MIDLAND, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), a global leader in energy conservation, today announced the Company has funded nearly 40 energy efficiency projects around the world, toward fulfillment of Dow’s Energy Intensity Improvement Fund commitments announced in February 2011.
Collectively, the projects announced today will reduce the Company’s energy usage by nearly 8 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) and Dow’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 400 thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). These growth-enabling projects are projected to deliver up to a quarter of a billion dollars in net present value for the Company.
“We are accelerating our energy efficiency innovations as part of our global commitment to our company, communities and the environment,” said George Biltz, vice president of Energy and Climate Change at Dow. “These projects really represent the Power of AND – delivering environmental effectiveness AND economic efficiency. We are harnessing Dow’s extensive expertise in energy conservation to provide financial returns to our company and help fuel growth around the world.”
These projects all represent a high value investment, coming from different geographies and Dow businesses. Investments include Dow facilities in West Alexandria, Ohio; Plaquemine, Louisiana; Tarragona, Spain; and Terneuzen, The Netherlands.
“We are proud of these value-generating projects taking place in Germany, Spain, France and throughout the U.S., including at our Midland, Michigan facilities – truly a global initiative with energy efficiency,” said Biltz.
The 40 projects, totaling $84 million in investments, were selected from more than 80 submissions by Dow business units and manufacturing sites following the Company’s announcement of its $100 million Energy Intensity Improvement Fund in February. The projects were selected on the basis of their ability to create the greatest impact in several key performance areas, including reductions in energy use and GHG emissions and accelerated energy cost savings. For example, one of the funded projects has demonstrated the use of non-recyclable plastic to generate energy instead of landfill disposal. Additional projects will be identified later this year.
Dow recently received a Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Award from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in recognition of the Company’s efforts with the $100 million energy initiative.
From 1994 to 2010, Dow has saved 1,800 trillion BTUs, which is the energy equivalent to powering all residential buildings throughout California for more than one and a half years. The Company’s energy efficiency efforts have prevented more than 95 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from entering the atmosphere and have contributed cost savings of $9.4 billion.
About The Dow Chemical Company
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow