Ford Reduces Global Energy Use

Ford has reduced global energy use by 30 percent overall, or 19 percent per vehicle, compared to 2000 levels. In 2007, Ford improved energy efficiency in the United States by 4.5 percent, resulting in savings of approximately $18 million. We are targeting an additional three percent improvement in energy use in 2008. Since 2000, we have reduced our total facilities-related CO2 emissions by approximately 39 percent, or 3.6 million metric tons. Ford has set a target to reduce its North American facility GHG emissions by 6 percent between 2000 and 2010 as part of its Chicago Climate Exchange commitment. The Company has also committed to reduce U.S. facility emissions by 10 percent per vehicle produced between 2002 and 2012, as part of an Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers program.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) again recognized Ford's energy efficiency achievements by awarding us a 2008 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award in the category of Sustained Excellence, which recognizes Ford's continued leadership and commitment to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. Among the achievements recognized by the award is a 30 percent improvement in the energy efficiency of U.S. facilities since 2000, equivalent to the amount of energy consumed by 270,000 homes.

In 2006 and 2007, we installed a utility metering and monitoring system. This system collects incoming electricity and natural gas consumption data for all Ford plants in North America, to help Ford monitor plant energy use in near-real time and take appropriate actions to reduce consumption and improve the stability of delivered power. Collected data is used to plan cost-effective natural gas purchases, analyze plant non-production shutdowns, generate energy use profiles and monitor power quality.

Ford continues to upgrade and replace infrastructure through the use of energy performance contracts at its plants, commercial buildings and research facilities. In this process, Ford partners with suppliers to replace inefficient equipment, funding the capital investment over time through energy savings. Projects have been implemented in our manufacturing facilities to:

• Upgrade inefficient lighting systems
• Upgrade paint-booth process equipment
• Upgrade compressed air systems
• Significantly reduce the use of steam

Since 2000, Ford has invested more than $200 million in plant and facility upgrades, including about $190 million using performance contracts and $20 million in capital projects. To drive continued progress, we have set targets to improve our facility energy efficiency by 3 percent globally and 3 percent in North America each year in 2007 and 2008. We measure energy efficiency using our Energy Efficiency Index*.

*The Index is "normalized" based on an engineering calculation that adjusts for typical variances in weather and vehicle production. The Index was set at 100 for the year 2000 to simplify tracking against energy efficiency targets.

Source: www.ford.com