Corporate Carbon Emissions

It seems the multi-national companies can no longer escape from the reality of global climate change, as they face up to the reality of their own carbon emissions which hopefully may even prompt them into doing something about it. The most recent eco-convert to come out of the carbon-closet seems to be PepsiCo who took a long, hard look at the carbon emissions that go into making orange juice for their Tropicana products.

PepsiCo is one of the world's largest food and drink companies with revenues of $39 billion (2007), employing over 185,000 people and selling products in over 200 countries. PepsiCo is also a member of The UK Carbon Trust that was set-up by the British government to help organizations reduce carbon emissions, develop commercial low carbon technologies and move toward a low carbon economy.

PepsiCo and the Columbia Earth Institute evaluated the lifecycle carbon footprint of the 64-ounce container Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice, a first for a North American consumer product.

The UK Carbon Trust certified the carbon footprint, giving PepsiCo a verifiable benchmark against which the company can measure their greenhouse gas reductions. Tom Delay, Carbon Trust chief executive, was ecstatic, "We are thrilled that PepsiCo has stepped forward as the first company to apply our rigorous standard in North America and that the company is committed to taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint of its products. Everything we do or buy has a carbon impact and establishing a globally recognized method of measurement is an important step in tackling climate change. PepsiCo is leading the way, and we hope that some of the other companies we are working with in the U.S. will soon follow its example."

Knowing what constitutes a carbon footprint, and having a verified method to account for it, allows PepsiCo to identify how to reduce their carbon footprint and measure how effective that reduction is. On the other hand, it also means that the company can pass along the cost of any carbon tax that the government applies in the near future, as it implements taxes to try to limit carbon emissions.

Indra K. Nooyi, chairman and chief executive of PepsiCo, said, "PepsiCo's partnership with the Carbon Trust is a significant step in our environmental sustainability journey. As part of our company-wide Performance with Purpose Initiative, we are committed to reducing our overall environmental impact. Understanding what contributes to the carbon footprint of our products is critical to achieving both our sustainability commitments and to driving efficiency gains across our global business."

PepsiCo’ Tropicana subsidiary is looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and expand sustainability. They recycle waste orange peel (700,000 tons) into cattle feed (150,000 tons – not sure what effect this has on the cattle’s digestive system?) and are increasing their use of renewable energy, currently at 10% using gas from a nearby landfill.

The complete cradle-to-grave carbon dioxide emission of the Tropicana product was determined, from growing and squeezing oranges, to filling up the grocery shelves and disposing or recycling the packaging. The quite stunning carbon footprint value for the 64-ounce carton of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice came in at 1.7kgs (3.75lbs), which is almost as much as the actual weight of the juice itself (around 2kgs, 4.4lbs).

If a North American family drinks one of these a week, then it adds up to 88kgs (194lbs) a year. There should be estimates of how much greenhouse gases are emitted from each food that is purchased in a year. It is sure to be quite staggering.

The carbon emissions for the orange drink were: 60% from the agricultural process of grove management (such as nitrogen fertilizer use) and manufacturing process energy use. Transportation and distribution account accounted for 22%, packaging was 15%, consumer use and disposal was 3%. If they switched to organic farming methods they would greatly reduce that 60%, and maybe even be carbon neutral or positive.

Another important step in ascertaining the ‘true costs’ of food and beverage production would be to also tabulate the water footprint of each item. Growing oranges is an extremely water intensive food crop. The Water Footprint Network estimates that to grow one orange takes 50 litres of water and to produce one 200ml glass of orange juice takes 170 litres of water. Consumers need to become as fluent in water footprints as there are becoming in carbon emissions.

However it does appear that PepsiCo is attempting make green corporate progress and compared to 2006 they plan on using 20% less water and 25% less fuel by 2015. In 2007, five billion liters of water and 500 million kilowatt hours were saved. In 2008, six million kilograms of packaging were saved and greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 18,000 metric tons simply by using new half-liter bottles with 20% less plastic and a 10% smaller label.

PepsiCo is not going to be the only company working out their carbon emissions. Every product is going to eventually get carbon-taxed, so getting on with the job of identifying the carbon costs, reducing them or getting ready to be accountable is probably a wise corporate move. IBM, Google, Yahoo and others are all getting their houses in order.

Some European countries already require the identification of the carbon footprint of the products and that trend is sure to only increase.

Resources

The Carbon Trust: www.carbontrust.com
The Water Footprint Network: http://www.waterfootprint.org/

Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specialising in renewable energy, power grid modelling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites.

Comments (2)

Show/Hide comment form