Boeing Sustainability Report: Normalized Emissions Fall 4%

by | Jun 8, 2012

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Aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s revenue adjusted CO2 emissions decreased 4 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to the company’s 2011 corporate sustainability report.

In 2011, the Seattle-based company produced 18.06 metric tons of CO2 per $1 million dollars of revenue compared to 18.85 metric tons per $1 million in 2010.

In absolute terms the company’s emissions rose almost 2.5 percent year-on-year from 1.21 million metric tons in 2010 to 1.24 million metric tons in 2011.

Since 2007, Boeing’s absolute CO2 emissions have decreased by 3 percent. On a revenue-adjusted basis, Boeing has reduced CO2 emissions by 7 percent since 2007.

Last year saw a 2.6 MW rooftop solar array come online at Boeing’s North Charleston, South Carolina final assembly facility, The 18,00 solar panel system covers 10 acres. Its activation doubled the state’s current solar generation.

Boeing also launched the 737 MAX in 2011. The airliner uses 13 percent less fuel and emits 13 percent less CO2 than the Next-Generation 737, Boeing says.

The comapny’s energy use figures follow a similar pattern to its emissions figures. From 2010 to 2011 Boeing’s energy use dropped just under 2 percent, from 190.88 to 187.31 MMBTU per $1 million of revenue. The company’s absolute energy use increased 4.8 percent over that time period. Since 2007 the aeronautics company has improved its absolute energy use by percent and its normalized energy use by 4 percent (see chart, below).

Over the last eight years, conservation projects implemented by Boeing have saved nearly 114 million kWh of energy — enough to power 9,940 average US homes, the report says.

The company’s Long Beach, Calif., site was awarded the Energy Star Challenge for Industry for reducing its energy intensity by 10 percent within one year. The plant is the first in the nation to receive this recognition three times, Boeing says. In total, 10 Boeing buildings have been Energy Star-certified including sites in California, Illinois, Missouri, Texas and Washington state, the report says. Boeing was named an Energy Star Partner of the Year in 2011 for the second year in a row.

In 2011, 76 percent of the solid waste Boeing generated was diverted from landfills, up from 73 percent the previous year. Boeing has improved this measure by 31 percent since 2007. Waste is diverted from landfills through a combination of recycling, composting and energy recovery programs, the sustainability report says.

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