Schiphol is the leader and 'lighthouse airport' of the European TULIPS programme. This consortium consists of 32 European partners, including airports, airlines, knowledge institutions, and companies. With EU funding of €25 million, TULIPS aims to reduce emissions from transport and promote sustainability at airports, in line with the goals of the European Green Deal. We are focusing on emission- and waste-free airports by 2030 and climate-neutral aviation by 2050. To achieve this, we are working on 17 concrete demonstration projects, including a hydrogen Ground Power Unit and an Iron Flow battery.
Since we started in 2022, several key initiatives have been underway. For example, we have presented a solution for unattended charging of electric aircraft and we are conducting pilots with hydrogen-powered ground handling equipment. We are also testing electric trucks for the so-called 'last mile' at the airport and conducting a trial with heat storage systems for buildings. Additionally, we are focusing on improving the circular use of materials, both passenger waste and construction waste, which we see as resources. A trial for the large-scale supply of more sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF, is also planned.
TULIPS has already achieved two firsts:
We test our innovations at Schiphol and partner airports in Oslo, Turin, and Larnaca. This allows us to gain experience with different types of airports and make the knowledge widely applicable. We also share this knowledge so that other European airports can apply TULIPS concepts and technologies using practical roadmaps.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101036996.
