Airports and nearby areas are currently facing
an increasing pollution due to the growth of air transport
traffic. Airport air pollution is produced not only by aircraft
during landing and take-off cycles but also by the ground
support equipment (GSE) during the airport handling
activities. This paper investigates the potential of hydrogen
as an alternative fuel for GSE vehicles to mitigate the
airport air pollution. For this purpose, a methodology is
developed to assess the environmental benefits attainable
with the introduction of hydrogen technology for GSE
vehicles powered by proton exchange membrane (PEM)
fuel cells. This methodology compares, for a given scenario, the direct emissions produced by fuel combustion
and the indirect emissions related to fuel production for
both diesel and hydrogen technologies. Steam methane
reforming and electrolysis technologies are investigated for
the production of gaseous hydrogen at the airport. The
pollutants investigated comprise carbon monoxide, total
hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, particulate
matter and volatile organic compounds. The main inputs
for the methodology are the number of air transport
movements, the aircraft fleet mix, the turnaround times for
handling operations, the type of GSEs used, and the ratio of
GSE vehicles converted to hydrogen (type, power installed,
etc.). A preliminary cost analysis of a ground power unit
powered by PEM fuel cells is also presented. The airport
planners and policy makers can use this study to define a
feasible environmental policy based on the use of new
technologies such as hydrogen.