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Passenger cap lift Solar panels at Dublin Airport will not compensate for more people flying

Dr Ola Løkken Nordrum says Dublin Airport’s greening of its site while pushing for a lift of the passenger cap will not wash environmentally.

OUR APPROACH TO climate action is fundamentally flawed. Too often, we do more of one harmful thing while trying to offset it with something else.

The proposal to lift the passenger cap at Dublin Airport is a perfect example: fly more but feel good about it as you look down at a few solar panels. 

Today, we might be inclined to praise Dublin Airport for its announcement of a new commitment that 20% of its electricity will come from solar energy by 2030, along with plans to explore geothermal heating. It says it has “committed to a significant expansion of its onsite solar farm, resulting in more than 20% of the airport’s annual electricity needs coming from renewable solar energy by 2030″. 

Dublin Airport operator DAA made the announcement today at the official opening of Phase 1 of the airport’s solar farm by the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien.

This move, of course, is commendable in isolation. However, it is the very definition of greenwashing. The airline industry speaks only one language: that of infinite growth. It is all about more, more, more. 

True sustainability

Climate change is already harming human health. We may not yet feel the worst effects here in Ireland, but make no mistake, it is happening. Lifting the passenger cap will lead to increased emissions, it will worsen climate change, and it will harm human health. Perhaps not here first, but those who suffer the most from climate change are often the ones who will never set foot on an aeroplane.

That is the injustice of climate change: we emit, others suffer.

Locally, there are concerns that Dublin Airport remains a source of both air and noise pollution. Solar panels will not play any part in addressing these issues. Vincent Harrison, DAA Chief Commercial and Development Officer, said today, “Investing in solar reduces Dublin Airport’s reliance on the national electricity grid and boosts our onsite energy generation capabilities.

“Continuing to invest in modernising Dublin Airport so our terminals and airfield operations are as sustainable as possible is a key part of our €2 billion Infrastructure Application, which also asks to increase the passenger cap to 40 million a year… We will continue to invest in sustainability and infrastructure projects that set Dublin Airport up for the long term.”

Contrary to what Mr Harrison says, “sustainability” and “increasing the passenger cap to 40 million a year” do not belong in the same sentence. Lifting the cap plus installing solar panels does not add up to environmental progress. It is a clever rebalancing of the environmental reality. These commitments and measures fail to address the core issue: we live on a finite planet. What is being proposed is not a solution; it is merely a way for them to continue the same behaviour that has brought us to this point.

While we welcome genuine efforts to reduce emissions, we reject those that serve only to mask the ultimate goal: to push ahead at all costs and increase emissions from flying. No amount of clever carbon rebalancing will change the reality that emissions from air travel continue to harm us.

The passenger cap works

Irish Doctors for the Environment has consistently opposed the lifting of the passenger cap and the expansion of Dublin Airport. We can no longer claim ignorance of the consequences. We know the impact. Encouraging more air travel in the midst of a climate crisis is an overt act of climate change denial.

However, we are not advocating for people to stop flying altogether. Instead, we encourage a shift in travel habits. Reducing the number of flights we take and considering alternative modes of transport are practical steps we all can adopt.

At the same time, we urge the Irish government to move beyond greenwashing a fundamentally carbon-intensive industry and instead focus on investing in genuinely sustainable alternatives such as rail and sail. While these options may not be suitable for everyone, they could offer a greener, calmer and more relaxing way to travel for many.

Historically, healthcare has looked to aviation for guidance on how to avoid errors and improve patient safety. It’s time the aviation industry looked to healthcare for advice. We all have a responsibility to look after and act in the best interest of the most important patient of them all: our shared planet.

Dr Ola Løkken Nordrum is an Anaesthesiology trainee and is Operations Officer with the Irish Doctors for the Environment. 

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:12 PM

    Yeah right. If tourists don’t come here they’ll go somewhere else, causing just as much environmental damage but we lose out economically.
    Typical environmentalist nonsense.
    This is virtue signalling and nothing else.

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    Mute Me Me
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:14 PM

    @Fergus O’Donnell: That is COMPLETELY unrelated to the article or the solar panels.

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    Mute Oh Mammy
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:29 PM

    @Me Me: you’re right. It’s about green washing

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    Mute Mary Linton
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:43 PM

    @Oh Mammy: you could even say this article is the Oxford Dictionary definition of ‘ greenwashing’

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:45 PM

    @Me Me: oh but it’s completely related.

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    Mute RP McGuinness
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:39 PM

    Ireland could reduce emissions to zero in the morning and it would have zero effect on climate.

    We are codding ourselves. China and India are laughing at us.

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    Mute RP McGuinness
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:44 PM

    @RP McGuinness: also, this lad is a trainee anaesthesiologist involved with an NGO…

    Why should we listen to his opinion on bloody airport numbers.

    Bananas

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    Mute Jason Walsh
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    Apr 7th 2025, 10:16 PM

    @RP McGuinness: Ok I’ll not bother using smokeless coal in my gaff so as it doesn’t matter. My direct neighbours won’t be impacted at all. Reducing out local emissions will have an impact on us and our neighbours. Have some cop on.

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 8th 2025, 1:00 AM

    @RP McGuinness: exactly. He should stay in his lane. Utter nonsense article.

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 8th 2025, 1:02 AM

    @Jason Walsh: do you mean your imported smokeless fuel that has to travel half way across our endangered planet? Ffs.

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    Mute Athena
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    Apr 8th 2025, 8:03 AM

    @Fergus O’Donnell: He’s still entitled to his opinion, be it right, wrong, misguided, wellmeaning… Whatever.
    Their funding… Maybe one of those NGOs that are getting UvdL into trouble now, maybe not. Haven’t the time to check, does anybody know?

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 8th 2025, 9:58 AM

    @Athena: he is entitled to his opinion, just as I’m entitled to point out how incredibly inept it is!

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    Mute Colm Flaherty
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:36 PM

    We. Are. An. Island.

    To limit flights is to limit entry to the country.

    Never thought I’d see Greens and Conor MacGregor on the same side, but here we are.

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    Mute Charles Okumbu
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    Apr 7th 2025, 10:32 PM

    @Colm Flaherty: my friend ekumbe he come in boat from uk not te airplane he put te passport to te toilet hahah is funny no crazy silly man now he live in lucan

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 8th 2025, 1:02 AM

    @Charles Okumbu: you’re a troll Rian.

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    Mute Thomas Sheridan
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    Apr 7th 2025, 10:05 PM

    How about limiting passengers to only those that arrive with passports

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 8th 2025, 1:04 AM

    @Thomas Sheridan: that has been addressed. Keep up.

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    Mute Thomas Sheridan
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    Apr 8th 2025, 5:56 AM

    @Fergus O’Donnell: I’ll believe that when I see it. In the meantime, I’m not anti naieve F00L like urslf

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    Mute Karen Marten
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    Apr 8th 2025, 9:42 AM

    @Thomas Sheridan: exactly thy just keep landing here

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    Apr 8th 2025, 9:59 AM

    @Thomas Sheridan: lol. Relax baby. X

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    Mute Francis Lee
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:36 PM

    I love our beautiful capital Dublin ❤️ .
    But.. why as an Island have we a cap of any kind limiting our freedom of movement, other Europeans dont…why no rail link to the city…We hear constantly that our city is chocked with private cars so why have we no large Concert/ multi purpose venue serviced by motorway/ rail bus on outskirts that can hold as many gigs as we want. Why locate large national hospitals within when they’d be far more accessible otherwise.

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    Mute TheGood Feign
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:26 PM

    @Francis Lee: these are sensible questions. Why indeed. Shame we only elect people who promise, not ones that question. That’s not an anti ffg statement btw that’s aimed across the whole spectrum!

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    Mute offside again
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:30 PM

    @Francis Lee: I lived there in the mid-eighties.

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    Mute offside again
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:45 PM

    @offside again: Dublin that is. Was as dodgy then as it is now and a culchie had to get streetwise. Other European citys’ I’ve lived in seem to have more clear boundaries and not random anarchy like Dublin.

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    Mute John Smith
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    Apr 7th 2025, 10:05 PM

    What’s next ? Barbers and hairdressers lecturing us about climate change ?

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    Mute Kevin Dillon
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:28 PM

    13 year old, 16 year old? Who actually owned the car this happened in?

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    Mute P. V. Aglue
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:57 PM

    @Kevin Dillon: should have been a home playing with the toys santa brought him

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    Mute Tom O' Donnell
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:37 PM

    Any article on Hamas quietly removing 1000 children from their list of those killed by the Israeli army? To think some people believe reports from the Hamas spokesmen

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    Mute Maire Hicks
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:54 PM

    @Tom O’ Donnell: I personally don’t believe the video that’s circulating it looks staged to me.

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    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:37 PM

    @Tom O’ Donnell: Not enough ambulances bombed for tour liking eh?

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    Mute Toca Stories
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:26 PM

    I’m not a fan of daa but they are saving money in the long term and cutting carbon with this investment. They can’t make air travel sustainable in the short term so they are controlling what they can. It’s a positive step and whatever about their carry on regarding the second runway and the passenger cap, they should get credit for this measure.

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    Mute P. V. Aglue
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:52 PM

    @Toca Stories: there weak panels and not the type used on solar farms. They’ll not be there too long.

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    Mute Thomas Meaney
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    Apr 7th 2025, 8:41 PM

    I’d be happy with clean toilets…

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    Mute Jimmy
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    Apr 7th 2025, 10:40 PM

    For the love of god, BUILD. A. TRAIN

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    Mute Joe Kelly
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    Apr 7th 2025, 11:25 PM

    @Jimmy: for the love of God will you pay for it.?

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    Mute John Lee
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:16 PM

    Being green has nothing to do with the airport cap. It’s down to “lack of infrastructure”. Besides if Dublin airport really cares about being sustainable they’ll just agree a CPPA and buy a big wind farm to offset!

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    Mute Oh Mammy
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    Apr 7th 2025, 7:32 PM

    @John Lee: infrastructure is finite and we are there. So how can putting limits on one section of people solve the issue while leaving another, more demanding of infrastructure, section of people unlimited?

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    Mute Leonard Barry
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    Apr 8th 2025, 1:18 AM

    Comical all this tripe and nonsense about an airport as if it’s some national treasure and the most amusing thing of all about it is that it’s one horrible airport particularly that filthy terminal one and to cap it all not even connected by rail. I wonder does one still need nearly a 5 minute plus walk to get from baggage security to the departure gate.

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    Mute Donna Fallon
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    Apr 8th 2025, 1:37 AM

    @Leonard Barry: 5 minute walk?! Lol yes if you’re the Roadrunner!! The Ryan Air gates in T1 are almost out in Balbriggan you’d need to get an indoor taxi from security to get there within 20 mins and I’m a fast walker!!

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    Mute nrYNRZdL
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    Apr 8th 2025, 3:53 AM

    London has multiple airports for a reason. While I don’t fully agree with the other guy, I think building a new airport on the south side of Dublin makes sense. Our population is growing, and we need better infrastructure—not just reusing what’s already stretched. It would boost the economy and benefit both sides of the city. The government should push a new infrastructure act and just get it built. No delays, no protests, just progress.

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    Mute Del Ray
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    Apr 8th 2025, 7:33 AM

    @nrYNRZdL: …Or just build decent multiple Luas links to the one on the Northside. Less cars to airport would tick rhat green box too.

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    Mute Karen Marten
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    Apr 8th 2025, 9:45 AM

    @Del Ray: and how are the people outside dublin city supposed to get on the luas .Ashbourne bus service to Dublin pure tripe unreliable . Same for going to airport one bus per hour . Same for blanchardstown drogheda and swords .

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    Mute Jason Walsh
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    Apr 7th 2025, 10:13 PM

    Regardless of what DAA says the airport facilities can’t handle the capacity they have currently. No cap lift until more facilities and a reasonable priced DAA ran airport shuttle.

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    Mute Michael O'Neill
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    Apr 8th 2025, 5:09 AM

    I don’t get the point of the article. I don’t think Dublin Airport ever implied that the solar panels were to compensate emissions from planes.
    That’s like saying the solar panels on your house would compensate your car. Idiotic.

    They reduce the amount that is drawn from the grid. That reduces emissions and cost. That is all.

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    Mute peter willekens
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    Apr 7th 2025, 9:05 PM

    Hey do peoples, trumpidan and Putian are bizzy friends. Trying too murder West Cív. It’s not a joke. Can’t write any other way, mediatocs won’t let me………

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    Mute K H
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    Apr 8th 2025, 4:24 AM

    Sun’s out , guns out ( especially if you’re IDF )

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