GM wins Energy Award

[Moose]

GM Wins Energy Award
GM recently received the Corporate Energy Management of the Year Award from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) at the association’s annual conference in Atlanta.

The award recognizes the company’s worldwide leadership in energy efficiency and renewable energy, according to AEE.

General Motors reduced energy use at its global manufacturing plants by nearly 15% over the last five years, while it increased vehicle production by about 4%. Total BTUs used by GM worldwide over the past five years decreased by 17.6 trillion BTUs. Calculated on a per vehicle basis, GM’s energy consumption per vehicle produced dropped by more than 18%. These energy savings reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20% per vehicle produced, or about 2 million metric tons.

GM’s Shreveport Assembly Center and the company’s headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit also received AEE awards under the "Energy Project of the Year" regional category for efficient energy management.

General Motors manages the energy used in its facilities on several fronts, including conservation efforts at its global facilities and the development of new renewable energy sources.

According to the company, every GM plant in the world has specific objectives and targets for energy conservation.

GM also received recognition for pushing the development of renewable energy sources. According to the AEE, GM is one of the leading users of renewable energy in the North American manufacturing sector, with renewable energy sources representing over 2% of its energy use. GM uses solar, hydro and landfill gas as renewable energy sources.

Additionally, GM has an existing major solar photovoltaic installation in California, and one under construction, on the roofs of two warehouses there. The solar array located in Rancho Cucamonga is one of the largest in the U.S., providing half of the electricity needed to operate the facility and sending unneeded electricity back to the local power grid. Recently, output from this site provided enough energy to power 210 homes for one month.

[Mr. Wyndham]

I think the only other Solar Farm as Big as GM's is Google!

Thanks, Moose! That was great. General Motors is such a better company than people give them credit for...

[TAG UR IT]

Wow...good info, there. All that trickels to two major areas; money saved by GM which in turn saves the consumer $$, and less polution. Now, if only everyone else would follow their lead!!!

[DGthe3]

Every now and then companies realize that investing in doing things efficiently saves them money. And its good to hear that they are investing in solar arrays on top of warehouses because roofs are the best place to put them. The space is free and its also where the juice is needed so no need for transmission lines (like from massive a coal or nuclear). I have heard that 25-35% (don't quote me on that) of all power produced gets lost in those high tension lines.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Also, Because these panels cover almost their entire roof, and capturing all of the Sun's light; They'll see savings in Heating costs, too. There's a small movement for the ultimate in 'green' buildings. That is, putting dirt on top of a building. Yeah, I typed that right. I forget the exact numbers but the jist is, that in 90 degree Farenheight weather, the tops of buildings (with their tar, and rubber, and steel) can reach temps of 150 degrees! Putting Dirt will keep the temperatures at 80.

I'm for it. There's no chance of outsourcing...what are they gonna do? Import dirt?!?!?

[DGthe3]

Actually, putting dirt up there is only half of it. The other half is actually growing stuff up there. At my university we use these so called 'green roofs', i've included a pic, here's the article from our website

A portion of each academic building rooftop is "green". This flat-roof technology uses soil beds filled with low-maintenance plants that are native to Ontario. Green roofs are able to offset some of the negative effects caused by urban development as concrete structures prevent rainwater from being absorbed into the soil and cleaned naturally. Instead, some rainwater is captured and held before it can reach the ground, meaning this moisture is eventually returned to the atmosphere. Any surplus runs off into an underground, 250,000-litre storage area and is used for irrigation, thereby reducing municipal water use

http://www.uoit.ca/EN/main/11260/151..._speaking.html

As I understand it, ford has done something similar at their dearborn truck plant

[Mr. Wyndham]

Cool!