General Motors Wins Corporate Energy Management Award

Aug. 19, 2007
Association of energy engineers (AEE) recognizes automaker for leadership in energy efficiency and renewable energy use

Detroit-based automotive manufacturer General Motors (GM) recently received the Corporate Energy Management of the Year Award from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) at the associations annual conference in Atlanta.

The award recognizes the companys 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, GMs 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.

GMs Shreveport (La.) Assembly Center and the companys 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.

GM also is one of the largest users of landfill gas in the U.S. The sum of landfill gas used at six GM operations is equivalent to the energy needed to heat over 25,000 households for a year.

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