We strive to reduce emissions & petroleum dependence by being more energy efficient.

Summary

• We reduced energy use at our global facilities 31% between 2005 and 2010.
• We received an EPA ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence award..
  
• We house 33 MW of solar energy at seven facilities.
• Our Zaragoza, Spain facility was the world’s largest industrial rooftop solar installation until 2012.
  
• We are one of the largest industrial users of landfill gas in the United States.
• We reduced CO₂ emissions by 30% from 2005 to 2010.
• Chevrolet is investing up to $40 million in carbon-reduction projects across America.

Reducing Energy Use

Being smart about our energy use is great for the environment and saves us money. For example, lighting upgrades and other efficiency projects save us $2.5M per year at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly—home of the Chevrolet Volt.

By using energy-efficient lighting, tracking hourly consumption, upgrading to more efficient heating and cooling systems, and shutting down equipment when it’s not used, we reduced energy use at our global facilities 28% on a per-vehicle-produced basis between 2005 and 2010. These savings reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 3.34 million metric tons during that timeframe.  

And our efforts are getting recognized:   

• Two of our facilities – our parts distribution center and plant that assembles the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse in Lansing, Mich. – received EPA ENERGY STAR® certifications for superior energy efficiency.
• We received an EPA ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence award, the organization’s highest level of recognition for corporate energy management.
  
• We met EPA’s ENERGY STAR^® Challenge for Industry at 54 plants worldwide. Their efforts saved $90M and avoided greenhouse gases equivalent to powering 140,000 U.S. homes.

We also strive to build and renovate in an environmentally responsible way. We have facilities with gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program: Lansing Delta Township Assembly in Lansing, Mich., and GM's Shanghai campus. When it first opened, the Lansing Delta Township building was the largest industrial project to receive LEED certification. We hope to achieve LEED certification at our new Joinville, Brazil engine plant and at our Warren, Mich. data center that’s being designed for optimal energy efficiency. When constructing a new facility or upgrading existing ones, we follow LEED green design and construction practices regardless of whether we apply for certification.

Renewable Energy

We believe in harnessing power from the sun, water and landfill gases, and are one of the leading users of renewable energy in the manufacturing sector. In fact, the Solar Energy Industries Association named us the No. 1 automotive user of solar power in the United States and we host two of the five largest rooftop solar arrays in the world.

Our goal is to promote the use of 125 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020. Half of our electricity at our California distribution center is powered by the sun; it was the first U.S. public solar project over 1 megawatt when it began operating in 2006. And, nine of our facilities feature solar charging canopies on their grounds.

We’re also one of the largest industrial users of landfill gas in the United States. Three of our manufacturing facilities use it as an energy source, generating $3.5 million in savings in 2011. Additionally, our GM do Brazil manufacturing facilities use 15MW of biomass-generated-electricity from sugar cane.

Reducing Emissions

As a result of our energy-efficiency initiatives, our global facilities achieved a 28% reduction in CO₂ emissions on a per-vehicle-produced basis between 2005 and 2010.

To supplement traditional efficiency initiatives, Chevrolet is investing up to $40 million in various carbon-reduction projects throughout America with a goal to reduce up to 8 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions over the next five years. We estimate our carbon-reduction goal equates to the emissions released in 2011 from driving the 1.9 million vehicles Chevrolet sold in the United States between November 18, 2010 and December 31, 2011.