonetheless, a recent study found Heathrow was among the worst in Europe for people's exposure to ultra-fine pollution particles.
Tim Johnson, the director of the AEF, said: 'Heathrow's third runway would be one of the most destructive infrastructure projects this country has ever considered. Heathrow is already the UK's biggest carbon emitter so adding a third runway, and green lighting other airport projects, will leave our climate targets out of reach.
'The chancellor said things have changed since 2018, but the reality is that we have made little progress on reducing noise, while plans for cleaner tech and fuels are costly and not proven at scale.'
Shaun Spiers, the executive director at Green Alliance, said: 'It's crystal clear that pushing ahead with bigger airports and new roads will fly in the face of the UK's climate targets.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Historic island castle is on the market but furious clan members are plotting to block the sale
FOR hundreds of years it was a seat for Scotland's largest clan. But now an island castle has gone on the market – angering opponents who have branded the move a 'betrayal'. Armadale Castle on Skye is one of several assets being sold off by Clan Donald Lands Trust (CDLT) after it announced the 'unavoidable and unanimous' decision earlier this year following 'long standing economic difficulties'. CEO Alex Stoddart said the Armadale visitor business, which includes the 17th century castle, its heritage centre and gardens on the island's Sleat peninsula, was 'non-viable' in its current form. But the move has outraged clansmen and women from around the world who claim they are the 'rightful beneficiaries' of the trust and insist the actions of CDLT 'defy the purpose of the trust deeds'. Save Armadale - Clan Donald is now fundraising for a planned legal challenge to block the sale and push for new management of the trust to 'preserve this jewel in the Crown of Clan Donald'. The group, which has more than 400 members, believe clansmen and women should have been consulted on the decision to sell, with many having financially supported the trust since its formation in the 1970s. The group's gofundme page states it represents 'the betrayed beneficiaries of the deed of trust of the Clan Donald Land Trust' who are 'opposing the decision of the 4 absentee trustees and CEO of the Clan Donald Lands Trust to sell off the beautiful Armadale Heritage Centre, museum, genealogy centre, library and extensive botanical gardens and trails'. It adds: 'We require to appoint a lawyer to challenge them and their decision on the basis that their current actions are not in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the trust, defy the purpose of the trust deeds, and betray the local community in Sleat.' If they are successful they say any surplus funds raised will 'go towards any future endeavours to support a newly invigorated heritage centre' and, if not, they will be handed to 'a similar cultural heritage project in Scotland'. They claim the castle is 'of national cultural and historical importance and its closure will have a huge, economic and detrimental affect in the Sound of Sleat in the South end of Skye'. The castle, heritage centre and gardens are being sold for offers over £995,000, or along with ancillary buildings and other land for £2.7million, and comes just a month after CDLT put just over 20,000 acres of its land on the Sleat Peninsula on the market for £6.7million. Campaign spokesman Morag McDonald said the group's aim was to 'put pressure' on CLDT to 'immediately halt the sale of our heritage centre, and demand they come to the table immediately to answer our questions and allow us time to seek a viable future for the Clan Donald Heritage Centre in Armadale under new, competent management and with our money handed over from phase 1 of the sale'. The deed states the charitable purposes of the trust include 'providing funds to assist in the education of Clansmen, to provide scholarships at schools and universities for the sons and daughters of Clansmen'. The CDLT Board announced the sale stating: 'The idea of selling the wider estate and using the proceeds to bolster Armadale was the initially preferred conclusion. 'However, the estate sale proceeds are unlikely to be sufficient for the capital requirements of Armadale going forward. 'The Trustees could not see any realistic way to retain Armadale whilst fulfilling their legal and moral obligations to the charity and the Clan, being mindful of their duty to act in the best interests of the charity including minimising exposure to risk. It adds: 'The Trustees' objective is to find suitable buyers who will bring serious investment, prosperity, training, and employment to the community for the long term.'
The Sun
12 minutes ago
- The Sun
Grooming gangs scandal inquiry U-turn leaves tin-eared Starmer facing massive questions over his judgment
WELCOME aboard the 'far-right bandwagon' then, Prime Minister. It's been six months since Sir Keir Starmer airily dismissed those calling for a moment of reckoning over the wave of Asian rape gangs systematically attacking white British girls under the noses of officials and cops. 3 3 Six months since the PM whipped his Labour MPs to vote down an inquiry into the biggest scandal and cover-up in modern British history, yet mysteriously missed the toxic Commons vote himself. And six months since our technocratic lawyer leader outsourced the problem to someone else, instead of gripping the issue from the centre. Now Dame Louise Casey, the go-to woman to write long reports on issues ministers find too sticky, has reached the blindingly obvious conclusion that this blot on our national history deserves more than just mournful words and brushing under the carpet. As one weeping survivor, Elizabeth, told GB News: 'We're not far-right — we were just children who were abused.' Horrific abuse We will find out what exactly Casey has unearthed later today when her report is published — but even on the facts as known already, the case for an inquiry is already overwhelming. Hundreds of men of Pakistani origin, often working in cabs or takeaways, luring and drugging young girls with drink and drugs and subjecting them to the most horrific sexual abuse. A generation of victims then failed by simpleton social services across dozens of mostly Labour-run local authorities. Officials more worried about so-called community cohesion than rape, police forces suspiciously close to so-called community leaders, turning a blind eye or even returning young women into the hands of the evil perpetrators. Girls branded slags and prostitutes rather than child-abuse victims — all in the name of multicultural harmony and cultural enrichment. If you weren't already angry about this before Elon Musk took the issue stratospheric last Christmas, then you were not paying attention. Groomed, A National Scandal on Channel 4 The court transcripts alone, such as one case in Dewsbury where a victim was told, 'we're here to f*** all the white girls and f*** the Government', should have been enough to trigger a wider review. But the Labour Government again and again appeared to close the doors and windows to the much-needed disinfection of sunlight — in what could well be a brand-destroying inquiry into years of failure by the party across swathes of northern Britain. To his credit, Sir Keir had a strong track record in beginning to crack this scandal as Director of Public Prosecution, banging up the first batch of abusers. Which makes the lawyer leader's obfuscation earlier this year even more baffling — and even more personally damaging. Rightly or wrongly, it looked like a political leader — who in a past life knew the horrors and evil that was wrought across northern cities and towns — now in charge of a party at the centre of the scandal and doing his utmost to avoid scrutiny. A regularly repeated tale from those who have worked closely with Starmer in both Opposition and government is that the lawyer leader often refuses to take advice from those who genuinely mean him well and want him to do the right thing. Instead, the barrister locks himself away from aides, reads his brief and makes his own decisions, thinking he knows best. Inevitable U-turns It's said to be a trait the PM sticks to, despite the fact he has been shown time and again to suffer from a political tin ear, preferring the comfort of reviews and legalese over instinct and leadership. And then the inevitable U-turns come when it turns out the lawyer did not know best, after all. The case for an inquiry was as obvious in January as it is now, but the PM was clearly unwilling to be seen to be bounced into it by Musk, Reform or the Tories. He could have shown a genuine moment of strong leadership and got on the front foot, but yet again could not see the chance. So, the rug has now been pulled from under him by the very 'audit' he clearly hoped would make this thorny issue go away. And frankly, the PM has only himself to blame for looking like he's been dragged into this kicking and screaming — once again facing massive questions over his judgment, nous or even emotional intelligence. Plenty in Government saw an inquiry as not just the right thing to do, but a political no-brainer, given their hand would be forced eventually. But it's not too late for the PM to do the right thing now, as he sets up the probe. No wishy-washy old human-rights lawyer mate from his past will do at the helm. Instead, we need a proper judge with a track record of not caving in to politically correct trends. No Labour council, official or local organiser spared from testimony. No police force off-limits for a hauling over the coals. And Covid Inquiry -style powers to have council emails, phone records and court papers turned over and published in full, however politically toxic for Labour. This inquiry needs to be no- holds-barred and it must be televised. The victims — and this country — deserve the whole truth about these horrors, however long it takes and however hard that is for the PM and his party. OUR man in Washington, Peter Mandelson, is proving something of a hit in Republican circles, despite initial concerns the Labour veteran would rub Trump-world up the wrong way. His lavish bashes have helped, like the one held last week ahead of the President's controversial parade to celebrate the US Army, first raised to boot out the Brits. But in a typically Mandelsonian way, he even took credit for that, purring: 'My warmest congratulations to the US Army on their 250th birthday. We may have played a rather outsized role in their formation.' THE mood among Tory MPs remains as bleak as can be, with a growing fear the party has yet to hit rock-bottom in terms of numbers, despite their wipeout last year. While many are still petrified of yet more bloodletting and regicide, it feels like the balance is shifting towards addressing the Kemi Badenoch problem sooner rather than later. Conservative folklore says the one who wields the knife never wears the crown, which puts last year's runner-up Robert Jenrick in a tricky spot if he is seen to move against the leadership. Now a growing number feel the party's woes will not be fixed until a generation is skipped and a leader emerges who did not serve in any of the previous Conservative administrations. There were 26 new Tory MPs elected last July, with whips increasingly keeping an eye on a possible ambush emerging from this block of newbies.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Jet2 named as highest flier on London's junior market
Budget airline Jet2 has been hailed as Aim's highest flier as the junior London market prepares for its 30th anniversary. Investors could have made almost one hundred times their money back if they had invested in the company when it made its debut on Aim twenty years ago. Anyone putting £100 into the airline and package holiday provider – then known as Dart Group – in 2005 would have seen the stock's value climb to around £8,990 today, a return of 8,890 per cent, according to investment platform AJ Bell. The rise makes Jet2 the most successful Aim-listed company that is still trading on the junior market. Aim will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Thursday at a difficult time for the London Stock Exchange, which has been buffeted by a series of takeover bids. It has also suffered from high-profile companies opting to shift their listings to other markets, particularly the US.
