In an attempt to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions, Sea-Tac International Airport released on Jan.18 a landmark study of environmental strategies.

The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory identifies air emission sources associated with the airport. Currently, there is no industry standard measurement tool for quantifying aviation emissions.

The inventory identifies airport air emissions from the broadest impact worldwide to specific air emissions in the Puget Sound region and within the airport footprint.

This method of tracking all emissions associated with the airport is the first broad-based study of its kind in the industry and Sea-Tac environmental officials hope this will become the standard measurement tool.

Overall the inventory identifies air emissions associated with activities originating from Sea-Tac, including the activities of the Port of Seattle, the public, and aircraft during 2006.

According to the study, the port's aviation division represents 4.8 percent of the total air emissions associated with the airport, while the public's portion is 11.4 percent.

These activities include ground access and support vehicles, facility sources (such as lighting, heating, air conditioning, etc.), as well as public and employee transportation to and from the airport.

As expected, the highest source of air emissions - 83.8 percent - comes from aircraft operations, which is consistent with national and international estimates.

"Sea-Tac Airport is one of the first airports in the nation to take the initiative to identify our greenhouse gas emissions footprint," said John Creighton, port commission president.

"I view the information in this study as a call to action. In the next several weeks, the commission will be considering both action at the local level and advocacy of initiatives at the federal level to more comprehensively address airport air emissions.

"We will use the information in this study to help us create strategies to reduce our air emissions and environmental impacts," Creighton added.

Last year, Sea-Tac completed its first environmental benchmark study, identifying the programs in place to reduce environmental impacts, as well as identifying potential next-steps for the airport.

These independent studies are the first of their kind in the industry, port officials noted.