DuPont Sustainability Report: Revenues Rise Faster than Emissions

DuPont’s absolute greenhouse gas emissions increased by 6 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to the company’s latest corporate sustainability report, while its revenue increased 18 percent, from around $32,733 million in 2010 to $38,719 million in 2011.

In 2010, the company produced 16.1 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. In 2011, this figure jumped to 17.1 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent.

The company has a goal of reducing its emissions to 15.9 million metric tons of CO2e by 2015, which would be a 15 percent reduction over 2004 levels. To date the company has cut its emissions by 8.2 percent of 2004 levels. DuPont says it is continuing to focus on identifying and implementing cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reduction opportunities at its facilities.

Last year, DuPont generated revenue of $1.9 billion from products that help its customers or the final consumer reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Much of the revenue growth was in photovoltaics and engineering polymers used in lightweighting of vehicles.  DuPont estimates that these products have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chains by over 15.8 million metric tons from 2007 to 2011, equivalent to taking 3.1 million passenger cars off the road. The company has a goal of raising $2 billion in annual revenue from products that create energy efficiency and/or significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2015.

A recent collaboration between DuPont and CG Power Systems resulted in greater efficiencies in wind turbine transformers with the development of ultra-compact equipment able to operate under extreme conditions without impact on its lifetime, thanks, the report says, to DuPont’s Nomex electrical insulation. Nomex paper and pressboard allow wind turbine generators and transformers to be smaller, lighter, safer, and highly reliable while still being capable of handling severe overload situations, Dupont says. These attributes help lower total cost of ownership of wind farms, the report says.

DuPont is aiming for 100 percent of its fleet to use fuel-efficiency “leading technologies” and fossil fuel alternatives by 2015. In 2011, 78 percent of the company’s fleet used these innovations, up from 62 percent in 2010.

The company has a goal of holding water consumption flat at 2004 levels on an absolute basis through the year 2015 at its non water-stressed sites, offsetting any increased demand from production volume growth through conservation, reuse and recycle practices. This goal puts DuPont’s target at 38 billion gallons. From 2010 to 2011, the company’s water consumption increased 2 percent from 33.8 to 34.5 billion gallons, keeping DuPont below its target level.