Today's Guest blogger is Robert O'Meara who is Communications Manager at ACI Europe.

So, it's that time of year again. Peak summer season. If you have been through an airport recently, you'll doubtless have seen for yourself just how busy it is. But in the journey from check-in to security to boarding your flight, what activities did you notice on the airport site?

In the midst of security threats, extreme weather and the many other surprises that aviation can often be affected by (volcanic ash, anyone?), sometimes it's all too easy to overlook the environmental efforts being made by an airport.

Airports all over Europe are undertaking all kinds of environmental projects: from changing the airport car fleet to electric or hybrid technology, to photovoltaic parks, enhanced water management and recycling projects. So much of these activities go unnoticed by the passenger.

Airport Carbon Accreditation - mentioned on a number of previous occasions in this blog - celebrated its first birthday in mid-June. In that first year, 20 European airports became accredited at one of the four different levels possible: 'Mapping', 'Reduction', 'Optimisation' and 'Neutrality'.

Year 2 of the programme kicked off on 17 June 2010. And already, it's clear that momentum has moved up a gear. In less than 2 months, all of these airports have already renewed or become accredited for the first time:

- Milan Linate & Milan Malpensa in Italy
- Istanbul Airport in Turkey
- Bologna Airport in Italy
- Stockholm Arlanda and Stockholm Bromma airports in Sweden
- Ankara Esenboga Airport in Turkey
- Athens Airport in Greece
- Farnborough Airport in the UK
- Umea City Airport in Sweden
- Antalya Airport in Turkey

Some of these airports are at the beginning of the programme -  mapping the emissions sources under their control on the airport site. But nearly 50% of those listed are reducing CO2 emissions, actively engaging with others on the airport site to reduce theirs and offsetting any remaining CO2 emissions under the airports' direct control - effectively running carbon neutral operations.

So if you're passing through an airport terminal in the weeks or months ahead, take a look around. You may notice more recycling bins. The bus taking you to the aircraft may well be gas-powered. And the aeroplane you're travelling on probably won't leave its engines running on the ground, as occurred in the past. And you may see a banner that says 'This airport is participating in Airport Carbon Accreditation'.

At Farnborough Airshow Hélène Gagnon shared with us the environmental initiatives being spearheaded by business jet and commercial aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. 

Watch the video to hear how Bombardier incorporates environmental stewardship throughout the production lifecycle; the company's leadership in establishing a carbon offset programme for business jet customers; and how Bombardier is helping the aviation industry 'walk the talk' with recycling at the air show

This week, the JAL Group was awarded the "Eco-First" title by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan for the airline's various environmental conservation initiatives. These initiatives include fleet renewal, engine washing, the use of ecological, advanced flight operation methods such as User Preferred Route and Continuous Descend Approach, and the development of commercially-viable biofuel. What’s more, JAL has been spreading its environmental efforts further afield through its contribution to projects such as forest-fire surveillance, atmospheric air research and environmental education. So with the “Eco-First” must come an "Eco-First Pledge”; for JAL, this means achieving a 23% reduction in CO2 emissions in the year 2020, compared with levels in 2005.

Elsewhere, the South-African airmotive company ADEPT has stepped up the plate with the launch of their new light aircraft engine at Virginia Airport this week. The new liquid-cooled aircraft engine can operate on either biofuel or liquid petroleum gas, resulting in an engine with significantly lower lead, Nitrous Oxide and CO2 emissions, as well as reduced noise levels.

Innovations such as this are a reflection of the hard work that has been taking place throughout the aviation industry in the collective efforts to combat climate change – a subject that is now present in all discussions within the industry. An ICAO Colloquium on Aviation and Climate Change held last week brought together stakeholders from across the aviation industry as well as key government representatives to discuss the impact of aviation on the environment, what measures are being taken and what more can be done. The event provided a great opportunity for players from across the industry to demonstrate their own initiatives, providing a platform to share best practices and incentivising other businesses to follow suit. One example comes from Qatar Airways who, at the Colloquium, announced plans to be the first airline to be operating with 100% synthetic jet fuel by 2014 – a fuel made from a mix between gas-to-liquid and biomass-to-liquid blends, reducing the consumption of non-renewable petroleum based fuel and as such reducing the airline’s emissions of CO2.