From hot baths to jet fuel, industry is saving energy
Kyoto,
5 December 1997–
Business already has an impressive track record in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
A report by the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC and the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development, WBCSD, provides chapter and verse.
The report, "Business and Climate Change", was released at the global
climate conference here as governments sought to negotiate a binding agreement
to re
duce carbon dioxide and other emissions held responsible for global warming.
A foreword said the efforts of member companies of the two organizations "have
often been good both for the corporate bottom line and the global atmosphere."
The 34 case studies in the report deal with energy efficiency - generating more
electricity with less waste, reducing demand for energy, finding new uses for
waste heat and switching to less carbon intensive fuels.
The studies also show how business has developed new products and production
processes that use less raw material and energy. A key message is that voluntary
initiatives and negotiated agreements between governments and various business
sectors are the most effective means of promoting energy and reducing emissions.
Among its case studies, the report includes these items:
-
Tokyo Electric
Power Company is reusing waste heat from incinerator plants, sewerage plants
and substations.
-
Texaco
Global Gas and Power outlines an integrated gasification combined cycle
project that provides a commercially attractive way to generate electricity
from coal with very low emission levels of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides.
-
IVO Power
Engineering Ltd of Finland demonstrates the advantages of combined heat
and power for smaller and energy efficient units located directly at industrial
facilities.
-
ABB sets
out the advantages of high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems to reduce
losses from long distance electricity transmission in India.
-
By relying
more on nuclear power, Kansai Electric Power Company developed an action
plan that reduced CO2 emissions by 6% over five years despite a 13% increase
in electricity generation.
-
Forte plc
describes how a hotel can generate its own electricity on-site and use the
waste heat for hot water and space heating.
-
Mitsubishi
Motors Corporation announces that gas direct injection (GDI), the gasoline
engine of the future, is available now.
-
Opel has
built a concept car, the Corsa Eco 3, which travels the standard 100 kilometres
using fewer than 3.5 litres of fuel - that means 62 miles using less than
a gallon.
-
Volkswagen
reports on new TDI diesel engines that cut fuel consumption and generate
significantly smaller amounts of greenhouse gases.
-
DHL describes
how driver training and attention to organizational detail paid off in reducing
vehicle journeys to combine improved productivity with energy savings.
-
Over 20
years up to 1994, British Airways managed to reduce fuel consumption by
57% per passenger mile flown. Lufthansa has cut its fuel per passenger by
50% since 1970 and expects to halve it again in the next 10 to 15 years.
Copies of this
report ar
e available free on
request from the Communications Division:
To
Commission on Environment
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