Wind energy takes flight at Dallas Love Field

• Threat level: Carbon emissions from the aviation industry contributed to about 2% of total global emissions in 2022, fueling the ongoing push for airlines and airports to decarbonize travel.

Details: Dallas-based JetWind Power Corp. worked with Southern Methodist University and Clarkson University in the early stages before installing its wind conversion technology at Love Field.

• Love Field is the only U.S. airport testing the technology and may be the only one globally, airport officials said in a news release.

How it works: An energy-capturing pod placed by the airport's control tower helps gauge how much energy can be captured from aircrafts preparing for takeoff, as well as the durability of turbines against the wind blasts.

• The energy captured is currently being used to charge electric vehicles at the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control tower, per Love Field.

Zoom out: The U.S. aviation industry is working to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and airports across the U.S. are embracing electric- and solar-powered technology to trim their emissions.

• Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and Fort Worth-based American Airlines plan to replace some of their jet fuel with sustainable fuel and achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

What's next: DFW Airport, which became North America's first carbon-neutral airport in 2016, plans to achieve net-zero carbon status by 2030.

• The airport breaks ground next week on a new zero-carbon central utility plant, intended to help switch its reliance from natural gas to renewable wind energy.