PPG Industries last week announced that it has set a goal to reduce its total energy intensity by 25% from 2006 to 2016 and its total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 10% from 2006 to 2011.
PPG previously committed to reducing its GHG emission intensity from sources in the U.S. by 18% by 2012 from a 2002 baseline. It achieved this mark in 2006, six years earlier than the projected date. The company has reduced its energy use by just over 1% annually for the last five years, saving about $40 million overall, and meeting its new energy savings goal would realize a savings of $15 to $20 million a year at today's energy prices.
In its largest chemical plant at Lake Charles, La., PPG already has seen a 25% annual energy savings by producing chlorine with a new membrane process installed this summer. Also this year, the Sierracin/Sylmar Corp. aerospace subsidiarys facility in Sylmar, Calif., replaced 2,463 lighting fixtures, cutting electrical use from 2.1 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year to 780,000 kwh per year and saving more than $132,000 annually. The new fixtures also generate less heat, saving an additional $21,500 annually on air conditioning costs.