Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Target:
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% per £million
sales against a 2001 baseline of 88.5 tonnes/£million sales,
by 2006.
Achievement:
Performance in 2003 was 87.8 tonnes/ £million sales.
Smiths’ operations contribute emissions of greenhouse
gases implicated in climate change through our use of fossil
fuels. Our estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed as
tonnes CO2 equivalent, are calculated
from the following sources:
- Energy used on premises - electricity, natural gas
and heating oil.
- Transport related emissions - business travel by
car and aircraft.
- CO2 releases from environmental test chambers
used in Aerospace.
- Accidental leakage of HFCs from air conditioning and
fire protection systems.
After allowance is made for divestments in the year, absolute
emissions of greenhouse gases for continuing operations increased
by 5 per cent in 2003 compared with 2002 - 220,074 tonnes vs.
208,886 tonnes - corrected for sold companies. This increase
was due to two new acquisitions and more sites reporting air
and travel related CO2 data for
the first time. Normalised emissions have decreased by 4 per
cent over this period.
We have used the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
GHG Indicator Guidelines at www.uneptie.org/energy/act/ef/GHGin/index.htm and
the UK’s DEFRA reporting guidelines at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/envrp/index.htm
to calculate CO2 emissions
CO2 emissions from site energy
use - electricity and natural gas - are more straightforward
to measure and report than corresponding emissions from car and
air travel. This results in a greater element of estimation in
our travel related data compared with metered and billed site
energy use data. Our estimates show that car and air travel account for 12 per cent of our total CO2 emissions.
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) elimination
Smiths Aerospace Electronic Systems – Cheltenham
was our only user of this greenhouse gas which has a global warming
potential of 23,900 compared with a corresponding GWP for CO2 of
1. We have phased out use of this gas and replaced it with helium,
an inert gas and expect to achieve a financial payback on our
investment in 18 months.
Think Global, Act Local
John Crane Italia was the first business within
Smiths to implement a CO2 compensation
scheme (carbon sequestration) under which an employee-led community
tree-planting scheme offset 12% of the site’s CO2 emissions
associated with energy use. |
