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societal impact of nanotechnology | The societal impact of nanotechnology are the potential benefits and challenges that the introduction of novel nanotechnological devices and materials may hold for society and human interaction. The term is sometimes expanded to also include nanotechnology's health and environmental impact, but this article will only consider the social and political impact of nanotechnology.
As nanotechnology is an emerging field and most of its applications are still speculative, there is much debate about what positive and negative effects that nanotechnology might have.
Overview
Beyond the toxicity risks to human health and the environment which are associated with first-generation nanomaterials, nanotechnology has broader societal implications and poses broader social challenges. Social scientists have suggested that nanotechnology's social issues should be understood and assessed not simply as "downstream" risks or impacts. Rather, the challenges should be factored into "upstream" research and decision making in order to ensure technology development that meets social objectivesMany social scientists and organizations in civil society suggest that technology assessment and governance should also involve public participation.Though the innovative part of nano-technology may excite people a lot of other worries about the societal and natural impact the advancement of nano-technology will bring. Studies have shown numerous positive results of applying nano-technology but public opinion is vital to its success at transforming society. A number of different socio and political factors will be crucial to deciding the destiny of nano-technology.Some observers suggest that nanotechnology will build incrementally, as did the 18–19th century industrial revolution, until it gathers pace to drive a nanotechnological revolution that will radically reshape our economies, our labor markets, international trade, international relations, social structures, civil liberties, our relationship with the natural world and even what we understand to be human. Others suggest that it may be more accurate to describe change driven by nanotechnology as a “technological tsunami”. Just like a tsunami, analysts warn that rapid nanotechnology-driven change will necessarily have profound disruptive impacts. As the APEC Center for Technology Foresight observes:
If nanotechnology is going to revolutionize manufacturing, health care, energy supply, communications and probably defense, then it will transform labour and the workplace, the medical system, the transportation and power infrastructures and the military. None of these latter will be changed without significant social disruption.
Those concerned with the negative impact of nanotechnology suggest that it will simply exacerbate problems stemming from existing socio-economic inequity and unequal distributions of power, creating greater inequities between rich and poor through an inevitable nano-divide (the gap between those who control the new nanotechnologies and those whose products, services or labour are displaced by them). Analysts suggest the possibility that nanotechnology has the potential to destabilize international relations through a nano arms race and the increased potential for bioweaponry; thus, providing the tools for ubiquitous surveillance with significant implications for civil liberties. Also, many critics believe it might break down the barriers between life and non-life through nanobiotechnology, redefining even what it means to be human.Nanotechnology has the potential to benefits all forms of work from daily life to medicine and biology. Despite these benefits, there are also health risks when it comes to human exposure to the nano material. Studies have shown that dangerous nano-particles can build up in the body after prolonged exposure. This is caused by a very complicated interaction between nano-particles and parts of the body's systems.Nanoethicists posit that such a transformative technology could exacerbate the divisions of rich and poor – the so-called “nano divide.” However nanotechnology makes the production of technology, e.g. computers, cellular phones, health technology etcetera, cheaper and therefore accessible to the poor.
In fact, many of the most enthusiastic proponents of nanotechnology, such as transhumanists, see the nascent science as a mechanism to changing human nature itself – going beyond curing disease and enhancing human characteristics. Discussions on nanoethics have been hosted by the federal government, especially in the context of “converging technologies” – a catch-phrase used to refer to nano, biotech, information technology, and cognitive science.
Possible military applications
Possible military applications of nanotechnology have been suggested in the fields of soldier enhancement ([1]) and chemical weapons amongst others. However, more socially disruptive weapon systems are to be expected from molecular manufacturing, a potential future form of nanotechnology that would make it possible to build complex structures at atomic precision. Molecular manufacturing requires significant advances in nanotechnology, but its supporters posit that once achieved it could produce highly advanced products at low costs and in large quantities in nanofactories weighing a kilogram or more. If nanofactories gain the ability to produce other nanofactories production may only be limited by relatively abundant factors such as input materials, energy and software.Military applications for nanotechnology are going to revolutionize modern warfare and while many benefits will come from the applications of such technology there are also some risks that we need to be aware of. The emergence of nanotechnology will greatly change the fields of science medicine surveillance and energy. While human engineering and arms control will be better there will also be strict regulations on all forms of nanotech especially autonomies to prevent any unfortunate incidents. All treaties will be upheld and there should under no circumstance be an arms race. Because of its constant fast growth countries should work together to solve the problem of hazard nano materials and to prevent an arms race as a result of social problems and poor communication.Molecular manufacturing might be used to cheaply produce, among many other products, highly advanced, durable weapons. Being equipped with compact computers and motors these might be increasingly autonomous and have a large range of capabilities.According to Chris Phoenix and Mike Treder from the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology as well as Anders Sandberg from the Future of Humanity Institute the military uses of molecular manufacturing are the applications of nanotechnology that pose the most significant global catastrophic risk. Several nanotechnology researchers state that the bulk of risk from nanotechnology comes from the potential to lead to war, arms races and destructive global government. Several reasons have been suggested why the availability of nanotech weaponry may with significant likelihood lead to unstable arms races (compared to e.g. nuclear arms races): (1) A large number of players may be tempted to enter the race since the threshold for doing so is low; (2) the ability to make weapons with molecular manufacturing might be cheap and easy to hide; (3) therefore lack of insight into the other parties' capabilities can tempt players to arm out of caution or to launch preemptive strikes; (4) molecular manufacturing may reduce dependency on international trade, a potential peace-promoting factor; (5) wars of aggression may pose a smaller economic threat to the aggressor since manufacturing is cheap and humans may not be needed on the battlefield.Self-regulation by all state and non-state actors has been called hard to achieve, so measures to mitigate war-related risks have mainly been proposed in the area of international cooperation. International infrastructure may be expanded giving more sovereignty to the international level. This could help coordinate efforts for arms control. Some have put forth that international institutions dedicated specifically to nanotechnology (perhaps analogously to the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA) or general arms control may also be designed. One may also jointly make differential technological progress on defensive technologies. The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology also suggest some technical restrictions. Improved transparency regarding technological capabilities may be another important facilitator for arms-control.
Intellectual property issues
On the structural level, critics of nanotechnology point to a new world of ownership and corporate control opened up by nanotechnology. The claim is that, just as biotechnology's ability to manipulate genes went hand in hand with the patenting of life, so too nanotechnology's ability to manipulate molecules has led to the patenting of matter. The last few years has seen a gold rush to claim patents at the nanoscale. Academics have warned that the resultant patent thicket is harming progress in the technology and have argued in the top journal Nature that there should be a moratorium on patents on "building block" nanotechnologies. Over 800 nano-related patents were granted in 2003, and the numbers are increasing year to year. Corporations are already taking out broad-ranging patents on nanoscale discoveries and inventions. For example, two corporations, NEC and IBM, hold the basic patents on carbon nanotubes, one of the current cornerstones of nanotechnology. Carbon nanotubes have a wide range of uses, and look set to become crucial to several industries from electronics and computers, to strengthened materials to drug delivery and diagnostics. Carbon nanotubes are poised to become a major traded commodity with the potential to replace major conventional raw materials. However, as their use expands, anyone seeking to (legally) manufacture or sell carbon nanotubes, no matter what the application, must first buy a license from NEC or IBM. [2][3]
The United States' essential facilities doctrine may be of importance as well as other anti-trust laws.
Potential benefits and risks for developing countries
Nanotechnologies may provide new solutions for the millions of people in developing countries who lack access to basic services, such as safe water, reliable energy, health care, and education. The United Nations has set Millennium Development Goals for meeting these needs. The 2004 UN Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation noted that some of the advantages of nanotechnology include production using little labor, land, or maintenance, high productivity, low cost, and modest requirements for materials and energy.
Many developing countries, for example Costa Rica, Chile, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia, are investing considerable resources in research and development of nanotechnologies. Emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa are spending millions of US dollars annually on R&D, and are rapidly increasing their scientific output as demonstrated by their increasing numbers of publications in peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Potential opportunities of nanotechnologies to help address critical international development priorities include improved water purification systems, energy systems, medicine and pharmaceuticals, food production and nutrition, and information and communications technologies. Nanotechnologies are already incorporated in products that are on the market. Other nanotechnologies are still in the research phase, while others are concepts that are years or decades away from development.
Applying nanotechnologies in developing countries raises similar questions about the environmental, health, and societal risks described in the previous section. Additional challenges have been raised regarding the linkages between nanotechnology and development.
Protection of the environment, human health and worker safety in developing countries often suffers from a combination of factors that can include but are not limited to lack of robust environmental, human health, and worker safety regulations; poorly or unenforced regulation which is linked to a lack of physical (e.g., equipment) and human capacity (i.e., properly trained regulatory staff). Often, these nations require assistance, particularly financial assistance, to develop the scientific and institutional capacity to adequately assess and manage risks, including the necessary infrastructure such as laboratories and technology for detection.
Very little is known about the risks and broader impacts of nanotechnology. At a time of great uncertainty over the impacts of nanotechnology it will be challenging for governments, companies, civil society organizations, and the general public in developing countries, as in developed countries, to make decisions about the governance of nanotechnology.
Companies, and to a lesser extent governments and universities, are receiving patents on nanotechnology. The rapid increase in patenting of nanotechnology is illustrated by the fact that in the US, there were 500 nanotechnology patent applications in 1998 and 1,300 in 2000. Some patents are very broadly defined, which has raised concern among some groups that the rush to patent could slow innovation and drive up costs of products, thus reducing the potential for innovations that could benefit low income populations in developing countries.
There is a clear link between commodities and poverty. Many least developed countries are dependent on a few commodities for employment, government revenue, and export earnings. Many applications of nanotechnology are being developed that could impact global demand for specific commodities. For instance, certain nanoscale materials could enhance the strength and durability of rubber, which might eventually lead to a decrease in demand for natural rubber. Other nanotechnology applications may result in increases in demand for certain commodities. For example, demand for titanium may increase as a result of new uses for nanoscale titanium oxides, such as titanium dioxide nanotubes that can be used to produce and store hydrogen for use as fuel. Various organizations have called for international dialogue on mechanisms that will allow developing countries to anticipate and proactively adjust to these changes.
In 2003, Meridian Institute began the Global Dialogue on Nanotechnology and the Poor: Opportunities and Risks (GDNP) to raise awareness of the opportunities and risks of nanotechnology for developing countries, close the gaps within and between sectors of society to catalyze actions that address specific opportunities and risks of nanotechnology for developing countries, and identify ways that science and technology can play an appropriate role in the development process. The GDNP has released several publicly accessible papers on nanotechnology and development, including "Nanotechnology and the Poor: Opportunities and Risks - Closing the Gaps Within and Between Sectors of Society"; "Nanotechnology, Water, and Development"; and "Overview and Comparison of Conventional and Nano-Based Water Treatment Technologies".
Social justice and civil liberties
Concerns are frequently raised that the claimed benefits of nanotechnology will not be evenly distributed, and that any benefits (including technical and/or economic) associated with nanotechnology will only reach affluent nations. The majority of nanotechnology research and development - and patents for nanomaterials and products - is concentrated in developed countries (including the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada and France). In addition, most patents related to nanotechnology are concentrated amongst few multinational corporations, including IBM, Micron Technologies, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. This has led to fears that it will be unlikely that developing countries will have access to the infrastructure, funding and human resources required to support nanotechnology research and development, and that this is likely to exacerbate such inequalities.
Producers in developing countries could also be disadvantaged by the replacement of natural products (including rubber, cotton, coffee and tea) by developments in nanotechnology. These natural products are important export crops for developing countries, and many farmers' livelihoods depend on them. It has been argued that their substitution with industrial nano-products could negatively impact the economies of developing countries, that have traditionally relied on these export crops.It is proposed that nanotechnology can only be effective in alleviating poverty and aid development "when adapted to social, cultural and local institutional contexts, and chosen and designed with the active participation by citizens right from the commencement point" (Invernizzi et al. 2008, p. 132).
Effects on laborers
Ray Kurzweil has speculated in The Singularity is Near that people who work in unskilled labor jobs for a livelihood may become the first human workers to be displaced by the constant use of nanotechnology in the workplace, noting that layoffs often affect the jobs based around the lowest technology level before attacking jobs with the highest technology level possible. It has been noted that every major economic era has stimulated a global revolution both in the kinds of jobs that are available to people and the kind of training they need to achieve these jobs, and there is concern that the world's educational systems have lagged behind in preparing students for the "Nanotech Age".It has also been speculated that nanotechnology may give rise to nanofactories which may have superior capabilities to conventional factories due to their small carbon and physical footprint on the global and regional environment. The miniaturization and transformation of the multi-acre conventional factory into the nanofactory may not interfere with their ability to deliver a high quality product; the product may be of even greater quality due to the lack of human errors in the production stages. Nanofactory systems may use precise atomic positioning and contribute to making superior quality products that the "bulk chemistry" method used in 20th century and early 21st currently cannot produce. These advances might shift the computerized workforce in an even more complex direction, requiring skills in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics.
Ethical ramifications of nanotechnology
The ethics of nanotechnology are hard to discuss since the risk have not been verified or quantified to great extent. But these discussions are needed to deal with the rapid and development of this new technology. Scientist must be aware of the potential risks and benefits to not just the scientific community but society as a whole. The reason behind the emergence of Nano-ethics is the idea of using nanotechnology on humans and the environment to enhance or evolve. Scientist who work in nano tech are both the most optimistic about its progress and worried for its risks on society, though most coming into nanotechnology have no introduction to the ethics.The advancement of science helped focus research into nanotechnology, soon the price of nano based material grew exponentially and funding was being given to its research. Though claims about its harmful affects also increased as did the concern of its effect on society. Laws were then made to monitor nano technology and make sure ethical, environmental and societal concerns were ingrained. Research programs and funding were encouraged internationally.
== References == |
coastal development hazards | A coastal development hazard is something that affects the natural environment by human activities and products. As coasts become more developed, the vulnerability component of the equation increases as there is more value at risk to the hazard. The likelihood component of the equation also increases in terms of there being more value on the coast so a higher chance of hazardous situation occurring. Fundamentally humans create hazards with their presence. In a coastal example, erosion is a process that happens naturally on the Canterbury Bight as a part of the coastal geomorphology of the area and strong long shore currents. This process becomes a hazard when humans interact with that coastal environment by developing it and creating value in that area.
A natural hazard is defined as the release of energy or materials that threaten humans or what they value. In a coastal context these hazards vary temporally and spatially from a rare, sudden, massive release of energy and materials such as a major storm event or tsunami, to the continual chronic release of energy and materials such long-term coastal erosion or sea-level rise. It is this type coastal hazard, specifically around erosion and attributes surrounding erosion that this article will focus on.
Coastal population growth and development on coasts
Globally, the number of people living on the coast is increasing. It has been stated that there has been over a 35% increase in the population of people living on the coasts since 1995. The average density of people in coastal regions is 3 times higher than the global average density. Historically, city development, especially large cities, was based on coasts due to the economic benefits of the ports. In 1950, there were only 2 megacities (cities with greater than 8 million people) in the coastal zone, London and New York City. By the mid-nineties, there were 13. Although coastal areas have globally shown population growth and increases in density, very few in-depth quantitative global studies of population have been carried out, especially in terms of distribution across specific environs, like coasts. The spatial distribution and accuracy of global data must be significantly improved before realistic quantitative assessments of the global impacts of coastal hazards can be made, as currently much of the data is collected and analysed in the aftermath of disasters.On the heavily developed East Coast of USA, a strong correlation exists between human development, determined by satellite imagery, and reduced rates of erosion, even when studied at regional scales. A combination of the relative permanence of urban infrastructure and coastal defense efforts made to protect such infrastructure is likely the cause of such a relationship. Even after destructive storm events, evidence suggest that US East and Gulf Coast communities tend to rebuild homes and structures that are larger than before the event.Historical studies have put estimates of the number of deaths due to cyclones over the last 200 years around the Bay of Bengal exceeding 1.3 million. However, in developed countries, as can be expected, the death toll is significantly lower but the economic losses due to coastal hazards are increasing. The US for example had major losses through Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida and Louisiana in 1992.This rushing to the coast is exhibited in property value. A study by Bourassa et al. (2004) found that in Auckland, New Zealand, wide sea views contributed on average an additional 59% to the value of a waterfront property. This effect diminished rapidly the further the property was from the coast. In another study, it was found that moving 150 m away from the Gulf of Mexico lowered property values by 36%.Insurance premiums in coastal hazard areas are an inconsequential determinant of property values, given the significant amenity values provided by the coast in terms of views and local recreation. Sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and the exacerbating interaction between these two natural phenomena are likely to pose a significant threat for the loss of capital assets in coastal areas in the future. It is hard to say if the vulnerability to coastal hazards by those residing there is perceived, yet dominated by the amenity value of coasts, or simply ignored.
Coastal erosion hazards
Coastal erosion is one of the most significant hazards associated with the coast. Not in terms of a rare massive release of energy or material resulting in loss of life, as is associated with tsunami and cyclones, but in terms of a continual chronic release that forms a threat to infrastructure, capital assets and property.
Beach erosion process
Storm induced large erosion events are a part of the natural evolutionary process of fine sediment, gently sloping beaches. Increased wave energy in storms leads to the removal of foreshore, berm and dune sediments. These displaced sediments are then deposited as near shore sand bars and act to dampen the wave energy lessoning the amount of sediment that is being eroded from the coast. When wave energies decrease post storm events, the sediments from these newly deposited near shore bars are returned to the upper beach, rebuilding the berm. This self-correcting cycle is an active balance between wave energies and fine sediment deposition. This store of sediment being available for erosion in storms and re-depositing when the event has subsided is an important natural buffer mechanism against protecting the mainland from erosion and minimising coastal retreat.
Dune destruction
Sand dunes are very dynamic fragile structures that act as stores of sediment used to carry out the coastal processes mentioned above. This removal of the upper beach sediments is important from a hazard perspective as this is the area of the coast that is often utilised for property development due to the high prices sea front properties with a view can achieve. In Pegasus Bay, New Zealand, storm events in 1978 and 2001 caused significant erosion of the New Brighton and Waimairi sand beaches. In the 1978 storm event houses on the seaward side of the New Brighton Spit suffered from undercutting as the dune sediment in which they were built on was eroded by high wave energy. This same storm event caused similar erosion damage to houses built on the upper dunes in Raumati Beach, on the west coast of the North Island, New Zealand. Bulldozing and bulk removal of sand from protective coastal dunes is therefore an extremely hazardous activity, and one that has been widely carried out in New Zealand in order to form a surface on which to build on to obtain sea views.
Canterbury bight
In Kirk (2001) coastal erosion on the Canterbury bight, South Canterbury was said to have reached up to 8 m per year. This coastal process could be measured in more ways than one, the aforementioned distance of coastal retreat or the decreased dollar value of developed assets, land and infrastructure that are at risk. To date, erosion on the Canterbury Bight has led to the loss of agricultural land, threatened valuable infrastructure including holiday settlements, and reduced coastal lagoons and wetlands.Historically, erosion on the Canterbury Bight was a natural process, but has now been exacerbated by human intervention. The Waitaki River was the dominant source of sediments for the beaches between Oamaru and Timaru. Since the damming of the Waitaki River in 1935 erosion of the coastal cliffs has become the primary source of sediment in the north flowing current moving up the coast of South Canterbury.
Erosion mitigation
Engineered structures
This destruction of sand dunes is often then mitigated with construction of seawalls, revetments and groynes in often futile attempts to prevent storm erosion hazards to unsuitably located assets and infrastructure on coasts. These engineered methods are commonly ineffective and frequently actually magnify the hazard or just move the hazard down coast. In Porthcawl, South Wales, a seawall constructed to stop erosion in 1887 was replaced in 1906, 1934 and finally in 1984 when the beach was paved as each prior structure was undermined by further erosion. The loss of aesthetics due to the lack of a sand beach resulted in tourists utilising alternative beaches. Therefore, incurring an even greater economic loss on top of the cost of the engineering.
Restorative dune planting
The alternative to hard engineering measures is sand dune conservation. This involves protecting the sand dunes and allowing the natural buffering processes to occur. Dune protection and conservation can be facilitated in a number of ways, actively with dune planting and sand fencing, or with better planning by developing away from or well behind the dune structures not on them. On the New Brighton Spit the spread of marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) has resulted in effective dune stabilisation in areas. However this invasive exotic species has mostly replaced indigenous species like pingao (Desmoschoenus spiralis) meaning that although the stability of the coastal area has gained, the historic, native cultural values of the area have suffered.
Beach nourishment
A further soft-engineering method for protecting the shoreline is beach nourishment. The presence of beach nourishment has been correlated with increases in number of homes and home size along the coast of Florida, US, which ultimately leads to an increase in exposure to coastal hazards.Due to the cost of beach nourishment, this is a solution that has been used primarily for the benefit of the tourism industry. For example, erosion Miami Beach had almost no stored sediment left by the mid 1970s, consequently, visitor numbers declined and development of the area decreased. A beach nourishment program was set up resulting in an influx of development and infrastructure in the late 1970s. Miami Beach was rejuvenated to such an extent that annual revenue from foreign tourists alone is $2.4 billion, compared to the $52 million cost of the 20-year nourishment project. Tax revenue from tourists who visit Miami Beach alone more than covers the cost of beach nourishment projects across the nation. Using the capitalised annual cost of the project, for every $1 that has been invested annually on the nourishment, Miami Beach has received almost $500 annually in foreign exchange.
See also
== References == |
nanotechnology in agriculture | Research has shown nanoparticles to be a groundbreaking tool for tackling many arising global issues, the agricultural industry being no exception. In general, a nanoparticle is defined as any particle where one characteristic dimension is 100nm or less. Because of their unique size, these particles begin to exhibit properties that their larger counterparts may not. Due to their scale, quantum mechanical interactions become more important than classic mechanical forces, allowing for the prevalence of unique physical and chemical properties due to their extremely high surface-to-body ratio. Properties such as cation exchange capacity, enhanced diffusion, ion adsorption, and complexation are enhanced when operating at nanoscale.This is primarily the consequence of a high proportion of atoms being present on the surface, with an increased proportion of sites operating at higher reactivities with respect to processes such as adsorption processes and electrochemical interactions. Nanoparticles are promising candidates for implementation in agriculture. Because many organic functions such as ion exchange and plant gene expression operate on small scales, nanomaterials offer a toolset that works at just the right scale to provide efficient, targeted delivery to living cells.
Current areas of focus of nanotechnology development in the agricultural industry include development of environmentally conscious nano fertilizers to provide efficient ion, and nutrient delivery into plant cells, and plant gene transformations to produce plants with desirable genes such as drought resistance and accelerated growth cycles. With the global population on the rise, it is necessary to make advancements in sustainable farming methods that generate higher yields in order to meet the rising food demand. However, it must be done without generating long-term consequences such as depletion of arable land or water sources, toxic runoff, or bioaccumulative toxicity. In order to meet these demands, research is being done into the incorporation of nanotechnology agriculture.
Nano-fertilizers
One area of active research in this field is the use of nanofertilizers. Because of the aforementioned special properties of nanoparticles, nanofertilizers can be tuned to have specialized delivery to plants. Conventional fertilizers can be dangerous to the environment because of the sheer amount of runoff that stems from their use. Having a detrimental effect on everything from water quality to air particulate matter, being able to negate runoff from agriculture is extremely important for improving quality of life around the world for millions. For example, runoff from sugar plantations in Florida has spawned the infamous algae bloom called "red tide" in water tributaries across the state, creating respiratory issues in humans and killing vital ecosystems for years.Studies have shown that, in most cases, greater than 50% of the amount of fertilizer applied to soil is lost to the environment, in some cases up to 90%. As mentioned before, this poses extremely negative environmental implications, while also demonstrating the high waste associated with conventional fertilizers. On the other hand, nanofertilizers are able to amend this issue because of their high absorption efficiency into the targeted plant- which is owed to their remarkably high surface area to volume ratios. In a study done on the use of phosphorus nano-fertilizers, absorption efficiencies of up to 90.6% were achieved, making them a highly desirable fertilizer material. Another beneficial aspect of using nanofertilizers is the ability to provide slow release of nutrients into the plant over a 40-50 day time period, rather than the 4-10 day period of conventional fertilizers. This again proves to be beneficial economically, requiring less resources to be devoted to fertilizer transport, and less amount of total fertilizer needed.
As expected with greater ability for nutrient uptake, crops have been found to exhibit greater health when using nanofertilizers over conventional ones. One study analyzed the effect of a potato-specific nano fertilizer composed of a variety of elements including K, P, N, and Mg, in comparison to a control group using their conventional counterparts. The study found that the potato crop which used the nano-fertilizer had an increased crop yield in comparison to the control, as well as more efficient water use and agronomic efficiency, defined as units of yield increased per unit of nutrient applied. In addition, the study found that the nano fertilized potatoes had a higher nutrient content, such as increased starch and ascorbic acid content. Another study analyzed the use of iron-based nanofertilizers in black eyed peas, and determined that root stability increased dramatically in the use of nano fertilizer, as well as chlorophyll content in leaves, thus improving photosynthesis. A different study found that zinc nanofertilizers enhanced photosynthesis rate in maize crops, measured through soluble carbohydrate concentration, likely as a result of the role of zinc in the photosynthesis process.Much work needs to be done in the future to make nanofertilizers a consistent, viable alternative to conventional fertilizers. Effective legislation needs to be drafted regulating the use of nanofertilizers, drafting standards for consistent quality and targeted release of nutrients. Further, more studies need to be done to understand the full benefits and potential downsides of nanofertilizers, to gain the full picture in approach of using nanotechnology to benefit agriculture in an ever-changing world.
Nanotechnology in plant transformations
Nanotechnology has played a pivotal role in the field of genetic engineering and plant transformations, making it a desirable candidate in the optimization and manipulation of cultivated plants. In the past, most genetic modifications to plants have been done with Agrobacterium, or utilising tools such as the gene gun (biolistics); however, these older methods of gene implementation face roadblocks due to low species compatibility lack of versatility/compatibility with Chloroplastial/Mitochondrial gene transformations, and potential for cell or organelle damage (due to impact of biolistics). While biolistics and Agrobacterium are useful in specific species of plants- more refined approaches are being explored through the utilisation of nanomaterials- allowing for a less invasive and forced delivery approach. These methods utilise Carbon Nanotube (CNT) and various porous nanoparticle (NP) enabled delivery methods, which may allow for higher-throughput plant transformation- while also circumventing legal GMO restrictions. The research of non-incorporative/DNA-Free genetic modifications has become a very important field of study, since traditional methods of plant transformation (agrobacterium and biolistics) risk DNA incorporation in the plant genome, thus making them transgenic and qualifying them as a GMO.A novel strategy utilizes highly-tailorable diffusion based nanocarriers for the delivery of genetic material, allowing for non-transgenic, non-destructive plant transformation. The method specificity is highly dependent on the properties of the material utilized, with key factors including size, polarity, and surface chemistry. Some approaches to diffusion based delivery have used Nano-Structured-DNA, carbon nanotubes, and other nanoparticles as vesicles for the delivery of genetic information. . These methods typically rely on functionalization of the surface or manipulation of porosity of a nanocarrier in order to optimize the loading and delivery of genetic information. DNA nanostructures have been shown to be a highly programmable modality in terms of delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA), exploring the optimal design parameters necessary for plant cell internalization. A recent study utilizing DNA loaded CNTs was able to successfully express desired traits in various mature model plant systems- and even isolated Eruca sativa protoplasts while managing to protect and maintain the fidelity of the transferred genetic material. Lastly, porous nanoparticles have been shown to be an effective DNA delivering agent for plant transformations- with efficiency depending on pore size and strand length. All in all, these diffusion based gene transformation methodologies offer a cheaper mode of plant gene transformation with lower impact to plant tissue, lower transformation efficiencies, and little to no risk of DNA incorporation.
Biolistics is the primary approach to plant transformation. The biolistic process involves launching microprojectiles (usually gold microparticles) carrying genetic information through the cell walls and membranes of cells to impart genetic transformation. As previously mentioned, biolistics may result in damaging the targeted cells or organelles- thus in order to minimize potential cell damage, nano-biolistic methods have been developed. Due to the significantly reduced size of the particle being launched into the cell, the impact can be minimized, while offering a similar efficiency of genetic transformation as traditional biolistics. However, most studies utilizing nanoscale biolistic approaches are done with animal cells, so implementation in plant transformation is still fairly novel and may encounter roadblocks unseen in animal cell studies.Overall, nanotechnology provides a novel and competitive approach to genetic transformation of plants. Going forward, future research into the applications of these approaches will span a greater variety of crops, aim to utilize cheaper, more scalable methods, and explore potential environmental effects. Ultimately, once these design criteria will determine whether nanomaterial plant transformations will become a widespread practice in the future of agriculture.
Public opinion
In recent years, as applications of nanotechnology have exhibited promise in many fields of study, an increasing number of government, scientific, and independent institutional bodies have seen the potential of nanotechnology in making significant contributions to alleviating the burden of the global food supply. Current public views on nanotechnology development in the agricultural industry are mixed. With consideration of the potential hazards in conjunction with the potential benefits, the current public opinion appears to be relatively neutral as critics see the technology as less risky, and more beneficial than a number of other technologies such as pesticides and chemical disinfectants; however, it is perceived as riskier and less beneficial than solar technologies and vaccinations.Among the general public, there still exists negative connotations related to fertilizers and genetic modification of living organisms. Concerns that despite the benefit of higher yields and shorter growing cycles, fertilizers are associated with toxic runoff that contaminate sources of water and can lead to the generation of acid rain. Additionally, there exists the unfounded fear that consumption of genetically modified foods is 'unnatural' and dangerous , which has led to numerous legislative efforts- limiting the field to non-transgenic transformations. While the majority of public fears and concerns are unfounded, it is more the result of poor communication and lack of public awareness related to the issue of introducing novel technology to a traditional industry such as agriculture. Ultimately the production of clean and healthy food is considered by many to be of high importance, simply due to the high frequency of consumption and intimate relation people have with the food they consume.
== References == |
shasta dam | Shasta Dam (called Kennett Dam before its construction) is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River in Northern California in the United States. At 602 feet (183 m) high, it is the eighth-tallest dam in the United States. Located at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, Shasta Dam creates Shasta Lake for long-term water storage, flood control, hydroelectricity and protection against the intrusion of saline water. The largest reservoir in the state, Shasta Lake can hold about 4,500,000 acre-feet (5,600 GL).Envisioned as early as 1919 as an effort to conserve, control, store, and distribute water to the Central Valley, California's main agricultural region, Shasta was first authorized in the 1930s as a state undertaking. However, bonds did not sell due to the onset of the Great Depression and Shasta was transferred to the federal Bureau of Reclamation as a public works project. Construction started in earnest in 1937 under the supervision of Chief Engineer Frank Crowe. During its building, the dam provided thousands of much-needed jobs; it was finished twenty-six months ahead of schedule in 1945. When completed, the dam was the second-tallest in the United States after Hoover, and was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of all time.
Even before its dedication, Shasta Dam served an important role in World War II providing electricity to California factories, and still plays a vital part in the management of state water resources today. However, it has greatly changed the environment and ecology of the Sacramento River, and flooded sacred Native American tribal lands. In recent years, there has been debate over whether or not to raise the dam in order to allow for increased water storage and power generation. This would produce more low carbon electricity, but is opposed by tribes and fish advocates because of negative impacts from water diversions from river flows and impacts on endangered species.
History
Early proposals
In the late 19th century, the Central Valley was the main destination for large numbers of immigrants traveling into California from the eastern United States. The valley's land was coveted for farming due to its fertile soils, mild climate, gentle topography, and abundant water. The Sacramento River flows south through the northern third of the valley, known as the Sacramento Valley, for 400 miles (640 km) before emptying into a vast estuary, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. By the late 1800s, both the valley and Delta regions were intensely cultivated with various crops including wheat, cotton, rice, citrus, and melons.The low-lying topography of the Sacramento Valley makes it vulnerable to flooding in the winter; conversely, irrigation is necessary during the summer due to the highly seasonal precipitation. Although the Sacramento River discharges nearly 22.4 million acre-feet (27,600 GL) of water each year, most of the flow occurs during winter storms and spring snowmelt, with natural runoff reducing to a trickle during late summers and autumns of drought years. As farming increased, low river flows dropped even lower, leading to saltwater intrusion from San Francisco Bay into the Delta. This caused water shortages for Delta farms, and led to a teredo (saltwater worm) infestation between 1919 and 1924 that destroyed piers and ships in Suisun Bay.In a bid to solve the salinity problem, local residents proposed constructing a tidal barrage across the mouth of Suisun Bay, a project which was never realized. In 1919 a different solution came in the form of the Marshall Plan, created by Robert Marshall of the United States Geological Survey. It proposed a large dam across the Sacramento River just downstream of its confluence with the Pit River near the copper mining town of Kennett, several hundred miles to the north of the Delta. The dam would store water for release during the dry months when the Delta was most vulnerable to saltwater intrusion, with the added benefit of controlling floods in the winter. Water captured by the dam would increase the irrigation supply, for both the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin Valley further south, with which it would be linked by an extensive aqueduct and reservoir system.
State Water Plan and the CVP
The Marshall Plan was not widely supported due to its high cost (about $800 million in 2008 dollars); when proposed to Congress in 1921, it passed in the Senate but failed in the House of Representatives. However, the state of California continued to search for a solution. In 1931, State Engineer Edward Hyatt published a similar but less extensive proposal called the State Water Plan, with a projected cost of about $550 million. Including the dam at Kennett and aqueducts from the Delta southwards into the arid San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles Basin, Hyatt's scheme laid the foundations for both the present day Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California State Water Project (SWP).
Initially, the state of California intended to finance the project entirely on its own through the sale of revenue bonds. However, the 1930s were a time of economic crisis with the onset of the Great Depression and a severe drought that devastated the agricultural sector, pushing the unemployment rate in California up to 20 percent. The project was approved in the state legislature by a slim margin, mostly riding on Central and Northern California voters, who needed both the jobs and the water. Southern California generally opposed the project because they needed money to build an aqueduct to the Colorado River, from which the state had previously secured rights. In 1933, the state authorized the sale of bonds to fund the Central Valley Project, whose main component was to be Shasta Dam. Unable to raise the necessary money, California turned to the federal government for help.In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the Central Valley Project as part of the New Deal. The construction works at Shasta Dam and other parts of the project would provide thousands of much-needed jobs, contributing a major portion of the Depression era federal job-creation programs. Roosevelt first considered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for building the project, but ultimately transferred it to the Reclamation Service, the precursor to the Bureau of Reclamation, which had expertise in building large concrete dams as demonstrated in the Hoover Dam (Boulder Canyon) Project several years earlier. Reclamation chose Frank Crowe, the superintendent of Hoover Dam construction, to direct operations at Shasta Dam.
Construction
Preparations and camps
The groundbreaking and official naming ceremony of Shasta Dam occurred on September 12, 1937 in the small town of Kennett shortly upstream of the dam. Congress initially approved $12 million for the project. Within five years Kennett would be submerged under the rising waters of Shasta Lake. The dam was initially known as Kennett Dam, but was eventually named after nearby Mount Shasta. After surveying several nearby sites, the Bureau of Reclamation chose to build the dam in a 1,000-foot (300 m) deep canyon about a mile above the abandoned smelter town of Coram and two-and-a-half miles below Kennett. The dam was planned to be over 800 feet (240 m) high. The winning bid of $35,939,450 for construction came from Pacific Constructors Inc., a conglomerate of twelve smaller companies.Construction started with the excavation of millions of tons of bedrock from the canyon walls adjacent to the construction site, forming keyways for the dam foundations. The Shasta Route of the Southern Pacific Railroad and U.S. Highway 99 (current Interstate 5) were rerouted to the east over the steel truss Pit River Bridge, which remains the tallest combined road and rail bridge in the world. The bridge was built to a height of more than 500 feet (150 m) above the Pit River, some 7 miles (11 km) east-northeast of the dam site, to accommodate the rising waters of Shasta Lake. The bypassed segment of the railroad from Redding to the Shasta site was re-appropriated as a branch line for construction trains, and was routed through a tunnel beneath the south abutment of the dam.Reclamation originally planned to set up the construction headquarters in Redding, but ultimately decided to move it closer to the dam site. The new company town, Toyon, was laid out on a farm purchased from Porter Seaman in 1938. Toyon served purely to provide housing for Reclamation personnel, government offices, and storage; no stores or restaurants were permitted within its boundaries. Instead of the tents and shacks typical of construction workers' camps, the town was characterized by comfortable multi-room wooden houses.
Pacific Constructors set up its main camp, called "Contractor's Camp" or "Shasta Dam Village", near the base of the Shasta Dam site. The company built a 2,000-man mess hall, hospital, recreation center and other amenities at the dam site. Three other makeshift camps nearby, called "Central Valley", "Project City", and "Summit City", soon filled with unemployed men from all over the state hoping to get jobs at Shasta Dam.
Foundations
In November 1938, construction started on a diversion channel that would shunt water to the east (left) side of the river so the foundations could be laid on the west side. The left bank of the river was widened and deepened using explosives, and a cofferdam was built to dry up the bypassed section. To supply sand and gravel to make concrete at the construction site, Pacific Constructors built the largest conveyor belt system in the world, 9.5 miles (15.3 km) long, that reached from Redding to the dam site. This was capable of transporting 1,100 tons of material per hour, and over the entire construction process, hauled more than 12 million tons of rock. The belt, which had some 16,000 rollers, was divided into 26 sections, 23 of which were powered by individual 200 horsepower (150 kW) motors. The remaining three were downhill and did not require power; in fact they were retrofitted to generate power for some of the other sections.As the foundations were completed, concrete placement of the main dam body could begin. For this purpose, a system of steel cable towers was erected to carry the steel concrete-pouring buckets. The tower setup comprised one main tower, standing 465 feet (142 m) high from its foundations and 700 feet (210 m) above the river, and seven movable auxiliary towers; cables were strung from the top of the main tower to each of the others. Using this system, construction crews were able to transport concrete from the mixing plant, which lay directly adjacent to the main tower at the end of the conveyor belt, to the rising structure of the dam faster and cheaper than any other method. The tower was not fully demolished, so it remains submerged behind the dam. On occasion, the lake level can drop low enough to expose it again.
Concrete placement and river diversion
Building of the dam's main concrete structure started in July 1940 after the cable systems had been completed and the mixing plant came on line. Steel buckets capable of carrying 8 cubic yards (6.1 m3) of concrete, weighing 16 tons when full, traveled back and forth along the lines. For three years, thousands of men labored building the dam's massive abutments, pouring concrete into large modular "blocks" 50 feet (15 m) square and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. These blocks were shaped using wooden forms, which were removed when the concrete dried and rebuilt to handle the next block above it. The concrete was "vibrated" into place using specialized equipment, which filled in any accidental cavities and bubbles to ensure maximum density and strength. After the concrete dried, the surface was cleaned and smoothed by sandblasting. At the same time, the railroad that ran through the temporary 1,800-foot (550 m) tunnel on the west side of the river was rerouted.In December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to enter into World War II. With thousands of men enlisting in the armed forces, the Shasta Dam site soon had a severe labor shortage. During the war years, many of the people who worked at the dam were women and high school students, working on mostly "non-hazardous jobs". The dam played an important part in World War II even before its completion, supplying much-needed electricity to shipyards and aircraft factories in central California. However, some generators originally intended for Shasta ended up in the Grand Coulee Dam in northern Washington because of the enormous demand for electricity from that dam to power aluminum smelters in the Northwest. The strained supplies and labor forced Reclamation to cut the final height of the dam from 800 feet (240 m) to 602 feet (183 m).With the tunnel cleared, it was resurfaced and modified to accommodate the force of a river instead of a railroad. Until this time, the Sacramento River had still been flowing through the middle of the dam site, between the two nearly completed abutments of the dam. An earth/rock filled cofferdam was constructed across the river, which now began to flow through the tunnel, drying out the dam site and enabling work to begin on the middle section of the dam, which contained the spillway bays. The spillways with their 18 high-pressure river outlet valves and massive triple drum gates were completed in the summer of 1943. By then, a total of 15 million tons of concrete had been used in the dam's construction, comprising the 16,900 50-foot blocks.
Completion
Water storage at the Shasta Dam began in February 1944 when the diversion tunnel was sealed. As the lake rose behind it, the dam was completed to its final shape and the last bucket of concrete was poured on January 2, 1945. During this time, the Shasta Dam powerplant, with a capacity of 379 MW, was also under construction. Five steel penstocks, each 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter, were installed to provide water to drive the turbines in the power station. The powerhouse was a reinforced concrete structure standing 153 feet (47 m) above the river; electricity was first generated there in 1944. The dam was completed at the dawn of 1945.When Shasta was completed, it was the second highest dam in the world – surpassed only by Hoover Dam on the Colorado – as well as the highest man-made structure in California. It was also the second most massive concrete dam measured by volume, exceeded only by Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington. An anonymous workman reportedly said, "Old Shasta's about the secondest dam there is." When the dam was completed, chief engineer Frank Crowe is known to have declared, "Look at that Shasta Dam. That dam will stand there forever holding back the river. And that powerhouse will keep right on turning out juice until somebody discovers how to make power out of sunlight."
Design and operations
Shasta Dam serves mainly to provide flood control and carryover water storage for the dry season, contributing greatly to irrigation in the Sacramento Valley and navigation on the Sacramento River, as well as keeping freshwater levels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta high enough for diversion into the California Aqueduct and Delta-Mendota Canal. The dam's other major purpose is to generate hydroelectricity. With a hydraulic head of 330 feet (100 m), the dam is capable of generating 676 megawatts (MW) from five turbines – a pair of 125 MW units and three 142 MW units. Each of the turbines is driven by a high-pressure jet of water fed by a steel penstock 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter. Two smaller turbines generate power for operations at the dam itself. The plant serves to generate peaking power for the northern Sacramento Valley. Keswick Dam, about 9 miles (14 km) downstream, serves as an afterbay for Shasta, regulating its fluctuating water releases.A gravity structure, the dam stands 602 feet (183 m) above the foundations with a maximum height of 522.5 feet (159.3 m) above the river. It is 3,460 feet (1,050 m) long, with a maximum thickness of 543 feet (166 m); altogether the dam contains 6,270,000 cubic yards (4,790,000 m3) of material. The dam can release floodwaters through a system of eighteen outlet valves on the face of the spillway. These valves are arranged in three levels, each cutting through the main dam structure and discharging onto the face of the spillway. The upper level has six outlets, each with a capacity of 6,534 cubic feet per second (185.0 m3/s). The middle layer has eight conduits capable of carrying 3,100 cubic feet per second (88 m3/s) and the lowest has four exits each able to discharge 4,450 cubic feet per second (126 m3/s) for a total of 81,800 cubic feet per second (2,320 m3/s). The spillway is a massive concrete chute, 487 feet (148 m) long and 375 feet (114 m) wide, controlled by three 110-foot (34 m)-wide drum gates each weighing 500 US tons (454 t). When the reservoir is full, the gates cannot entirely prevent leakage but can raise the water level up to 28 feet (8.5 m) above the spillway crest. The spillway has a capacity of 186,000 cubic feet per second (5,300 m3/s), bringing the dam's maximum overflow rate to 267,800 cubic feet per second (7,580 m3/s).
The dam forms a reservoir called Shasta Lake, which is the largest man-made lake and third largest body of water in California with its capacity of 4,552,000 acre-feet (5,615 GL) and surface area of 29,740 acres (12,040 ha) at maximum pool. The lake extends for 15.3 miles (24.6 km) up the Sacramento River and branches for more than 21 miles (34 km) up the Pit River, which is actually the largest river flowing into the lake. Shasta Lake also has arms of the McCloud River, Squaw Creek, Salt Creek, and scores of other smaller streams that feed it. Shasta Dam controls runoff from a drainage basin of 6,665 square miles (17,260 km2), or about a quarter of the 27,580-square-mile (71,400 km2) Sacramento River watershed.
Future expansion
In the 1990s, with skyrocketing water shortages in the Central Valley and some of California's largest agricultural coalitions including the Westlands Water District calling for a more dependable water supply, the Bureau of Reclamation suggested the expansion of Shasta Dam. The expansion is considered feasible because the dam's foundations were originally built to carry the weight of an 800-foot (240 m) structure, but resources shortages at the onset of World War II prevented completing it to that final design height.Reclamation has suggested three options for the dam raise, ranging from less than 20 feet (6.1 m) to more than 200 feet (61 m). The "low option", which simply comprises adding a vertical concrete dike to the top of the dam, would provide maximum additional storage while minimizing requirements for reconstruction of buildings and facilities around Shasta Lake. The "intermediate option" would require adding more than 100 feet (30 m) to the crest and replacing the elevator towers on the front of the dam, and the Pit River Bridge and small towns around the lake, if not modified or moved, would be inundated. Finally, the "high option" would raise the dam over 200 feet (61 m), tripling the volume and doubling the surface area of the reservoir. Both the intermediate and high options would require saddle dams constructed at key points along the lake to keep it from overflowing.The intermediate and high dam raises would allow for increased generation of hydropower. Each would require the construction of a new powerhouse to accommodate five new turbines; for the intermediate expansion, five 215-MW generators would be added for a total capacity of 1,751 MW, while for the high one, there would be five new 260-MW units for a maximum capacity of 1,976 MW. Downstream Keswick Dam would also be raised and its power station retrofitted to accommodate the greater peaking releases from Shasta.
The proposed dam raise has met with significant backlash from area inhabitants, fishermen, Native Americans, recreationalists and environmentalists. First of all, with any increase to the dam's height, significant reaches of the Pit, Sacramento, and McCloud Rivers would be inundated. The McCloud is an area of special interest because it is one of California's best trout fisheries and because many sacred Native American sites lie along its banks. Opponents of dam raise contend that it would cost more (starting with replacing over 600 structures that would be inundated under the lake including the Pit River Bridge) than its benefits. The water supplied from such a raise would be costly and could be saved if Central Valley farmers cut their water use by only a fraction. It would result in more problems for the ecology of the lower Sacramento, not least its dying salmon runs.One of the most important points made by dam expansion opponents is that raising the dam will not create more water (in fact it will actually cause some water loss due to evaporation) but merely increases the capacity to store it. As a result, the reservoir will rarely be filled, as no matter how much Reclamation expands the dam, the river's flow will not increase. The cost of the dam raise is projected at $500 million-$1 billion. One of the expansion's most staunch opponents is the Winnemem Wintu tribe, almost all of whose land was inundated by the construction of Shasta Dam. Raising the dam would destroy much of their little remaining land.Some progress has been made towards the dam expansion including for the completion of a costly EIR (Environment Impact Report) by the Bureau of Reclamation – and the purchase of over 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of land along the McCloud River by Westlands Irrigation District to help the Bureau gain rights to expand the dam; Westlands believes that the added storage of the dam would greatly benefit its farmers. As of 2007, the irrigation district has spent $35 million. However, Westlands has had a spotty record with environmental responsibility and has been criticized by environmentalists for high levels of pesticide and selenium in the toxic runoff waters from farms operating under the district.In November 2020, the Trump Administration released the Shasta Lake Water Resources Investigation Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to increase water storage capacity in Shasta Lake by 634,000 acre-feet, or more than 200 billion gallons.
Potential geologic hazards
In a draft geologic technical report prepared pursuant to the planning for modifications of Shasta Dam, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation cites (p. 27) six types of geologic hazards that have the potential to occur within the project area: seismic hazards, volcanic eruptions and associated hazards, mudflows, snow avalanches, slope instability, and seiches. Seismic hazards stem from the proximity of several fault zones, the nearest being the Battle Creek Fault Zone located approximately 27 miles south of the dam and capable of producing a 7.3 magnitude event. Volcanic hazards are Mount Shasta, Mount Lassen, and the Medicine Lake Highlands.
Criticism
Ecological effects
The Shasta Dam has had a severe negative effect on populations of Pacific salmon in the Sacramento River watershed ever since its gates were first closed in 1943. The massive structure completely prevents salmon migration from the lower reaches of the river to the Upper Sacramento, Pit, McCloud and other tributary streams. It is estimated that half of the best salmon habitat in the Sacramento basin lies upstream of Shasta Dam. Also, the dam caused temperatures in the river to rise because it released waters from higher elevations of Shasta Lake, which are warmed by the sun far more than the surface of the original river pre-dam. Warm waters are harmful to salmon, which prefer colder temperatures, and also impact other fish populations such as steelhead and wild California trout.In an attempt to save the plunging salmon populations, the federal government constructed the Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek in 1942. The hatchery is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Redding, and produces 13,850,000 eggs per year – nearly 87 percent of which are for the fall chinook salmon run. Another remedy was carried out by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1991, with the installation of a gigantic facility called a TCD (Temperature Control Device) on the rear face of Shasta Dam. This structure enables dam operators to decide the depth of the reservoir from which the water feeding into the penstocks originates. As one progresses deeper into Shasta Lake, the water gets colder where it receives less sunlight. The TCD is equipped with fifteen openings called "shutters" arranged in rows along the back face of the structure. The rows lie 1,022 feet (312 m), 922 feet (281 m), and 817 feet (249 m) above sea level. (The crest of Shasta Dam is at an elevation of 1,077 feet (328 m).) The system has shown significant success in reducing the temperature of the Sacramento River below the dam, although it does exhibit leakage.As for the health of the river overall, the dam has indirectly affected it by promoting the growth of cities and farms along it. However, construction of the dam also has had direct consequences to the morphology and vegetation zones along the river. By raising summer flows much higher than their natural average, and moderating the effects of most floods, the post-dam river supplies an even amount of water to the riparian zone each year, and resultantly vegetation has encroached on the river channel. The dam has vastly reduced the amount of sediment in the Sacramento, and the riverbanks now suffer decreased erosion, slowing the growth of meanders and side-channels. Additionally, nearly all the rock and sand used in the mixing of concrete for the dam was dredged from the river downstream of the dam, further depleting its sediment supply.
Wintu lands
Underneath the waters of Shasta Lake lie buried the traditional lands of the Winnemem Wintu, one of nine groups of the larger Wintu ethnicity of northern California. The Winnemem Wintu tribe is considered to be a ghost tribe because they are not a federally recognized tribe. It is estimated that the pre-colonization population of the valley was roughly 14,000; by 1900, due to diseases and settlers' encroachment it was reduced to 395. Of the men who survived out of the 395, many fought in the U.S. armed forces during World War II. When they returned in 1945, they found their family members driven out of their traditional villages by the rising waters of Shasta Lake. More than 90 percent of their original land was lost, and the ten percent that remains now lies along the lower McCloud River.On May 1 of 1941, the United States Congress passed the Central Valley Project Indian Lands Acquisition Act, to take ownership of the homes and lands of the Winnemem Wintu people. Scores of village sites, burial sites and other sacred locations now sit several hundred feet below the surface of Shasta Lake. Over 27 sacred sites lie underneath the water behind the dam. Tribal members argue that several reservation treaties originally set by the U.S. government in the 1850s were later broken so the filling of Shasta Lake could proceed; afterwards, only a tiny fraction of that land remained theirs. Furthermore, the Winnemem are not recognized by the federal government, an omission that they have been seeking to rectify for over a century. Recently, native hostility to the dam has heightened because of the proposals to raise it – which would drown twenty of the remaining sacred sites, including Children's Rock and Puberty Rock, both used in coming-of-age ceremonies, and a burial place for victims of the Kabyai Creek Massacre. The tribe conducted a war dance in September 2004 for the first time in 117 years in opposition of the dam and Reclamation's raising project; the event reputedly inspired many environmental groups to support the tribe's position.
Tours and recreation
Reclamation holds guided tours of the Shasta Dam year round, each taking two to three hours. There also are a visitor center and auditorium. The tours comprise a 428-foot (130 m) elevator ride to the base of the dam, and visits to the dam's inner galleries and the powerhouse among other areas. Shasta Lake has a surface of 30,310 acres (12,270 ha) at full pool and is surrounded by the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Many public and private marinas, campgrounds, RV parks, resorts and boat launches border the reservoir, one of the most popular recreational lakes in California. Houseboating, water-skiing, swimming and fishing are among the numerous activities available at the lake; hiking, picnicking, mountain biking, hunting and camping are popular in the mountainous vicinity surrounding it.
See also
California Aqueduct
Federal Power Commission v. Sierra Pacific Power Company
John L. Savage
List of dams and reservoirs in California
List of power stations in California
List of tallest dams in the world
List of the tallest dams in the United States
List of United States Bureau of Reclamation dams
New Deal
Water in California
References
Works cited
Benke, Arthur C.; Cushing, Colbert E. (2005). Rivers of North America. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-088253-1.
Billington, David P.; Jackson, Donald Conrad (2006). Big dams of the New Deal era: a confluence of engineering and politics. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3795-9.
Billington, David P.; Jackson, Donald Conrad; Melosi, Martin V. (2005). The History of Large Federal Dams: Planning, Design and Construction (PDF). Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-16-072823-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
de Roos, Robert William (2000). The Thirsty Land: The Story of the Central Valley Project. Beard Books. ISBN 1-58798-024-X.
Ferraro, Gary (2006). Cultural anthropology: an applied perspective. Cengage Learning. ISBN 0-495-10008-0.
Hundley, Norris (2001). The great thirst: Californians and water – a history. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22456-6.
Rocca, Al (2004). Redding. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2934-6.
Rocca, Al (2002). Shasta Lake: Boomtowns and the Building of Shasta Dam. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2076-4.
Stevens, Joseph E. (1990). Hoover Dam: An American Adventure. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2283-8.
Warner, Richard E.; Hendrix, Kathleen M. (1984). California riparian systems: ecology, conservation and productive management. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05035-5.
External links
Shasta Dam’s Full History Must Be Told |
sustainability studies | Sustainability studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the interdisciplinary perspective of the concept of sustainability. Programs include instruction in sustainable development, geography, environmental policies, ethics, ecology, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, economics, natural resources, sociology, and anthropology. Sustainability studies also focuses on the importance of climate change, poverty, social justice and environmental justice. Many universities across the world currently offer sustainability studies as a degree program. The main goal of sustainability studies is for students to find ways to develop novel solutions to environmental problems.
History
Towards the end of the 1980s, a new focus emerged globally on the importance of the environmental and ecological sustainability. In 1987 the Brundtland Report was delivered by the World Commission on Environment and Development. The commission was appointed to examine the consequences of global environmental change and was chaired by Norway’s Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland. It introduced the concept of sustainable development, defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Several definitions have been proposed since then (refer to (Pezzoli, 1997) among others) but after almost 20 years of debate a consensus that sustainability assessments ought to: integrate economic, environmental, social and increasingly institutional issues as well as to consider their interdependencies; consider the consequences of present actions well into the future; acknowledge the existence of uncertainties concerning the result of our present actions and act with a precautionary bias; engage the public; includes equity considerations (intragenerational and intergenerational). This report started a paradigm shift in which global actors began to engage in initiatives that sought to focus on sustainable development.
Five years after the report was launched, the UN Earth’s Summit in Rio adopted the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Five years later, this framework helped lead to the creation of the Kyoto Protocol, a plan in which rich nations pledged to reduce their carbon emissions. All countries that partook in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also signed up to the Kyoto Protocol. Unfortunately progress towards sustainability stalled when the Kyoto Protocol was never ratified by the United States, and other nations consequently ignored their pledges in the agreement.Recently, the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report that says “urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target” of keeping the global temperature at moderate levels. They state that countries must follow the Paris Agreement pledge to keep temperatures between 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius, otherwise the earth will faces extreme challenges from climate change, including the eradication of corals and the accelerated melting of Arctic ice caps. The IPCC also explained that a rise in temperatures would trigger catastrophic results in the form of intense natural disasters, unpredictable weather, and food shortages. In order to prevent this outcome governments would need to require a “supercharged roll-back of emissions courses that have built up over the past 250 years.” In order to do so developments in land use and technological changes are necessary. Carbon dioxide emissions would have to be cut by 45% by 2030 and come down to 0 by 2050. Although this would require carbon prices to be three to four times higher, the consequences of global warming at the current rate would be far more severe. The world is currently on course to reach 3 degrees Celsius of global warming, and scientists have 12 years to impose significant changes to prevent this from happening. This shift towards environmental protection demands a workforce that is more heavily dedicated to studying sustainable development, hence the growing importance of interdisciplinary studies. Individuals studying sustainable development could be focused on reducing the climate in which catastrophic global warming would take place and understanding how policy decisions link to other areas such as urban planning, sociology, economics and ecology.
Careers in sustainability studies
Sustainability studies emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to environmental problems, so it can lead into many future careers such as:
Law
Politics
Policy and Planning
Journalism
Business and Architectural Design
Marine Sciences
Sustainability Professionals
Urban planning
Agriculture
Pharmaceutical industry
Herbal MedicineProfessional in sustainability studies earn between $75,000 to $93,000, and is based on the average salaries of those in engineering and environmental sciences. Chief sustainability executives earn an average of $167,000.
See also
List of environmental degrees
== References == |
environmental migrant | Environmental migrants are people who are forced to leave their home region due to sudden or long-term changes to their local or regional environment. These changes compromise their well-being or livelihood, and include increased drought, desertification, sea level rise, and disruption of seasonal weather patterns (such as monsoons). Though there is no uniform, clear-cut definition of environmental migration, the idea is gaining attention as policy-makers and environmental and social scientists attempt to conceptualize the potential social effects of climate change and other environmental degradation, such a deforestation or overexploitation.
"Environmental migrant" and "climate migrant" (or "climate refugee") are used somewhat interchangeably with a range of similar terms, such as ecological refugee, environmental refugee, forced environmental migrant, environmentally motivated migrant, environmentally displaced person (EDP), disaster refugee, environmental displacee, eco-refugee, ecologically displaced person, or environmental-refugee-to-be (ERTB). The distinctions between these terms remain contested.
Definition and concept
The vast majority of people fleeing environmental distress migrate over short distances, often temporarily. Moreover, the refugees aren't leaving their homes because of fear they will be persecuted, or because of "generalized violence or events seriously disturbing public order." Even though the definition of who is a refugee was expanded since its first international and legally binding definition in 1951 people who are forced to flee due to environmental change are still not offered the same legal protection as refugees.The term "environmental refugee" was first proposed by Lester Brown in 1976. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) proposes the following definition for environmental migrants:
"Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, for compelling reasons of sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad."
Climate migrants are a subset of environmental migrants who were forced to flee "due to sudden or gradual alterations in the natural environment related to at least one of three impacts of climate change: sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and drought and water scarcity."
Types
The International Organisation for Migration proposes three types of environmental migrants:
Environmental emergency migrants: people who flee temporarily due to an environmental disaster or sudden environmental event. (Examples: someone forced to leave due to a hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, etc.)
Environmental forced migrants: people who have to leave due to deteriorating environmental conditions. (Example: someone forced to leave due to a slow deterioration of their environment such as deforestation, coastal deterioration, etc. The village of Satabhaya in the Kendrapara district of Odisha in India is “one of the foremost victims of coastal erosion and submergence due to rising sea levels”. The villagers were losing their homes to the encroaching sea and their cultivable lands to saline ingress, and were forced to migrate elsewhere. In Nepal, many villages in mass migration has been reported from Sivalik Hills / Chure regions due to water scarcity. Similarly, in eastern highland of Nepal 10 households in Chainpur, Sankhuwasabha, 25 households in Dharmadevi and 10 households in Panchkhapan have been forced to migrate due to water crises in their areas.
Environmental motivated migrants also known as environmentally induced economic migrants: people who choose to leave to avoid possible future problems. (Example: someone who leaves due to declining crop productivity caused by desertification. A study conducted between 2014 and 2018 reveals that a large proportion of the deltaic populations of Volta delta in Africa, the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna delta in Bangladesh and India, and Mahanadi delta in India cited economic reasons as a cause of their migration and only 2.8% cited environment reasons. But one third of migrant households perceived an increased exposure to environmental hazards and deltaic populations associated environmental factors with more insecure livelihoods. This shows how the environment is having a proximate effect on migration.)Other scholars have proposed various other types of migrant including:
Pressured environmental migrants – slow onset This type of migrant is displaced from their environment when an event is predicted prior to when it would be imperative for the inhabitants to leave. Such events could be desertification or prolonged drought, where the people of the region are no longer able to maintain farming or hunting to provide a hospitable living environment.
Imperative environmental migrants – gradual onset These are migrants that have been or will be "permanently displaced" from their homes due to environmental factors beyond their control.
Temporary environmental migrants – short term, sudden onset- This includes migrants suffering from a single event (i.e. Hurricane Katrina). This does not go to say that their status of being temporary is any less severe than that of the other, it simply means that they are able to go back to the place they fled from (though it may be undesirable to do so) granted that they are able to rebuild what was broken, and go on to maintain a similar quality of life to the one prior to the natural disaster. This type of migrant is displaced from their home state when their environment rapidly changes. They are displaced when disastrous events occur, such as tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters occur.
Global statistics
There have been a number of attempts over the decades to enumerate environmental migrants and refugees. Jodi Jacobson (1988) is cited as the first researcher to enumerate the issue, stating that there were already up to 10 million 'Environmental Refugees'. Drawing on 'worst-case scenarios' about sea-level rise, she argued that all forms of 'Environmental Refugees' would be six times as numerous as political refugees. By 1989, Mustafa Tolba, Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme, was claiming that 'as many as 50 million people could become environmental refugees' if the world did not act to support sustainable development.In the mid-1990s, British environmentalist, Norman Myers, became the most prominent proponent of this 'maximalist' school (Suhrke 1993), noting that "environmental refugees will soon become the largest group of involuntary refugees". Additionally, he stated that there were 25 million environmental refugees in the mid-1990s, further claiming that this figure could double by 2010, with an upper limit of 200 million by 2050 (Myers 1997). Myers argued that the causes of environmental displacement would include desertification, lack of water, salination of irrigated lands and the depletion of biodiversity. He also hypothesised that displacement would amount to 30m in China, 30m in India, 15m in Bangladesh, 14m in Egypt, 10m in other delta areas and coastal zones, 1m in island states, and with otherwise agriculturally displaced people totalling 50m by 2050. More recently, Myers has suggested that the figure by 2050 might be as high as 250 million.Norman Myers is the most cited researcher in this field, who found that 25 million environmental migrants existed in 1995 in his work (Myers & Kent 1995), which drew upon over 1000 sources. However, Vikram Kolmannskog has stated that Myers' work can be 'criticized for being inconsistent, impossible to check and failing to take proper account of opportunities to adapt' (2008: 9). Furthermore, Myers himself has acknowledged that his figures are based upon 'heroic extrapolation' (Brown 2008: 12). More generally, Black has argued that there is 'surprisingly little scientific evidence' that indicates that the world is 'filling-up with environmental refugees' (1998: 23).
Society and culture
Popular culture
The notion of 'environmental migrant' has been a part of popular culture at least since The Grapes of Wrath, a 1939 novel by John Steinbeck.
Documentary films
Eco Migrants: The Case of Bhola Island (2013), documentary movie directed by Susan Stein. Starring Katherine Jacobsen, Nancy Schneider, Bogumil Terminski
Refugees of the Blue Planet (2006), documentary movie directed by Hélène Choquette & Jean-Philippe Duval.
The Land Between (2014) documentary movie directed by David Fedele.
See also
References
Further reading
Bogumil Terminski, Environmentally-Induced Displacement. Theoretical Frameworks and Current Challenges, CEDEM, University of Liège, 2012.
Westra, Laura (2009). Environmental Justice and the Rights of Ecological Refugees. Routledge. ISBN 9781849770088.
Vince, Gaia (2022). Nomad century : how to survive the climate upheaval. ISBN 978-0-241-52231-8. OCLC 1286796695.
External links
World Refugee & Migration Council (2021) 'Solutions for the Global Governance of Climate Displacement'
Media related to Environmental migrants at Wikimedia Commons |
committee on sustainability assessment | The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) is a global consortium of development institutions that work collaboratively to advance sustainability learning with systematic and science-based measurement. COSA applies a pragmatic and collective approach for using scientific methods to develop indicators, tools, and technologies to measure the distinct social, environmental, and economic impacts and are applied in performance monitoring, evaluation, return on investment (ROI) calculation, and impact assessment. COSA has a public mission to open its scientific methods and metrics up to widespread use.
COSA's approach and indicators have a basis in internationally recognized accords and normative references such as those of the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization Guidelines for Water Quality, the International Finance Corporation, the United Nations Global Compact, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
History
The concept for COSA was originally developed in 2005 as a project of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the United Nations International Trade Centre with initial focus on the coffee sector. The COSA indicator development process was inaugurated through the International Coffee Organization whose Council unanimously endorsed it, making it the first sustainability assessment system to be formally adopted by a global commodity body. It has since been applied in various fields such as cocoa, sugar, cotton, fruit, and food crops. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development COSA project focused on developing a thorough and rigorous cost benefit analysis of sustainability practices in the coffee sector via two primary outputs: a tool for assessing costs and benefits according to COSA-defined criteria and indicators, and training to enable stakeholders to “measure and understand the costs and benefits of undertaking sustainable practices and adopting different sustainability initiatives.”In 2008, COSA published a report titled "Seeking Sustainability: COSA Preliminary Analysis of Sustainability Initiatives in the Coffee Sector". The report summarized the findings of the pilot application of the COSA tool to collect and analyze data to facilitate understanding of environmental, social, and economic outcomes associated with sustainability initiatives in the coffee sector. The six sustainability initiatives included were: Organic, Fair Trade, Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C), UTZ Certified, Rainforest Alliance, and Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices. As its impact research expanded across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, COSA published in 2014 the largest known comparative study on the impacts of the major sustainability standards and certifications.In 2012, led by its founder and President Daniele Giovannucci, the structure and constitution of COSA was formalized as an independent non-profit organization incorporated under United States law to advance research and training in the field of sustainability. It is as this globally-focused, independent non-profit that COSA continues its work today. Initial core support came primarily from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Ford Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank and other public donors. COSA is supported by public grants, sustainability advisory services, and impact assessment research.
Working in partnerships
COSA supports institutions and businesses to adopt and integrate approaches to sustainability, and includes close to 100 public and private sector organizations. COSA partners with research and development institutions to adopt, integrate, and build local sustainability measurement and evaluation capacity in the countries where it works, as well as for bilateral learning. Local partnerships to conduct research have included the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research at the University of Ghana, the Centro de Estudios Regionales Cafeteros y Empresariales in Colombia, the strategic think tank of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute, and the CGIAR Consortium of research organizations.
The COSA partnership with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, in Kenya and Uganda, led to new processes with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) for conducting field research to advance the understanding of the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and the roles of their cooperatives. The work, commissioned by the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance with support of the Ford Foundation, evolved methods for assessing the impacts of multiple sustainability certifications on the lives of farmers, their organizations, and communities. COSA piloted the Grameen Foundation’s Progress Out of Poverty Index in coffee (Guatemala, Mexico, Peru) and cocoa (Nicaragua, Colombia), and adopted them into its suite of indicators.COSA works in development projects with sustainability labels such as Fair Trade, Organic, UTZ Certified, 4C, and Rainforest Alliance. Private supply chains have utilized COSA to assess and measure the impact of their sustainability efforts, fostered by development agencies such as the International Finance Corporation, USAID, or the Swiss Government, and include firms such as Nespresso, Lindt and Sprungli, Mars Drinks, Cargill, ECOM Trading and Mondelez International. According to a Cheddar News interview with COSA’s founder, issues that major firms are looking at include digital traceability, return on sustainability investment and living income for farmers.
Accomplishments
COSA indicators and tools have been widely incorporated and adapted by institutions, corporations, and other organizations. Its metrics cover a range of commodity crops (coffee, cocoa, tea, sugar, cotton, food crops) and thematic areas (resilience, producer organizations, gender, landscape systems, and Living Income).
The Textile Exchange adapted COSA indicators to create the Organic Cotton Sustainability Assessment Tool to assess the sustainability impact of organic cotton.
COSA led the efforts to establish global metrics for small farmer sustainability for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which commissioned COSA, along with the Grameen Foundation and Soil & More International, to develop the metrics for its Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems Tool.
The International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Impacts Code is aligned with COSA indicators as is the Shared Framework for Performance Measurement of the Sustainable Food Lab and the Shared Approach to Performance Measurement: Common Indicators and Metrics” that was developed in partnership with Ford Foundation, IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative, Seas of Change, MARS Chocolate, Root Capital, International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance, Nestle, Rainforest Alliance, and Centre for Development Innovation.
The International Cotton Advisory Committee's Expert Panel on the Social, Environmental, and Economic Performance of Cotton and the Food and Agriculture Organization Plant Production and Protection Division published a guidance framework for measuring the sustainability of cotton farming systems with indicators that were in part informed by COSA's decade of work in the field.
For the Ford Foundation, COSA designed simple assessment tools and guidelines for Ford Foundation grantees to utilize in order to improve the design and management of their food crop projects.
With the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Inter-American Development Bank Sustainable Agriculture, Food, and Environment platform, COSA helps funded projects to establish or improve their measurement and evaluation systems to achieve greater levels of scalability and share lessons and knowledge across the funding Platform.
COSA also collaborates with multi-stakeholder industry initiatives such as the Sustainable Coffee Challenge led by Conservation International, the Global Coffee Platform, and the Farmer Income Lab led by Mars and Danone.
COSA developed pragmatic smallholder resilience assessment metrics, distilled from a review of global best practices in collaboration with a globally acknowledged Resilience Working Group.
As a contributor to the Living Income Community of Practice, and in partnership with the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), COSA developed guidance protocol for measuring farmer incomes and for calculating the Living Income gap.
Evolving sustainability intelligence
In a 2018 keynote address COSA Board Chair Daniele Giovannucci asserted that a new wave of development funding was emerging, led by private companies and investment, with less focus on altruism and more on competitiveness and risk management. New technologies and software increasingly facilitate the ability to rapidly collect, calculate, and share data to provide insights about sustainability performance, risk, impact, and returns on sustainability investments. Development organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank have applied this concept using comparable data to learn across projects and better determine which investments or programs are more likely to be successfully scaled.
Data to Benefit Farmers
Studies that gather data from farmers and farm communities typically do not provide that data to survey subjects. COSA takes the approach that data on farm-level sustainability that governments, businesses, and others obtain should also benefit farmers directly. They promote the concept of "data democracy". With the International Coffee Organization, they work with coffee-producing countries and their national institutions to ensure that critical data like cost of production is owned and managed locally.
Recognition
COSA has been recognized in the international development and sustainability communities for its "visible and impartial" assessments. Following the 2014 publication of the COSA Measuring Sustainability Report: Coffee and Cocoa in 12 Countries, ISEAL Alliance called COSA a leader in the "alignment of standards and certification initiatives, showing the potential of harmonizing metrics."
External links
International Finance Corporation Environmental and Social Performance Standards
Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research at the University of Ghana
Centro de Estudios Regionales Cafeteros y Empresariales
Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Instituto de Estudios Peruanos
Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute
CGIAR Consortium
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
The Textile Exchange
Soil & More International
ISEAL Impacts Code
Sustainable Food Lab
Sustainable Coffee Challenge
Global Coffee Platform
== References == |
sustainable design | Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfort of occupants in a building.
Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.
Theory
The sustainable design intends to "eliminate negative environmental impact through skillful sensitive design". Manifestations of sustainable design require renewable resources and innovation to impact the environment minimally, and connect people with the natural environment.
“Human beings don't have a pollution problem; they have a design problem. If humans were to devise products, tools, furniture, homes, factories, and cities more intelligently from the start, they wouldn't even need to think in terms of waste, contamination, or scarcity. Good design would allow for abundance, endless reuse, and pleasure.” - The Upcycle by authors Michael Braungart and William McDonough, 2013.
Design-related decisions are happening everywhere daily, impacting “sustainable development” or provisioning for the needs of future generations of life on earth. Sustainability and design are intimately linked. Quite simply, our future is designed. The term “design” is here used to refer to practices applied to the making of products, services, as well as business and innovation strategies — all of which inform sustainability. Sustainability can be thought of as the property of continuance; that is, what is sustainable can be continued.
Conceptual problems
Diminishing returns
The principle that all directions of progress run out, ending with diminishing returns, is evident in the typical 'S' curve of the technology life cycle and in the useful life of any system as discussed in industrial ecology and life cycle assessment. Diminishing returns are the result of reaching natural limits. Common business management practice is to read diminishing returns in any direction of effort as an indication of diminishing opportunity, the potential for accelerating decline, and a signal to seek new opportunities elsewhere. (see also: law of diminishing returns, marginal utility, and Jevons paradox.)
Unsustainable investment
A problem arises when the limits of a resource are hard to see, so increasing investment in response to diminishing returns may seem profitable as in the Tragedy of the Commons, but may lead to a collapse. This problem of increasing investment in diminishing resources has also been studied as a cause of civilization collapse by Joseph Tainter among others. This natural error in investment policy contributed to the collapse of both the Roman and Mayan, among others. Relieving over-stressed resources requires reducing pressure on them, not continually increasing it whether more efficiently or not.
Negative Effects of Waste
The designer is responsible for choices that place a demand on natural resources, produce waste, and potentially cause irreversible ecosystem damage.About 80 million tonnes of waste in total are generated in the U.K. alone, for example, each year. And concerning only household waste, between 1991–92 and 2007–08, each person in England generated an average of 1.35 pounds of waste per day.Experience has now shown that there is no completely safe method of waste disposal. All forms of disposal have negative effects on the environment, public innovation, and local economies. Landfills have contaminated drinking water. Garbage burned in incinerators has poisoned air, soil, and water. The majority of water treatment systems change the local ecology. Attempts to control or manage wastes after they are produced fail to eliminate environmental impacts.
The toxic components of household products pose serious health risks and aggravate the trash problem. In the U.S., about seven pounds in every ton of household garbage contains toxic materials, such as heavy metals like nickel, lead, cadmium, and mercury from batteries, and organic compounds found in pesticides and consumer products, such as air freshener sprays, nail polish, cleaners, and other products. When burned or buried, toxic materials also pose a serious threat to public health and the environment.
The only way to avoid environmental harm from waste is to prevent its generation. Pollution prevention means changing the way activities are conducted and eliminating the source of the problem. It does not mean doing without, but doing differently. For example, preventing waste pollution from litter caused by disposable beverage containers does not mean doing without beverages; it just means using refillable bottles.
Industrial designer Victor Papanek has stated that when we design and plan things to be discarded, we exercise insufficient care in design.Waste prevention strategies
In planning for facilities, a comprehensive design strategy is needed for preventing the generation of solid waste. A good garbage prevention strategy would require that everything brought into a facility is recycled for reuse or recycled back into the environment through biodegradation. This would mean a greater reliance on natural materials or products that are compatible with the environment.
Any resource-related development is going to have two basic sources of solid waste — materials purchased and used by the facility and those brought into the facility by visitors. The following waste prevention strategies apply to both, although different approaches will be needed for implementation:
use products that minimize waste and are nontoxic
compost or anaerobically digest biodegradable wastes
reuse materials onsite or collect suitable materials for offsite recycling
consuming fewer resources means creating less waste, therefore it reduces the impact on the environment.
Climate change
Perhaps the most obvious and overshadowing driver of environmentally conscious sustainable design can be attributed to global warming and climate change. The sense of urgency that now prevails for humanity to take action against climate change has increased manifold in the past thirty years. Climate change can be attributed to several faults, and improper design that doesn't take into consideration the environment is one of them. While several steps in the field of sustainability have begun, most products, industries, and buildings still consume a lot of energy and create a lot of pollution.
Loss of Biodiversity
Unsustainable environment design, or simply design, also affects the biodiversity of a region. Improper design of transport highways forces thousands of animals to move further into forest boundaries. Poorly designed hydrothermal dams affect the mating cycle and indirectly, the numbers of local fish.
Sustainable design principles
While the practical application varies among disciplines, some common principles are as follows:
Low-impact materials: choose non-toxic, sustainably produced, or recycled materials that require little energy to process
Energy efficiency: use manufacturing processes and produce products that require less energy
Emotionally durable design: reducing consumption and waste of resources by increasing the durability of relationships between people and products, through design
Design for reuse and recycling: "Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a commercial 'afterlife'."
Targeted durability, not immortality, should be a design goal.
Material diversity in multicomponent products should be minimized to promote disassembly and value retention.
Design impact measures for total carbon footprint and life-cycle assessment for any resource used are increasingly required and available.^ Many are complex, but some give quick and accurate whole-earth estimates of impacts. One measure estimates any spending as consuming an average economic share of global energy use of 8,000 BTU (8,400 kJ) per dollar and producing CO2 at the average rate of 0.57 kg of CO2 per dollar (1995 dollars US) from DOE figures.
Sustainable design standards and project design guides are also increasingly available and are vigorously being developed by a wide array of private organizations and individuals. There is also a large body of new methods emerging from the rapid development of what has become known as 'sustainability science' promoted by a wide variety of educational and governmental institutions.
Biomimicry: "redesigning industrial systems on biological lines ... enabling the constant reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles..."
Service substitution: shifting the mode of consumption from personal ownership of products to provision of services that provide similar functions, e.g., from a private automobile to a carsharing service. Such a system promotes minimal resource use per unit of consumption (e.g., per trip driven).
Renewable resource: materials should come from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably managed renewable sources that can be composted when their usefulness has been exhausted.
Bill of Rights for the Planet
A model of the new design principles necessary for sustainability is exemplified by the "Bill of Rights for the Planet" or "Hannover Principles" - developed by William McDonough Architects for EXPO 2000 that was held in Hannover, Germany.
The Bill of Rights:Insist on the right of humanity and nature to co-exist in healthy, supportive, diverse, and sustainable conditions.
Recognize Interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend on the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognize even distant effects.
Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry, and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.
Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creation of products, processes, or standards.
Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems in which there is no waste.
Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporating this energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.
Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers, and users to link long-term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.These principles were adopted by the World Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) in June 1993 at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Expo 93 in Chicago. Further, the AIA and UIA signed a "Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future." In summary, the declaration states that today's society is degrading its environment and that the AIA, UIA, and their members are committed to:
Placing environmental and social sustainability at the core of practices and professional responsibilities
Developing and continually improving practices, procedures, products, services, and standards for sustainable design
Educating the building industry, clients, and the general public about the importance of sustainable design
Working to change policies, regulations, and standards in government and business so that sustainable design will become the fully supported standard practice
Bringing the existing built environment up to sustainable design standards.In addition, the Interprofessional Council on Environmental Design (ICED), a coalition of architectural, landscape architectural, and engineering organizations developed a vision statement in an attempt to foster a team approach to sustainable design. ICED states: The ethics, education, and practices of our professions will be directed to shape a sustainable future. . . . To achieve this vision we will join . . . as a multidisciplinary partnership."
These activities are an indication that the concept of sustainable design is being supported on a global and interprofessional scale and that the ultimate goal is to become more environmentally responsive. The world needs facilities that are more energy-efficient and that promote conservation and recycling of natural and economic resources.
Economic and Social Sustainable Design
Environmentally sustainable design is most beneficial when it works hand-in-hand with the other two counterparts of sustainable design – the economic and socially sustainable designs. These three terms are often coined under the title ‘triple bottom line.’
It is imperative that we think about value in not solely economic or financial terms, but also in relation to natural capital (the biosphere and earth's resources), social capital (the norms and networks that enable collective action), and human capital (the sum total of knowledge, experience, intellectual property, and labor available to society). The purely economic capital so many people and organizations strive for, and make decisions by, are often not conducive to these alternative forms of capital. For sustainable design, there is a need to reset how we, as inhabitants of the earth, think about value.
In some countries the term sustainable design is known as ecodesign, green design or environmental design. Victor Papanek, embraced social design and social quality and ecological quality, but did not explicitly combine these areas of design concern in one term. Sustainable design and design for sustainability are more common terms, including the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit).In the EU, the concept of sustainable design is referred to as ecodesign. Examples. Little discussions have taken place over the importance of this concept in the run-up to the circular economy package, that the European Commission will be tabling by the end of 2015. To this effect, an Ecothis.EU campaign was launched to raise awareness about the economic and environmental consequences of not including eco-design as part of the circular economy package.
Aspects of environmentally sustainable design
Emotionally durable design
According to Jonathan Chapman of Carnegie Mellon University, USA, emotionally durable design reduces the consumption and waste of natural resources by increasing the resilience of relationships established between consumers and products." Essentially, product replacement is delayed by strong emotional ties. In his book, Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, Experiences & Empathy, Chapman describes how "the process of consumption is, and has always been, motivated by complex emotional drivers, and is about far more than just the mindless purchasing of newer and shinier things; it is a journey towards the ideal or desired self, that through cyclical loops of desire and disappointment, becomes a seemingly endless process of serial destruction". Therefore, a product requires an attribute, or number of attributes, which extend beyond utilitarianism.According to Chapman, 'emotional durability' can be achieved through consideration of the following five elements:
Narrative: How users share a unique personal history with the product.
Consciousness: How the product is perceived as autonomous and in possession of its own free will.
Attachment: Can a user be made to feel a strong emotional connection to a product?
Fiction: The product inspires interactions and connections beyond just the physical relationship.
Surface: How the product ages and develops character through time and use.As a strategic approach, "emotionally durable design provides a useful language to describe the contemporary relevance of designing responsible, well made, tactile products which the user can get to know and assign value to in the long-term." According to Hazel Clark and David Brody of Parsons The New School for Design in New York, “emotionally durable design is a call for professionals and students alike to prioritise the relationships between design and its users, as a way of developing more sustainable attitudes to, and in, design things.”
Beauty and sustainable design
Because standards of sustainable design appear to emphasize ethics over aesthetics, some designers and critics have complained that it lacks inspiration. Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Frank Gehry has called green building "bogus," and National Design Awards winner Peter Eisenman has dismissed it as "having nothing to do with architecture." In 2009, The American Prospect asked whether "well-designed green architecture" is an "oxymoron."Others claim that such criticism of sustainable design is misguided. A leading advocate for this alternative view is architect Lance Hosey, whose book The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design (2012) was the first dedicated to the relationships between sustainability and beauty. Hosey argues not just that sustainable design needs to be aesthetically appealing in order to be successful, but also that following the principles of sustainability to their logical conclusion requires reimagining the shape of everything designed, creating things of even greater beauty. Reviewers have suggested that the ideas in The Shape of Green could "revolutionize what it means to be sustainable." Small and large buildings are beginning to successfully incorporate principles of sustainability into award-winning designs. Examples include One Central Park and the Science Faculty building, UTS.
The popular Living Building Challenge has incorporated beauty as one of its petals in building design. Sustainable products and processes are required to be beautiful because it allows for emotional durability, which increases the probability that they are going to be maintained and preserved, decreasing their carbon footprint. Many people also argue that biophilia is innately beautiful. Which is why building architecture is designed such that people feel close to nature and is often surrounded by well-kept lawns – a design that is both ‘beautiful’ and encourages the inculcation of nature in our daily lives. Or utilizes daylight design into the system – reducing lighting loads while also fulfilling our need for being close to that which is outdoors.
Economic Aspects
Discussed above, economics is another aspect of it environmental design that is crucial to most design decisions. It is obvious that most people consider the cost of any design before they consider the environmental impacts of it. Therefore, there is a growing nuance of pitching ideas and suggestions for environmentally sustainable design by highlighting the economical profits that they bring to us.
"As the green design field matures, it becomes ever more clear that integration is the key to achieving energy and environmental goals especially if cost is a major driver." Building Green Inc. (1999)
To achieve the more ambitious goals of the green design movement, architects, engineers and designers need to further embrace and communicate the profit and economic potential of sustainable design measures. Focus should be on honing skills in communicating the economic and profit potential of smart design, with the same rigor that have been applied to advancing technical building solutions.
Standards of Evaluation
There are several standards and rating systems developed as sustainability gains popularity. Most rating systems revolve around buildings and energy, and some cover products as well. Most rating systems certify on the basis of design as well as post construction or manufacturing.
LEED - Leadership in energy and environmental design.
Living building challenge
HERS - Home energy rating
WELS rating - water efficiency labeling standard
BREEAM - Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method
GBI - Green Building Initiative
EPA WaterSense
Energy Star
FSC - Forest Stewardship Council
CASBEE - Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency
Passive house.While designing for environmental sustainability, it is imperative that the appropriate units are paid attention to. Often, different standards weigh things in different units, and that can make a huge impact on the outcome of the project.
Another important aspect of using standards and looking at data involves understanding the baseline. A poor design baseline with huge improvements often show a higher efficiency percentage, while an intelligent baseline from the start might only have a little improvement needed and show lesser change. Therefore, all data should ideally be compared on similar levels, and also be looked at from multiple unit values.
Greenwashing
Greenwashing is defined to be “the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound”. This can be as simple as using green packaging which subconsciously leads a consumer to think that a product is more environmentally friendly than others. Another example are eco-labels. Companies can take advantage of these certifications for appearance and profit, but their exact meanings are unclear and not readily available. Some labels are more credible than others as they are verified by a credible third-party, while others are self-awarded. The labels are badly regulated and prone to deception. This can lead people to make different decisions on the basis of potentially false narratives. These labels are highly effective as a study in Sweden found that a 32.8% of purchase behavior on ecological food can be determined by the presence of an eco-label. Increased transparency of these labels and recycling labels can empower consumers to make better choices.
LCA and Product Life
Life cycle assessment is the complete assessment of materials from their extraction, transport, processing, refining, manufacturing, maintenance, use, disposal, reuse and recycle stages. It helps put into perspective whether a design is actually environmentally sustainable in the long run. Products such as aluminum which can be reused multiple number of times but have a very energy intensive mining and refining which makes it unfavorable. Information such as this is done using LCA and then taken into consideration when designing.
Applications
Applications of this philosophy range from the microcosm — small objects for everyday use, through to the macrocosm — buildings, cities, and the Earth's physical surface. It is a philosophy that can be applied in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, urban planning, engineering, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, fashion design and human-computer interaction.
Sustainable design is mostly a general reaction to global environmental crises, the rapid growth of economic activity and human population, depletion of natural resources, damage to ecosystems, and loss of biodiversity. In 2013, eco architecture writer Bridgette Meinhold surveyed emergency and long-term sustainable housing projects that were developed in response to these crises in her book, “Urgent Architecture: 40 Sustainable Housing Solutions for a Changing World.” Featured projects focus on green building, sustainable design, eco-friendly materials, affordability, material reuse, and humanitarian relief. Construction methods and materials include repurposed shipping containers, straw bale construction, sandbag homes, and floating homes.The limits of sustainable design are shrinking. Because growth in goods and services consistently outpaces gains in efficiency. As a result, the net effect of sustainable design has simply been to improve the efficiency of rapidly increasing impacts. This problem is not solved by the current approach, which focuses on the efficiency of delivering individual goods and services. The fundamental dilemmas are as follows: the increasing complexity of efficiency improvements; the difficulty of implementing new technologies in societies built around old ones; the fact that the physical impacts of delivering goods and services are not localized, but are distributed across economies; and the fact that the scale of resource use is growing and not stabilizing.
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture is the design of sustainable buildings. Sustainable architecture attempts to reduce the collective environmental impacts during the production of building components, during the construction process, as well as during the lifecycle of the building (heating, electricity use, carpet cleaning etc.) This design practice emphasizes efficiency of heating and cooling systems; alternative energy sources such as solar hot water, appropriate building siting, reused or recycled building materials; on-site power generation - solar technology, ground source heat pumps, wind power; rainwater harvesting for gardening, washing and aquifer recharge; and on-site waste management such as green roofs that filter and control stormwater runoff. This requires close cooperation of the design team, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages, from site selection, scheme formation, material selection and procurement, to project implementation. This is also called a charrette.
Appropriate building siting and smaller building footprints are vital to an environmentally sustainable design. Oftentimes, a building may be very well designed, and energy efficient but its location requires people to travel far back and forth – increasing pollution that may not be building produced but is directly as a result of the building anyway.
Sustainable architecture must also cover the building beyond its useful life. Its disposal or recycling aspects also come under the wing of sustainability. Often, modular buildings are better to take apart and less energy intensive to put together too. The waste from the demolition site must be disposed of correctly and everything that can be harvested and used again should be designed to be extricated from the structure with ease, preventing unnecessary wastage when decommissioning the building.
Another important aspect of sustainable architecture stems from the question of whether a structure is needed. Sometimes the best that can be done to make a structure sustainable is retrofitting or upgrading the building services and supplies instead of tearing it down. Abu Dhabi, for example has undergone and is undergoing major retrofitting to slash its energy and water consumption rather than demolishing and rebuilding new structures.Sustainable architects design with sustainable living in mind. Sustainable vs green design is the challenge that designs not only reflect healthy processes and uses but are powered by renewable energies and site specific resources. A test for sustainable design is — can the design function for its intended use without fossil fuel — unplugged. This challenge suggests architects and planners design solutions that can function without pollution rather than just reducing pollution. As technology progresses in architecture and design theories and as examples are built and tested, architects will soon be able to create not only passive, null-emission buildings, but rather be able to integrate the entire power system into the building design. In 2004 the 59 home housing community, the Solar Settlement, and a 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) integrated retail, commercial and residential building, the Sun Ship, were completed by architect Rolf Disch in Freiburg, Germany. The Solar Settlement is the first housing community worldwide in which every home, all 59, produce a positive energy balance.An essential element of Sustainable Building Design is indoor environmental quality including air quality, illumination, thermal conditions, and acoustics. The integrated design of the indoor environment is essential and must be part of the integrated design of the entire structure. ASHRAE Guideline 10-2011 addresses the interactions among indoor environmental factors and goes beyond traditional standards.Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction, that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition and classical design. This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl. Both trends started in the 1980s. The Driehaus Architecture Prize is an award that recognizes efforts in New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture, and is endowed with a prize money twice as high as that of the modernist Pritzker Prize.
Green Design
Green design has often been used interchangeably with environmentally sustainable design. It is the practice of creating structures by using environment friendly processes. There is a popular debate about this with several arguing that green design is in effect narrower than sustainable design, which takes into account a larger system. Green design focuses on the short-term goals and while it is a worthy goal, a larger impact is possible using sustainable design. It is included in the process of creating a sustainable design. Another factor to be considered is that green design has been stigmatized by popular personalities such as Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Frank Gehry, but this branding hasn't reached sustainable design. A large part of that is because of how environmentally sustainable design is generally used hand in hand with economically sustainable design and socially sustainable design. Finally, green design is although unintentionally, often associated only with architecture while sustainable design has been considered under a much larger scope.
Engineering Design
Sustainable engineering is the process of designing or operating systems such that they use energy and resources sustainably, in other words, at a rate that does not compromise the natural environment, or the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Common engineering focuses revolve around water supply, production, sanitation, cleaning up of pollution and waste sites, restoring natural habitats etc.
Sustainable Interior Design
Achieving a healthy and aesthetic environment for the occupants of a space is one of the basic rules in the art of Interior design. When applying focus onto the sustainable aspects of the art, Interior Design can incorporate the study and involvement of functionality, accessibility, and aesthetics to environmentally friendly materials. The integrated design of the indoor environment is essential and must be part of the integrated design of the entire structure.
Goals of Sustainable Interior Design
Improving the overall building performance through the reduction of negative impacts on the environment is the primary goal. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, where the concentrations of some toxins and impurities are frequently two to five times higher than they are outside. Sustainable interior design solutions strive to create truly inspirational rooms while simultaneously enhancing indoor air quality and mitigating the environmental impact of interior design procedures. This requires interior designers to make ethical design choices and include environmental concerns into their work, as interiors and the environment are closely intertwined.
Reducing consumption of non-renewable resources, minimizing waste and creating healthy, productive environments are the primary objectives of sustainability. Optimizing site potential, minimizing non-renewable energy consumption, using environmentally preferable products, protecting and conserving water, enhancing indoor environmental quality, and optimizing operational and maintenance practices are some of the primary principles. An essential element of Sustainable Building Design is indoor environmental quality including air quality, illumination, thermal conditions, and acoustic. Interior design, when done correctly, can harness the true power of sustainable architecture.
Incorporating Sustainable Interior Design
Sustainable Interior Design can be incorporated through various techniques: water efficiency, energy efficiency, using non-toxic, sustainable or recycled materials, using manufactured processes and producing products with more energy efficiency, building longer lasting and better functioning products, designing reusable and recyclable products, following the sustainable design standards and guidelines, and more. For example, a room with large windows to allow for maximum sunlight should have neutral colored interiors to help bounce the light around and increase comfort levels while reducing light energy requirement. The size should, however, be carefully considered to avoid window glare.Interior Designers must take types of paints, adhesives, and more into consideration during their designing and manufacturing phase so they do not contribute to harmful environmental factors. Choosing whether to use a wood floor to marble tiled floor or carpeted floor can reduce energy consumption by the level of insulation that they provide. Utilizing materials that can withhold 24-hour health care facilities, such as linoleum, scrubbable cotton wall coverings, recycled carpeting, low toxic adhesive, and more.Furthermore, incorporating sustainability can begin before the construction process begins. Purchasing items from sustainable local businesses, analyzing the longevity of a product, taking part in recycling by purchasing recycled materials, and more should be taken into consideration. Supporting local, sustainable businesses is the first step, as this not only increases the demand for sustainable products, but also reduces unsustainable methods. Traveling all over to find specific products or purchasing products from overseas contributes to carbon emissions in the atmosphere, pulling further away from the sustainable aspect. Once the products are found, it is important to check if the selection follows the Cradle-to-cradle design (C2C) method and they are also able to be reclaimed, recycled, and reused. Also paying close attention to energy-efficient products during this entire process contributes to the sustainability factors. The aesthetic of a space does not have to be sacrificed in order to achieve sustainable interior design. Every environment and space can incorporate materials and choices to reducing environmental impact, while still providing durability and functionality.
Promotion of Sustainable Interior Design
The mission to incorporate sustainable interior design into every aspect of life is slowly becoming a reality. The commercial Interior Design Association (IIDA) created the sustainability forum to encourage, support, and educate the design community and the public about sustainability. The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute ensures enabling smaller footprints by working with sustainability leaders in various ways in producing and consuming materials. Building Green considers themselves the most trusted voice for sustainable and healthy design, as they offer a variety of resources to dive deep into sustainability. Various acts, such as the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 have been revised and passed to achieve better efforts towards sustainable design. Federal efforts, such as the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to the commitment of sustainable design and the Executive Order 13693 have also worked to achieve these concepts. Various guideline and standard documents have been published for the sake of sustainable interior design and companies like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) are guiding and certifying efforts put into motion to contribute to the mission. When the thought of incorporating sustainable design into an interior's design is kept as a top goal for a designer, creating an overall healthy and environmentally friendly space can be achieved.
Global Examples of Sustainable Interior Design
Proximity Hotel in North Carolina, United States of America: The Proximity Hotel was the first hotel to be granted the LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Shanghai Natural History Museum in Shanghai, China: This new museum incorporates evaporative cooling and maintained temperatures through is design and structure.
Vancouver Convention Centre West in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: The West location of the Vancouver Convention Centre was the first convention center in the world to be granted LEED Platinum.
Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington, United States of America: Considered "The Greenest Commercial Building in the World," it is the first to achieve the Living Building Challenge certification.
Sydney, Australia became the first city in the country to contribute Green roof and Green wall to their architecture following their "Sustainable Sydney 2030" set of goals.
Sustainable urban planning
Sustainable design of cities is the task of designing and planning the outline of cities such that they have a low carbon footprint, have better air quality, rely on more sustainable sources of energy, and have a healthy relationship with the environment. Sustainable urban planning involves many disciplines, including architecture, engineering, biology, environmental science, materials science, law, transportation, technology, economic development, accounting and finance, and government, among others. This kind of planning also develops innovative and practical approaches to land use and its impact on natural resources.
New sustainable solutions for urban planning problems can include green buildings and housing, mixed-use developments, walkability, greenways and open spaces, alternative energy sources such as solar and wind, and transportation options. Good sustainable land use planning helps improve the welfare of people and their communities, shaping their urban areas and neighborhoods into healthier, more efficient spaces. Design and planning of neighbourhoods are a major challenge when creating a favourable urban environment. The challenge is based on the principles of integrated approach to different demands: social, architectural, artistic, economic, sanitary and hygienic. Social demands are aimed at constructing network and placing buildings in order to create favourable conditions for their convenient use. Architectural-artistic solutions are aimed at single spatial composition of an area with the surrounding landscape. Economic demands include rational utilization of area territories. Sanitary and hygienic demands are of more interest in terms of creating sustainable urban areas.
Sustainable landscape and garden design
Sustainable landscape architecture is a category of sustainable design and energy-efficient landscaping concerned with the planning and design of outdoor space. Plants and materials may be bought from local growers to reduce energy used in transportation.
Design techniques include planting trees to shade buildings from the sun or protect them from wind, using local materials, and on-site composting and chipping not only to reduce green waste hauling but to increase organic matter and therefore carbon in the soil.
Some designers and gardeners such as Beth Chatto also use drought-resistant plants in arid areas (xeriscaping) and elsewhere so that water is not taken from local landscapes and habitats for irrigation. Water from building roofs may be collected in rain gardens so that the groundwater is recharged, instead of rainfall becoming surface runoff and increasing the risk of flooding.
Areas of the garden and landscape can also be allowed to grow wild to encourage bio-diversity. Native animals may also be encouraged in many other ways: by plants which provide food such as nectar and pollen for insects, or roosting or nesting habitats such as trees, or habitats such as ponds for amphibians and aquatic insects. Pesticides, especially persistent pesticides, must be avoided to avoid killing wildlife.
Soil fertility can be managed sustainably by the use of many layers of vegetation from trees to ground-cover plants and mulches to increase organic matter and therefore earthworms and mycorrhiza; nitrogen-fixing plants instead of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers; and sustainably harvested seaweed extract to replace micronutrients.
Sustainable landscapes and gardens can be productive as well as ornamental, growing food, firewood and craft materials from beautiful places.
Sustainable landscape approaches and labels include organic farming and growing, permaculture, agroforestry, forest gardens, agroecology, vegan organic gardening, ecological gardening and climate-friendly gardening.
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture adheres to three main goals:
Environmental health,
Economic profitability,
Social and economic equity.A variety of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals. People in many different capacities, from farmers to consumers, have shared this vision and contributed to it. Despite the diversity of people and perspectives, the following themes commonly weave through definitions of sustainable agriculture.
There are strenuous discussions — among others by the agricultural sector and authorities — if existing pesticide protocols and methods of soil conservation adequately protect topsoil and wildlife. Doubt has risen if these are sustainable, and if agrarian reforms would permit an efficient agriculture with fewer pesticides, therefore reducing the damage to the ecosystem.
Energy sector
Sustainable technology in the energy sector is based on utilizing renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy, geothermal, and hydrogen. Wind energy is the world's fastest growing energy source; it has been in use for centuries in Europe and more recently in the United States and other nations. Wind energy is captured through the use of wind turbines that generate and transfer electricity for utilities, homeowners and remote villages. Solar power can be harnessed through photovoltaics, concentrating solar, or solar hot water and is also a rapidly growing energy source. Advancements in the technology and modifications to photovoltaics cells provide a more in depth untouched method for creating and producing solar power. Researchers have found a potential way to use the photogalvanic effect to transform sunlight into electric energy.The availability, potential, and feasibility of primary renewable energy resources must be analyzed early in the planning process as part of a comprehensive energy plan. The plan must justify energy demand and supply and assess the actual costs and benefits to the local, regional, and global environments. Responsible energy use is fundamental to sustainable development and a sustainable future. Energy management must balance justifiable energy demand with appropriate energy supply. The process couples energy awareness, energy conservation, and energy efficiency with the use of primary renewable energy resources.
Water sector
Sustainable water technologies have become an important industry segment with several companies now providing important and scalable solutions to supply water in a sustainable manner.
Beyond the use of certain technologies, Sustainable Design in Water Management also consists very importantly in correct implementation of concepts. Among these principal concepts is the fact normally in developed countries 100% of water destined for consumption, that is not necessarily for drinking purposes, is of potable water quality. This concept of differentiating qualities of water for different purposes has been called "fit-for-purpose". This more rational use of water achieves several economies, that are not only related to water itself, but also the consumption of energy, as to achieve water of drinking quality can be extremely energy intensive for several reasons.
Domestic machinery and furniture
Automobiles, home appliances and furnitures can be designed for repair and disassembly (for recycling), and constructed from recyclable materials such as steel, aluminum and glass, and renewable materials, such as wood and plastics from natural feedstocks. Careful selection of materials and manufacturing processes can often create products comparable in price and performance to non-sustainable products. Even mild design efforts can greatly increase the sustainable content of manufactured items.
Improvements to heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating
Design for sustainable manufacturing
Sustainable manufacturing can be defined as the creation of a manufactured product through a concurrent improvement in the resulting effect on factory and product sustainability. The concept of sustainable manufacturing demands a renewed design of production systems in order to condition the related sustainability on product life cycle and Factory operations.
Designing sustainable production systems imply, on the one hand, the analysis and optimization of intra-factory aspects that are related to manufacturing plants. Such aspects can regard the resource consumption restrain, the process efficiency, the ergonomics for the factory workers, the elimination of hazardous substances, the minimization of factory emissions and waste as well as internal emissions, the integrated management of information in the production facilities, and the technological updating of machines and plants.
Other inter-factories aspects concern the sustainable design of manufactured products, product chain dematerialisation, management of the background and foreground supply chains, support of circular economy paradigm, and the labelling for sustainability.Advantageous reasons for why companies might choose to sustainably manufacture either their products or use a sustainable manufacturing process are:
Increase operational efficiency by reducing costs and waste
Respond to or reach new customers and increase competitive advantage
Protect and strengthen brand and reputation and build public trust
Build long-term business viability and success
Respond to regulatory constraints and opportunities
Sustainable technologies
Sustainable technologies use less energy, fewer limited resources, do not deplete natural resources, do not directly or indirectly pollute the environment, and can be reused or recycled at the end of their useful life. They may also be technology that help identify areas of growth by giving feedback in terms of data or alerts allowed to be analyzed to improve environmental footprints. There is significant overlap with appropriate technology, which emphasizes the suitability of technology to the context, in particular considering the needs of people in developing countries. The most appropriate technology may not be the most sustainable one; and a sustainable technology may have high cost or maintenance requirements that make it unsuitable as an "appropriate technology," as that term is commonly used.
“Technology is deeply entrenched in our society; without it, society would immediately collapse. Moreover, technological changes can be perceived as easier to accomplish than lifestyle changes that might be required to solve the problems that we face.”
The design of sustainable technology relies heavily on the flow of new information. Sustainable technology such as smart metering systems and intelligent sensors reduce energy consumption and help conserve water. These systems are ones that have more fundamental changes, rather than just switching to simple sustainable designs. Such designing requires constant updates and evolutions, to ensure true environmental sustainability, because the concept of sustainability is ever changing – with regards to our relationship with the environment. A large part of designing sustainable technology involves giving control to the users for their comfort and operation. For example, dimming controls help people adjust the light levels to their comfort. Sectioned lighting and lighting controls let people manipulate their lighting needs without worrying about affecting others – therefore reducing lighting loads.
Innovation and development
The precursor step to environmentally sustainable development must be a sustainable design. By definition, design is defined as purpose, planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact, or material object. Development utilizes design and executes it, helping areas, cities, or places to advance. Sustainable development is that development which adheres to the values of sustainability and provide for the society without endangering the ecosystem and its services. “Without development, design is useless. Without design, development is unusable.” – Florian Popescu, How to bridge the gap between design and development.Eco-innovation is the design and development of products and processes that contribute to sustainable development, applying the commercial application of knowledge to elicit direct or indirect ecological improvements. This includes a range of related ideas, from environmentally friendly technological advances to socially acceptable innovative paths towards sustainability. WIPO GREEN is an online global marketplace for technology exchange connecting providers and seekers of inventions and innovations in sustainable technology innovations.
Several factors drive design innovation in the environmental sphere. These include growing consumer awareness and demand for green products and services, development and (re)discovery of renewable materials, sustainable refurbishment, new technologies for manufacturing and growing use of artificial intelligence-based tools based to map needs and identify areas for improved efficiency.
Whatever the industry or product, design rights (whether registered or unregistered) can harness innovative design. Design rights (known as design patents in some jurisdictions) are widely used to protect everything from marketing logos and packaging to the shape of furniture and vehicles and the user interfaces of computers and smartphones. Design rights are available in many jurisdictions and through regional systems. Protection can also be obtained internationally using the WIPO-administered Hague System for the International Registration of Designs.
See also
== References == |
sustainability accounting | Sustainability accounting (also known as social accounting, social and environmental accounting, corporate social reporting, corporate social responsibility reporting, or non-financial reporting) was originated about 20 years ago and is considered a subcategory of financial accounting that focuses on the disclosure of non-financial information about a firm's performance to external stakeholders, such as capital holders, creditors, and other authorities. Sustainability accounting represents the activities that have a direct impact on society, environment, and economic performance of an organisation. Sustainability accounting in managerial accounting contrasts with financial accounting in that managerial accounting is used for internal decision making and the creation of new policies that will have an effect on the organisation's performance at economic, ecological, and social (known as the triple bottom line or Triple-P's; People, Planet, Profit) level. Sustainability accounting is often used to generate value creation within an organisation.Sustainability accounting is a tool used by organisations to become more sustainable. The most known widely used measurements are the Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR) and triple bottom line accounting. These recognise the role of financial information and shows how traditional accounting is extended by improving transparency and accountability by reporting on the Triple-P's.
As a result of triple bottom level reporting, and in order to render and guarantee consistency in social and environmental information, the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) was established with the goal to provide guidelines to organisations reporting on sustainability. In some countries, guidelines were developed to complement the GRI. The GRI states that "reporting on economic, environmental and social performance by all organizations is as routine and comparable as financial reporting".In order to help finance teams and accountants embed sustainability into their accounting, King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, set up his Accounting for Sustainability project (A4S) in 2004.
History
The concept of sustainability accounting has emerged from developments in accounting. Broad developments in accounting have occurred over the past forty years, although narrow developments have occurred over the past ten years. The development reveals two distinct lines of analysis. The first line is the philosophical debate about accountability, if and how it contributes to sustainable development, and which are the necessary steps towards sustainability. This approach is based on an entirely new system of accounting designed to promote a strategy of sustainability. The second line is the management perspective associated with varied terms and tools towards sustainability. This could be seen as an extension of or modification to conventional financial cost or management accounting. To develop sustainability accounting de novo allows a complete reappraisal of the relative significance of social, environmental and economic benefits and risks and their interactions in corporate accounting systems.: p.375–376
The developments that lead to sustainable accounting could be distinguished in several time periods in which a number of trends were evident: 1971–1980, 1981–1990, 1991–1995 and up to the present. These periods distinguish empirical studies, normative statements, philosophical discussion, teaching programmes, literature and regulatory frameworks.
1971–1980
By the end of the decade, a large volume of empirical work and a number of papers referring to the building of models which foster social accounting disclosures have been published. These early works included subjective analysis as well as underdeveloped social and environmental accounting literature (SEAL). Information related to the social dimension of accounting has been mostly connected with employees or products. Environmental matters were treated as part of a generally undifferentiated and fairly unsophisticated social accounting movement.: p.484–485 Environmental damage included damage to terrain, air, water, noise, visual and aesthetic and other forms of pollution, and solid-waste production.: p.486 Ideas about shadow prices and mapping of externalities first arose and began to develop. Albeit the contribution of this period was notable for extensive developments in the field of social audit, the methodology was nearly identical with the historical financial accounting reports.: p.487–488 At this time neither financial accounting standards nor regulatory frameworks had been developed to any extent. The empirical studies and research were mainly descriptive. Although several models and similar normative statements were enhanced, the philosophical debate was not widespread.: p.500
1981–1990
The first part of the decade showed increased sophistication within the social accounting area and the second part of the decade saw an apparent transference of interest to environmental accounting, with increasing signs of specialisation in literature. Empirical research was more analytical. Concerns of social disclosures have been replaced by a concentration on environmental disclosures and regulation as an alternative means of reducing environmental damage. Normative statements and model building began to foster the environmental arena.
During this period, the development of teaching programmes about social and environmental accounting issues began.: p.490–491
Despite an increasing use of conceptual frameworks, accounting standards, and legal provisions to reduce the degree of individual interpretation in financial reporting, little of this accounting structure applies to an appropriate framework of social and environmental accounting. Less normative statement have been made, but more articles discussing philosophical matters have been published.: p.494–495
1991–1995
This period was characterised by the almost complete domination of environmental accounting over social accounting. There have also been a number of extensions from environmental disclosures to environmental auditing as well as the development of framework to guide the applications of environmental auditing, and in particular, the development of environmental management systems. There was still little regulatory framework affecting social and environmental accounting disclosures and conceptual frameworks for accounting did not extend to non-financial quantification and social or environmental issues. The development of a clear regulatory as well as conceptual framework grew in several countries, whereas the progress of environmental regulation in the UK and Europe was slower than in the United States, Canada or Australia. The progress was uneven but rapid compared with those in the area of social accounting disclosures. During this period, there have been several textbooks and journal articles covering both social and environmental accounting. However, there has been a relative lack of normative/philosophical work within accounting during this period: environmental accounting has not been revived since the models of the 1970s and has failed to adapt to the discussions about the valuation of externalities. Sustainability and the discussion of the role of management accounting in assisting with sustainable development have become of growing interest.: p.496–499
1995–present
The convergence of global capital markets and the emergence of global and regional quality control issues – culminating for the accounting profession in the Asian financial crisis in 1997–1998 as well the collapse of Enron in 2001 – led to a subsequent high-level focus on international and national accounting.: p.7–8 The accounting literature has demonstrated a considerable increase in concern for the issues of sustainable development and accounting. Via the exploration of what sustainability accounting may entail, the accounting profession is likely to be involved in re-examining accounting fundamentals in the light of the challenge of sustainable development. Several proposals and significant statistical work as well as a growing body of measurement on accounting for sustainable development is being carried out in many international and national settings.: p.1
Even supra-national policy bodies like the United Nations and the OECD have sponsored work addressing accounting for sustainability.: p.2 : p.30 Up till now environmental accounting is the most evolved form of sustainability accounting and increasingly processed in the academic circle beginning with the work of Robert Hugh Gray in the early 1990s, and through the release of the Sustainability Accounting Guidelines at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.: p.7–8 Due to the use of different frameworks and methods, much uncertainty remains how this agenda will develop in the future. What is certain is that there is belief that past economic development and the current human (and hence business) activities are not sustainable, which has led to questioning the current mode of development. Recent years have seen an increasing acceptance and even enthusiasm for these new reporting approaches. Energetic and innovative experimentation by far-sighted organisations state that sustainability aspects in accounting and reporting are crucially important, feasible and practicable as well. In this respect, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), whose objective is to develop the accounting profession and harmonise its standards, includes 167 member bodies in over 127 countries and represents approximately over two million accountants worldwide.In 2004, the Prince of Wales set up his Accounting for Sustainability project (A4S) to "help ensure that we are not battling to meet 21st century challenges with, at best, 20th century decision-making and reporting systems". A4S convenes leaders in the finance and accounting communities to catalyse a fundamental shift towards resilient business models and a sustainable economy. A4S has two global networks – the Accounting Bodies Network (ABN) whose members comprise approximately two thirds of the world's accountants and the A4S CFO Leadership Network, a group of CFOs from leading companies seeking to transform finance and accounting.
Methodology
Sustainability accounting has increased in popularity in the last couple of decades. Many companies are adopting new methods and techniques in their financial disclosures and are providing information about the core activities and the impact that these have on the environment. As a result of this, stakeholders, suppliers, and governmental institutions want a better understanding of how companies manage their resources to achieve their goals to accomplish sustainable development.
According to common definitions there are three key dimensions of sustainability. Every dimension focuses on different subsets.
Sustainability accounting connects the companies' strategies from a sustainable framework by disclosing information on the three dimensional levels (environment, economical and social). In practice, however, it is difficult to put together policies that simultaneously promote environmental, economic and social goals.
This trend has encouraged companies to not only emphasize creation of value but also risk mitigation that are linked to the environmental and social subset of sustainable development. This development has been driven by multiple factors connected to:
Sustainability issues that materially affect a company's creation of value, risk and liabilities
The need for business to appropriately respond to sustainable growth.
Reporting formats
The concept of sustainability accounting is being carried out in an international setting with a vast and growing level of experience in the measurement of sustainable development. It recognises the role of financial information and shows how this can be extended to the social and environmental level. Although there isn't an established framework of reporting, the content of a company's report can be largely determined by factors and reporting standards, guidelines, and regulations. This trend offers companies a greater flexibility than financial statements. An effective report delivers information aligned to the company's overall objectives and engage with the audience in a manner that promotes the exchange of ideas and communication.
Nowadays, there are several ways and mechanisms of reporting, such as assurance statements, environmental, social and economic performance reports, that have been noted. Some of these reports include shorter and more concise reports. Some companies are including in their reports a combination of hard copies and online resources as well as downloadable PDF files. Some examples can be found at the GRI, which is the most popular framework for companies that are looking for help and assistance in how to create their sustainability report.
As the trend to produce sustainability reports increases, so too do the guidelines and frameworks to report on the social environmental information.
Frameworks
As sustainability accounting continues to develop, companies continue to gain understanding of the scenery of reporting frameworks, standards and guidelines that may affect the form and content of their reports. There are several organisations that offer services to companies that want to change their traditional financial statement disclosures for sustainability reporting.
In most countries around the world, there are currently no governmental requirements for companies to prepare and publish sustainability reports. Companies that have started to adopt this new method of reporting have faced new challenges in reporting due to the lack of experience. Failing to report accordingly to the guidelines and frameworks provided (see OECD and GRI) would lead them to potentially reduce their credibility of published information.
The GRI, OECD and UNCSD (United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development) are some of the main actors in developing a policy framework that better integrates the three dimensional levels of sustainability by decoupling economic growth from environmental pressures.
The GRI is a multi-stakeholder organization that is committed to developing and maintaining the "Sustainability Reporting Guidelines". The goal is the continuous improvement of sustainability reporting, a protocol that approaches the application levels. There are three levels of reporting: A, B and C, but these are not yet legally ratified fundamentals and are only used to assist companies with their sustainable reports.
On one hand, the UNCSD focuses only on the environmental dimension of the sustainability accounting.
On the other hand, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) focuses only in two frameworks:: p.2 the analytical and accounting frameworks.
Analytical frameworks
Analytical frameworks link information from different areas. Various types of frameworks are being used nowadays depending on the purpose of measurement. These frameworks seek to:
Integrate the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development
Have sound foundations and to maintain key information needed to improve sustainable development measurements
Clarify relationships between different indicators and policiesSome examples of analytical frameworks are: Pressure – State – Response (PSR) model which is based on one of its variants, Driving Force – Pressure – State – Impact – Response used by the European Environment Agency (EEA), or the Driving Force – State – Response model.: p.1 One such analytical framework is the sustainability balanced scorecard model. Using the popular balanced scorecard framework as its basis, the sustainability balanced scorecard model requires new data for sustainability, which can be obtained through eco-efficiency analysis. Eco-efficiency analysis observes the causal relationship between economic value creation and environmental impact added through two forms of assessment: lifecycle inventories and lifecycle impact. These assessments connect the balanced scorecard to corporate environmental accounting systems by joining different modeling processes. This method observes the relationships between the social, environmental, and economic dimensions.
Another analytical framework that monitors and tracks corporate performance is the sustainability evaluation and reporting system (SERS). Developed by the Research Centre of Bocconi University on Risk, Security, Occupational Health and Safety, Environment and Crisis Management (SPACE), SERS was developed to address the challenges faced by organizations when managing various stakeholder relationships. SERS compiles various management tools (e.g. key performance indicators, environmental reporting, and social reporting) to create an inclusive model. SERS is composed of three modules: the overall reporting system (which is composed of the annual report, the social report, the environmental report, and a set of integrated performance indicators), the integrated information system, and KPIs for corporate sustainability. SERS is flexible, allowing it to be applied to companies across different industries, sizes, and countries. SERS also allows for the comprehensive monitoring of qualitative and quantitative information to aid in overall corporate goals. For example, a metric could compare the total value of waste generated during the year to the value added by a process.
Accounting frameworks
On the other hand, the accounting frameworks seek to quantify information in the three dimensions of sustainability accounting. The System of National Accounts (SNA) show that measuring sustainable development with the conventional system of financial reporting is inadequate.: p.2 The accounting structure imposes a more systematic approach that is not too flexible in comparison to the standards and frameworks that offer the GRI and OECD among others. Accounting for sustainability therefore requires an extension of its standard framework.
The OECD offers two different approaches to the accounting framework for sustainability accounting.
Measuring environmental-economic-social interrelationships
Wealth-based approachesMeasuring environmental-economic-social interrelationships requires a clear understanding of the relationships that exists between the natural environment and the economy. It is not possible without understanding the physical representation. The physical flow accounts are helpful in showing the characteristics of production and consumption activities. Some of these accounts focus on the physical exchange between the economic system and natural environment.
Wealth-based approaches to sustainability refer to the preservation of stock of wealth. Sustainability is observed as the maintenance of the capital base of a country and therefore potentially measured. A number of environmental changes are also contained in these financial statements that are measured during an accounting period of time.
The GRI offers advanced material to help organisations of all types to create their accountability reports. This published material lead organisations through the reporting process with the main idea of becoming more sustainable in their practices in everyday business.
Specific techniques to measure information in sustainability accounting include:
Inventory Approach
Sustainable Cost Approach
Resource Flow/Input-Output ApproachThe Inventory Approach focuses on the different categories of natural capital and their consumption and/or enhancement. This approach identifies, records, monitors, and then reports on these different categories. These categories are analyzed according to specific classifications, including critical, non-renewable/nonsubstitutable, non-renewable/substitutable, and renewable natural capital.
The Sustainable Cost Approach results in a notional amount on the income statement that quantifies the organization's failure to "leave the biosphere at the end of the accounting period no worse off than it was at the beginning of the accounting period". In other words, this amount represents how much it would cost an organization to return the biosphere to its natural state at the beginning of the accounting period.
The Resource Flow/Input-Output Approach attempts to report the resource flows of the organization. Rather than explicitly reporting sustainability, it focuses on resources used to provide transparency. This approach catalogues the resources flowing into and out of the organization to pinpoint potential areas of improvement.
Motivations
There are six main motivations for practicing sustainability accounting:
Greenwashing
Mimicry and industry pressure
Legislative pressure
Stakeholder pressure and ensuring the "license to operate"
Self-regulation, corporate responsibility and ethical reasons
Managing the business case for sustainabilityMöller and Schaltegger add that another motivation is to assist in decision-making. They state that making decisions solely based on financial information is superficial at best. They add that there are certain business areas that financial data cannot precisely evaluate, such as customer satisfaction, organizational learning, and product quality. They propose that a mix of financial and nonfinancial info can help make well-informed decisions.
Shareholders say that they want to see more sustainability reporting because it translates to increased corporate financial performance. This is because sustainability requires a long-term vision, which is reflected in strategic planning. Strategic planning is manifested in long-term visions and a wider range of responsibilities toward its stakeholders. Companies that place emphasis on sustainability practices have higher financial performance, as measured by profit before taxation, return on assets, and cash flow from operations, than their counterparts.
Organizations and initiatives
The listed organisations and initiatives assist companies in pursuing sustainability accounting. For further information about why and how to report consult the following organisations.
Summary and outlook
Nevertheless, the development of regulatory frameworks is getting closer in several countries; accountants will need to broaden their knowledge and to establish a common dialogue with social and ecological professionals. The formation of independent transdisciplinary sustainability teams to prepare and audit sustainability accounts would add credibility to the process.: p.24 Like the sections above illustrated, sustainable accounting resulted in different interpretations and intended uses of accounting. The development of a pragmatic set of tools for corporate practice is progress. Future research will address the real challenges to corporate management to develop pragmatic tools for a well described set of business situations. Current needs include the need to address the decision and control needs of corporate managers, whether or not it is the case that they are responsible for environmental, social or economic issues associated with corporate activities. The trade-offs and complementary situations need to be identified and analysed, and accounting that provides a basis for movement towards corporate and general sustainability needs to be developed.: p.383 To fall short of a convincing conceptualization will leave sustainability accounting as a broad term, with little practical usefulness. The linkage between sustainability accounting and sustainability reporting needs to be extended as well. In this context, sustainability reporting remains at an unfinished stage of development and at present is still more of a buzzword than a well defined approach. The debate remains open to challenge this goal on the premise of sustainability, its operationalisation and its accountings.
In light of these aspects, Geoff Lamberton provides a promising framework for the various forms of accounting. It draws together the five general major themes evident in social and environmental accounting research and practice, including the GRI Sustainability Accounting Guidelines. He depicts a comprehensive sustainability accounting framework which displays the complex interconnections between the various components and dimensions of sustainability. It balances the need for integration of the variety in information, measurements and reporting with the differentiated unitary information effects between the dimensions of sustainable development. The multiple units of measurement include narratives of social policy and procedures as well traditional accounting principles and practice.
Assumptions underpinning the specification of this framework are:
the objective(s) of the sustainability accounting framework and the reporting model;
the principles underpinning the application of the model;
techniques like data capture tools, accounting records and measurements;
reports used to present information to stakeholders;
and qualitative attributes of the information produced and reported.: p. 16–17 It is unrealistic to expect business to voluntarily commit the resources required for full sustainable accounting implementation. For financing the implementation of sustainability accounting and reporting one option would be to use environmental taxes to raise revenue and to discourage negative environmental impacts. Once the sustainability accounting system is established tax rates could be linked to (sustainability) performance outcomes to encourage the transition to sustainability at the organizational level.: p.24 A promising trail in a similar way may be the concept of the community welfare economics (German: "Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie") by Christian Felber. More like a framework for sustainability accounting, it is a framework or an alternative way of economics and the society in general. It suggests that business should measure its contributions of economic success according to the benefits reimbursed to the society as social and ecological factors. Similar to tax principles, the business performance is specified by an accounts of points (representing the contributions to overall well-being) and therefore the company receives (tax) benefits or support in other various form.A further interesting example is provided by the Sustainability Flower which was developed in 2009 by an international group of prominent pioneers and innovators of the organic movement. The Flowers performance indicators were defined on the basis of the GRI Guidelines and seeks to unite four dimensions of sustainability (economic life, societal life, cultural life and ecology with six sub dimensions) in a model.A further promising approach toward the measurement of human, social and natural capital including environmental quality, health, security, equity, education and free time is made by the Buddhist foundation and the Bhutan Government toward operationalising the objective of Gross National Happiness. These innovative projects may demonstrate that an alternative cultural perspective is needed as well to inform an accounting that is capable of making a genuine contribution to sustainability. The future direction of sustainability accounting and sustaining economic development should continue to display the essential quality of diversity.
Criticisms
Despite the promising approaches to sustainability reporting, there are still concerns regarding the effectiveness of such reports. Rodriguez, Cotran, and Stewart highlight the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) as one such report. Under SASB, certain sustainability metrics have been standardized to help investors evaluate corporate risk profiles of companies. In 2016, SASB conducted a study analyzing the current state of disclosure by observing the practices of the largest ten companies (by revenue) in each of the 79 industries. The study showed that sustainability disclosure in SEC filings varies amongst industries. This variability is likely driven by characteristics unique to the industry, such as the regulatory environment. Additionally, the study found that while most industries possess high levels of disclosure, the quality of the disclosures are low.Adams and Frost conducted a study examining three Australian and four British companies. Adams and Frost were concerned with the completeness and authenticity of sustainability reports and the motives of the managers issuing them. The companies observed in the study have been practicing sustainability reporting for several years and are considered to be adopting best practices for sustainability reporting. Specifically, Adams and Frost examine the KPIs developed in these companies to measure performance and how these KPIs are implemented in the decision-making process and performance management. The study showed that challenges faced by companies during the KPI development process varied widely, from adapting for different geographic regions and cultures to creating targets. Lastly, the study also showed that when information was not advantageous to the organization, responsibility to the stakeholder is undermined. Adams and Frost suggest that an increase in governmental involvement may lead to adoptions that will in turn improve corporate performance. Furthermore, the increasing demand by shareholders for non-financial information is expected to serve as an impetus for greater transparency, such as the use of standardized reporting metrics. Adams and Frost state that despite the positive correlation between sustainability and financial performance, transparency must improve to meet the needs of the shareholders.
While the creation of sustainability frameworks and measurements to improve the communication between businesses and shareholders is valuable, there is still room for improvement. To help address this need, a new form of sustainability accounting known as Context-Based Sustainability (CBS) has been in development since 2005. Contrary to many other approaches to the subject, which tend to be purely incrementalist in form (i.e., they measure impacts on resources in terms of more of one type of impact this year, or less of another), CBS assesses impacts relative to sustainability standards of performance that are specific to individual organizations and explicitly tied to resource limits and thresholds in the world (social, environmental and economic). The most recent and fully elaborated implementation of CBS is the MultiCapital Scorecard method, first put forward by its creators in 2013.
See also
Balanced scorecard
Corporate social responsibility
Sustainable finance
References
External links
Accounting for Sustainability
"The Santander Annual Report presents the bank´s economic, social and environmental performance in Brazil for 2010"
SEKEM Reports on Sustainable Development
Triple Bottom Line Sustainability Reporting framework, University of Sydney
The GHG Protocol
What Is Sustainability Accounting?, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota |
institute for environmental policy in albania | The Institute for Environmental Policy or short IEP (Albanian: Instituti i Politikave Mjedisore) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in November 2008 in Tirana, Albania which promotes environmental sustainability in Albania.
Aims
conduct scientific research and studies in the field of environment;
develop and implement environmental policy;
dedication to environmental protection and nature in harmony with life and human activities;
influencing of the Albanian society towards the protection of nature, efficient use of natural resources, maximizing the use of renewable energy, awareness raising and education of the community regarding global warming and finding ways and methods to fight this phenomenon, awareness raising of the community regarding recycling and finding innovative ways in this field, achieving and sustaining a natural and artificial environment that maximally protects the health of people, combating environmental pollution and restoration of environmentally degraded areas;
enhance environmental awareness and action to address major environmental threats among the government, the private sector, civil society, and the community;
develop programs for environmental sustainability and wise management of the environment;
develop new and strengthening existing legal, economic and policy instruments, institutional frameworks, policy coordination and information exchange, and promoting the involvement of the private environmental policy dialogue and development;
develop environmental assessment;
commit to gender equality in all our projects, policies and other activities;
raise capacities and awareness on sustainable agriculture practices and enhancing awareness on the impact of agriculture and industrial farming on environment, food security and climate change.
Projects
IEP projects are primarily concentrated on (but not limited to) the following areas:
Climate change
Sustainable living
Renewable energy
Ecosystems and people
Waste and recycling
Water management
Gender and environment
Organic farming
Climate change
IEP is trying to raise the awareness of the Albanian public and government on the climate change impacts in Albania through various projects and articles in the Albanian media and the international media.
Water management
IEP has started the construction of a wetland to reduce the nutrients that flow in Tirana River as a pilot project that aims at replication in several other rivers and bodies of water in Albania.
Environment and EU integration
The project consists on the identification of the problems that Albania will face in the path towards EU integration regarding the environmental aspect. It will also push the policy makers to work more on the environmental sector, as a vital sector not just for the EU integration of Albania, but also for the economy and sustainable development of the country.
References
External links
Institute for Environmental Policy in Albania |
carbon price | Carbon pricing (or CO2 pricing) is a method for nations to address climate change. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the combustion of coal, oil and gas – the main driver of climate change. The method is widely agreed and considered to be efficient. Carbon pricing seeks to address the economic problem that emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) are a negative externality – a detrimental product that is not charged for by any market.
A carbon price usually takes the form of a carbon tax or a Cap and Trade system (generally via an emissions trading scheme (ETS)), a requirement to purchase allowances to emit.21.7% of global GHG emissions are covered by carbon pricing in 2021, a major increase due to the introduction of the Chinese national carbon trading scheme. Regions with carbon pricing include most European countries and Canada. On the other hand, top emitters like India, Russia, the Gulf states and many US states have not yet introduced carbon pricing. Australia had a carbon pricing scheme from 2012 to 2014. In 2020, carbon pricing generated $53bn in revenue.According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a price level of $135–5500 in 2030 and $245–13,000 per ton CO2 in 2050 would be needed to drive carbon emissions to stay below the 1.5°C limit.Latest models of the social cost of carbon calculate a damage of more than $3000/tCO2 as a result of economy feedbacks and falling global GDP growth rates, while policy recommendations range from about $50 to $200. Many carbon pricing schemes including the ETS in China remain below $10/tCO2. One exception is the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) which exceeded 100€/tCO2 ($118) in February 2023.A carbon tax is generally favoured on economic grounds for its simplicity and stability, while cap-and-trade theoretically offers the possibility to limit allowances to the remaining carbon budget. Current implementations are only designed to meet certain reduction targets.
Purposes
Carbon pricing is considered by many economists to be the most efficient way to reduce emissions. This means that it reduces emissions for the least possible cost, where these costs include the cost of efficiency measures as well as the cost of the inconvenience of making do with less of the goods and services provided by fossil fuels. This efficiency comes about by eliminating a market failure (the un-priced external costs of carbon emissions) at its source – by pricing these costs.Economics points out that since regulators would have an extremely hard time finding out the value that each emitter receives from emitting, this efficient outcome is extremely unlikely if the regulator chooses who can emit and who cannot. This is why economics teaches that command and control regulation will not be efficient, and will be less efficient than a market mechanism, such as carbon pricing. In the words of the IPCC, "[renewable energy subsidies] are less efficient alternatives to carbon taxes and emissions trading for inducing mitigation" (section 3.8.1.2).
Concepts
Emissions Trading
In a cap-and-trade design, the market for permits automatically adjusts the carbon price to a level that insures that the cap is met. The government establishes an emissions cap, for example 1000 tCO2 per year. Then it either gives the allowances to stakeholders, or auctions them off to the highest bidder. After the permits have been distributed, they can be traded privately. Emitters without the required allowances face a penalty that would cost more than buying permits. If the cap is low, permits will be in short supply (scarcity) and the price of permits will be high.
The EU ETS uses this method. In practice it resulted in a fairly strong carbon price from 2005 to 2009, but that was later undermined by an oversupply as well as by the Great Recession. Recent policy changes have led to a steep increase of the carbon price since 2018, exceeding 100€/tCO2 ($118) in February 2023.
Carbon tax
Hybrid designs
Cap-and-trade systems can include price stability provisions with floor and ceiling limits. Such designs are often referred to as hybrid designs.: 47 To the extent the price is controlled by these limits, it can be considered a tax.
Carbon tax versus emissions trade
Carbon emissions trading works by setting a quantitative limit on the emissions produced by emitters. As a result, the price automatically adjusts to this target. This is the main advantage compared to a fixed carbon tax. A carbon tax is considered easier to enforce on a broad-base scale than cap-and-trade programs. The simplicity and immediacy of a carbon tax has been proven effective in British Columbia, Canada – enacted and implemented in five months. A hybrid cap-and-trade program puts a limit on price increases and, in some cases, sets a floor price as well. The upper limit is set by adding more allowances to the market at a set price while the floor price is maintained by not allowing sales into the market at a price below the floor. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, for example, sets an upper limit on allowance prices through its cost containment provision.
However, industries may successfully lobby to exempt themselves from a carbon tax. It is therefore argued that with emissions trading, polluters have an incentive to cut emissions, but if they are exempted from a carbon tax, they have no incentive to cut emissions. On the other hand, freely distributing emission permits could potentially lead to corrupt behaviour.Most cap and trade programs have a descending cap, usually a fixed percentage every year, which gives certainty to the market and guarantees that emissions will decline over time. With a tax, there can be estimates of reduction in carbon emissions, which may not be sufficient to change the course of climate change. A declining cap gives allowance for firm reduction targets and a system for measuring when targets are met. It also allows for flexibility, unlike rigid taxes. Providing emission permits (also called allowances) under emissions trading is preferred in situations where a more accurate target level of emissions certainty is needed.
Revenue policies
Standard proposals for using carbon revenues include
a return to the public on a per-capita basis This can compensate the risk of rising energy prices reaching high levels as long as cheap wind and solar power is not available yet. Rich people who tend to have a larger carbon footprint would pay more while poorer people can even benefit from such a regulation.
subsidies accelerating the transition to renewable energy
research, public transport, car sharing and other policies that promote carbon neutrality
subsidies for negative emissions: Depending on the technology, such as PyCCS or BECCS, the cost for generating negative emissions is about $150–165 per ton of CO2. The removal past emissions – 1,700 Gt in total – can theoretically be addressed by auctioning allowances starting with a price that exceeds the removal costs of the proposed emissions.
Social cost of carbon
The exact monetary damage caused by a tonne of CO2 depends on climate and economic feedback effects and remains to some degree uncertain. Latest calculations show an increasing trend. Dynamic models include discount rates. This results in lower costs in the current state and higher costs once that carbon budgets are used up.
Price levels
About one third of the systems stays below $10/tCO2, the majority is below $40. One exception is the steep incline in the EU-ETS reaching $60 in September 2021. Sweden and Switzerland are the only countries with more than $100/tCO2.
Market price surge in fossil fuels
Unexpected spikes in natural gas prices and commodities such as oil and coal in 2021 caused a debate whether a carbon price increase should be postponed to avoid additional social burden. On the other hand, a redistribution on a per-capita-basis would even release poorer households which tend to consume less energy compared to wealthier parts of the population. The higher the high carbon price the greater the relief. Looking at individual situations though, the compensation would not apply to commuters in rural areas or people living in houses with poor insulation. They neither have liquidity to invest into solutions using less fossil fuels and would be dependent on credits or subsidies.
If the fossil price surge persists, the necessity for an additional carbon price to gain competitiveness for renewable energies comes into question. On the other hand, a carbon price still helps to provide an incentive to use more effective fossil fuel technologies such as CCGT gas turbines in contrast to high-emission coal.
Scope and coverage
In the relevant countries with ETS and taxes, about 40% to 80% of emissions are covered. The schemes differ much in detail. They include or exclude fuels, transport, heating, agriculture or other greenhouse gases apart from CO2 like methane or fluorinated gases. In many EU member states like France or Germany, there is a coexistence of two systems: The EU-ETS covers power generation and large industry emissions while national ETS or taxes put a different price on petrol, natural gas and oil for private consumption.
Other taxes and price components
The final consumer price for fuels and electric energy depends on individual tax regulations and conditions in each country. Though carbon pricing is playing an increasing role, energy taxes, VAT, utility expenses and other components are still the main cause for completely different price levels between countries.
Impact on retail prices
The table gives examples for a carbon price of $100 or 100 units of any other currency accordingly. Food calculation is all based on CO2 equivalents including the high impact of methane emissions.
Economics
Many economic properties of carbon pricing hold regardless of whether carbon is priced with a cap or a tax. However, there are a few important differences. Cap-based prices are more volatile and so they are riskier for investors, consumers and for governments that auction permits. Also, caps tend to short-out the effect of non-price policies such as renewables subsidies, while carbon taxes do not.
Carbon leakage
Carbon leakage is the effect that regulation of emissions in one country/sector has on the emissions in other countries/sectors that are not subject to the same regulation. There is no consensus over the magnitude of long-term carbon leakage.The leakage rate is defined as the increase in CO2 emissions outside the countries taking domestic mitigation action, divided by the reduction in emissions of countries taking domestic mitigation action. Accordingly, a leakage rate greater than 100% means that actions to reduce emissions within countries had the effect of increasing emissions in other countries to a greater extent, i.e., domestic mitigation action had actually led to an increase in global emissions.
Estimates of leakage rates for action under the Kyoto Protocol ranged from 5% to 20% as a result of a loss in price competitiveness, but these leakage rates were considered very uncertain. For energy-intensive industries, the beneficial effects of Annex I actions through technological development were considered possibly substantial. However, this beneficial effect had not been reliably quantified. On the empirical evidence they assessed, Barker et al. (2007) concluded that the competitive losses of then-current mitigation actions, e.g., the EU-ETS, were not significant.
Under the EU ETS rules Carbon Leakage Exposure Factor is used to determine the volumes of free allocation of emission permits to industrial installations.
A general perception among developing countries is that discussion of climate change in trade negotiations could lead to green protectionism by high-income countries Eco-tariffs on imports ("virtual carbon") consistent with a carbon price of $50 per ton of CO2 could be significant for developing countries. In 2010, World Bank commented that introducing border tariffs could lead to a proliferation of trade measures where the competitive playing field is viewed as being uneven. Tariffs could also be a burden on low-income countries that have contributed very little to the problem of climate change.
Interactions with renewable energy policies
Cap-and-trade and carbon taxes interact differently with non-price policies such as renewable energy subsidies. The IPCC explains this as follows:A carbon tax can have an additive environmental effect to policies such as subsidies for the supply of RE. By contrast, if a cap-and-trade system has a binding cap (sufficiently stringent to affect emission-related decisions), then other policies such as RE subsidies have no further impact on reducing emissions within the time period that the cap applies [emphasis added].: 29
Carbon pricing and economic growth
According to a 2020 study carbon prices have not harmed economic growth in wealthy industrialized democracies.In order for such a business model to become attractive, the subsidies would therefore have to exceed this value. Here, a technology openness could be the best choice, as a reduction in costs due to technical progress can be expected. Already today, these costs of generating negative emissions are below the costs of CO2 of $220 per ton, which means that a state-subsidized business model for creating negative emissions already makes economic sense today. In sum, while a carbon price has the potential to reduce future emissions, a carbon subsidy has the potential to reduce past emissions.
Advantages and disadvantages
In late 2013, William Nordhaus, president of the American Economic Association, published The Climate Casino, which culminates in a description of an international "carbon price regime". Such a regime would require national commitments to a carbon price, but not to a specific policy. Carbon taxes, caps, and hybrid schemes could all be used to satisfy such a commitment. At the same time Martin Weitzman, a leading climate economist at Harvard, published a theoretical study arguing that such a regime would make it far easier to reach an international agreement, while a focus on national targets would continue to make it nearly impossible. Nordhaus also makes this argument, but less formally.
Similar views have previously been discussed by Joseph Stiglitz and have previously appeared in a number of papers. The price-commitment view appears to have gained major support from independent positions taken by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The "Economists' Statement on Climate Change" was signed by over 2500 economists including nine Nobel Laureates in 1997. This statement summarizes the economic case for carbon pricing as follows:The most efficient approach to slowing climate change is through market-based policies. In order for the world to achieve its climatic objectives at minimum cost, a cooperative approach among nations is required – such as an international emissions trading agreement. The United States and other nations can most efficiently implement their climate policies through market mechanisms, such as carbon taxes or the auction of emissions permits.This statement argues that carbon pricing is a "market mechanism" in contrast to renewable subsidies or direct regulation of individual sources of carbon emissions and hence is the way that the "United States and other nations can most efficiently implement their climate policies."
Carbon offsets for individuals and businesses may also be purchased through carbon offset retailers like Carbonfund.org Foundation.
A new quantity commitment approach, suggested by Mutsuyoshi Nishimura, is for all countries to commit to the same global emission target. The "assembly of governments" would issue permits in the amount of the global target and all upstream fossil-fuel providers would be forced to buy these permits.
In 2019 the UN Secretary General asked governments to tax carbon.The economics of carbon pricing is much the same for taxes and cap-and-trade. Both prices are efficient; they have the same social cost and the same effect on profits if permits are auctioned. However, some economists argue that caps prevent non-price policies, such as renewable energy subsidies, from reducing carbon emissions, while carbon taxes do not. Others argue that an enforced cap is the only way to guarantee that carbon emissions will actually be reduced; a carbon tax will not prevent those who can afford to do so from continuing to generate emissions.
Besides cap and trade, emission trading can refer to project-based programs, also referred to as a credit or offset programs. Such programs can sell credits for emission reductions provided by approved projects. Generally there is an additionality requirement that states that they must reduce emissions more than is required by pre-existing regulation. An example of such a program is the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol. These credits can be traded to other facilities where they can be used for compliance with a cap-and-trade program. Unfortunately the concept of additionality is difficult to define and monitor, with the result that some companies purposefully increased emissions in order to get paid to eliminate them.Cap-and-trade programs often allow "banking" of permits. This means that permits can be saved and can be used in the future. This allows an entity to over-comply in early periods in anticipation of higher carbon prices in subsequent years. This helps to stabilize the price of permits.
See also
European Union Emissions Trading System
Notes
References
Sources
IPCC (2018). Masson-Delmotte, V.; Zhai, P.; Pörtner, H.-O.; Roberts, D.; et al. (eds.). Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty (PDF). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Global Warming of 1.5 °C —.
de Coninck, H.; Revi, A.; Babiker, M.; Bertoldi, P.; et al. (2018). "Chapter 4: Strengthening and Implementing the Global Response" (PDF). IPCC SR15 2018. pp. 313–443.Kikstra, Jarmo S; Waidelich, Paul; Rising, James; Yumashev, Dmitry; Hope, Chris; Brierley, Chris M (September 6, 2021). "The social cost of carbon dioxide under climate-economy feedbacks and temperature variability". Environmental Research Letters. 16 (9): 094037. Bibcode:2021ERL....16i4037K. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac1d0b. S2CID 237427400.Bank, World (2021). State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021. The World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1728-1. ISBN 978-1-4648-1728-1. S2CID 242987579."Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866" (PDF). Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (US govt.). 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2021."Measuring Emissions: A Guide for Organisations" (PDF). Ministry for the environment, New Zealand. 2020.
Quaschning, Volker. "Specific Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Various Fuels". Retrieved September 23, 2021.
"Meat Eater's Guide" (PDF). Environmental Working Group. 2011.
Noleppa, Steffen (2012). "Klimawandel auf dem Teller" (PDF) (in German). WWF Germany. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 1, 2020.
External links
Our Climate Put A Price On It campaign
CDM Rulebook — Defines Kyoto commitments
UN Climate Change Framework — Lists national commitments for 2020
Pricing Carbon Initiative — US focused effort for carbon-pricing commitments |
milorganite | Milorganite is a brand of biosolids fertilizer produced by treating sewage sludge by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The term is a portmanteau of the term Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen. The sewer system of the District collects municipal wastewater from the Milwaukee metropolitan area. After settling, wastewater is treated with microbes to break down organic matter at the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The byproduct sewage sludge is produced. This is heat-dried with hot air in the range of 900–1,200 °F (482–649 °C), which heats the sewage sludge to at least 176 °F (80 °C) to kill pathogens. The material is then pelletized and marketed throughout the United States under the name Milorganite. The result is recycling of the nitrogen and phosphorus from the waste-stream as fertilizer. The treated wastewater is discharged to Lake Michigan.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has registered Milorganite as a trademark.
History
"Milorganite" is a portmanteau of the term Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen. It was the winning entry in a 1925 naming contest for a biosolids-based fertilizer held in National Fertilizer Magazine. Its history began with Milwaukee's goal to clean up its rivers and Lake Michigan. Rather than land filling solids left over from wastewater treatment, the sludge was used in a pioneering effort to make, distribute and sell fertilizer. As of May 2019, 9.9 billion pounds of waste have been diverted away from landfills. The resulting production is among the largest recycling programs in the world.Milorganite's roots began in 1911, when local socialist politicians were elected on a platform calling for construction of a wastewater treatment plant to protect against water borne pathogens. As raising taxes for public health was relatively controversial in the early 1900s, producing an organic fertilizer as a means of partially offsetting its operating cost was proposed. With the help of researchers in the College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, the use of waste solids in the form of activated sludge as a source of fertilizer had been developed in the early 20th century. Experiments showed that heat-dried activated sludge pellets "compared favorably with standard organic materials such as dried blood, tankage, fish scrap, and cottonseed meal."The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's Jones Island Plant had the largest wastewater treatment capacity of any in the world when constructed in 1925. It was the first plant in the United States to succeed in using the activated sludge treatment process to produce fertilizer. The Plant has been designated as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.Milorganite made its debut in 1926 as the first pelletized fertilizer in the United States, with sales directed at golf courses, turf farms and flower growers. The brand was popularized during the 1930s and 1940s before inorganic urea became available to homeowners after WWII.
Oyvind Juul (O.J.) Noer helped establish the turfgrass industry, and "was instrumental in the success of Milorganite." While promoting Milorganite, his influence got him designated as “Mr. Turf” by the Golf CourseSuperintendents Association of America. He was an important lecturer and authored proponent of turfgrass and fertilizer, including a series of articles titled The ABC of Turf Culture — later published as one of the earliest comprehensive books on the subject of turf maintenance. Noer achieved this stature from his willingness to share his extensive knowledge of turfgrass. While working for Milorganite, he visited more than 80 percent of U.S. golf courses, to aid greenskeepers diagnose and cure "turf problems based on research-based knowledge." In 1985 he was honored to the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame.Since its inception, over four million metric tons of Milorganite have been sold. As of 2018, the plant produces in the range of 45,000–49,000 tons of Milorganite per year, which is roughly 2.4 million bags. The sale of product does not generate sufficient funds to cover the costs of manufacture, but the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District states that the environmental benefits are a legitimate offsetting consideration:In addition to the conflicting financial and environmental goals, it has to cope with fluctuations and vagaries of a changing waste stream. For example, there has been a substantial impact upon both the quality and the quantity of raw material available as a result of Milwaukee losing much of its malting and brewing industry through the departure of once-giant local concerns Schlitz Brewing Company and Pabst Brewing Company. Milorganite has been at the forefront of the sewage sludge recycling industry in the U.S. Changes in the economy and the resultant sewage to be treated have had an impact on Milorganite production.The process is the end point of the regional sewerage system, which includes "three thousand miles of household laterals and another 3,000 miles of sanitary sewers." Also included is the 28.5 miles (45.9 km) "deep tunnel project", which provides 521 million US gallons (1.97×10^6 m3; 434×10^6 imp gal) of overflow storage system. Two plants, one on Jones Island and the other in Oak Creek, process sewage using bacteria. Methane is recaptured and used to minimize energy costs.
Product
Heat-dried biosolids contain slow release organic nitrogen and largely water-insoluble phosphorus bound with iron and aluminum and high organic matter.Milorganite can be used without restriction on gardens growing food crops intended for human consumption under United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules. The product is tested daily for the presence of heavy metals and weekly for waterborne pathogens. It complies with the EPA "Exceptional Quality" criteria, which establishes the strictest concentration limits in the fertilizer industry for heavy metals, allowing Milorganite to be used on food crops. Milorganite has been tested for the presence of contaminants such as waste pharmaceuticals and other forms of drug pollution.According to its material safety data sheet Milorganite is "registered for sale in all 50 states and meets all federal and state requirements." The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certifies it as biobased because it is derived from 85% renewable materials. It is not, however, certified for use on USDA organic farms.Suggestions that Milorganite deters deer have been substantiated, but the reputed costs of having it certified as a repellent are greater than its potential return. The Environmental Protection Agency denied the application to permit its use as a deer repellent because of a lack of supporting studies showing its environmental impact."Milorganite Weed and Feed", a combination of Milorganite with 2,4-D, in a partnership with Parker Fertilizer, was considered in 1971. Seeking to associate itself with the "ecology kick", Milorganite's marketing staff considered the implications of "Milorganite-cide blends". Critics said that the invention of such a product was a repudiation of the sewage district's history. The concept was eventually rejected, and was never marketed to the public. Claims that Milorganite itself was a "natural, organic and/or safe" product were identified as a concern in 1992, when the Federal Trade Commission began an investigation saying the claim was deceptive. By 2000, the United States Department of Agriculture banned the application of all biosolids to any crops bearing the label "organic".
Environmental concerns
The EPA has shown that biosolids can contain measurable levels of synthetic organic compounds, radionuclides and heavy metals. USEPA has set numeric limits for arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc.The presence of heavy metals is a source of concern. The facility reports that they have been substantially reduced over the years. Milorganite contains metals at levels found safe by EPA when Milorganite is used as directed.The EPA has not regulated levels of environmentally toxic manmade dioxins. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, a type of "persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic" (PBT) contaminant, were detected in biosolids in 2001. PCBS are occasionally detected despite production being banned since the 1970s. In 2007, unusually high levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detected in Milorganite that was donated to the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County and subsequently applied on parkland. The cost to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and tax payers was estimated as $4.7 million. PCBs were banned from commerce in the US in the mid-1970s. The source of the PCB contamination was later determined to be a shuttered die-casting facility. The PCBs made their way to the treatment plant when sewer lines were cleaned years after the facility stopped operation.
The United States Geological Survey analyzed in 2014 nine different consumer products containing biosolids as a main ingredient for 87 organic chemicals found in cleaners, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and other products. These analysis detected 55 of the 87 organic chemicals measured in at least one of the nine biosolid samples, with 45 chemicals found in Milorganite.The incidence and effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFOs and PFA) in Milorganite, and municipal waste in general—as a part of the waste stream, and as a source of water and environmental contamination—has been a subject of study, controversy and concern.
See also
Water resource management
References
Notes
References
Further reading
Alvord, John W.; Whipple, George C.; Eddy, Harrison P. (April 25, 1911). A Report to the Common Council upon the Disposal of the Sewage and the Protection of the Water Supply of the City of Milwaukee. Unpublished. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
Eddy, Harrison (April 17, 1924). "Sewerage and sewage disposal". Engineering News-Record. Vol. 92, no. 16. pp. 693–695.
Gurda, John (May 1978). Change at the River Mouth: Ethnic. Succession on Milwaukee's Jones Island, 1700 to 1922 (Unpublished master's thesis). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Horvath, R. Dennis (May 1964). The Sewage Disposal Controversy: A Study in Milwaukee Area Politics (Unpublished master's thesis). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Leary, Raymond D.; Peot, Werner A. (1973). Development of a Wastewater Treatment System for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
External links
Official website of milorganite
Washington State Department of Agriculture Fertilizer and Pesticide Database – "M"
USDA Bio-Preferred Program |
desertification | Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become arid. The concept of 'desertification' typically evokes mental imagery of the progressive expansion of arid regions, encroaching sand dunes, and an overall transformation of once fertile landscapes into barren and inhospitable terrain. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity and the effects of climate change. Geographic areas most affected include the Sahel region in Africa, the Gobi Desert and Mongolia in Asia as well as parts of South America. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. Desertification stands as a pressing environmental issue, with the potential to impact approximately 35% of Earth's land surface and affect around 32% of the global human population. This phenomenon pertains to the deterioration of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions, encompassing the degradation of vegetation cover, soil quality, and nutrient depletion.Effects of desertification include sand and dust storms, food insecurity, vegetation patterning and increasing poverty. There are many possible countermeasures such as reforestation, soil restoration, desert reclamation and managed grazing.
Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally. In recent times, the influences of human activity, improper land management, deforestation and climate change on desertification is the subject of many scientific investigations.
Definitions
As recently as 2005, considerable controversy existed over the proper definition of the term "desertification." Helmut Geist (2005) identified more than 100 formal definitions. The most widely accepted of these was that of the Princeton University Dictionary which defined it as "the process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/inappropriate agriculture". This definition clearly demonstrated the interconnectedness of desertification and human activities, in particular land use and land management practices. It also highlighted the economic, social and environmental implications of desertification.However, this original understanding that desertification involved the physical expansion of deserts has been rejected as the concept has further evolved since then. Desertification has been defined in the text of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities according to Hulme and Kelly, (1993)."There exists also controversy around the sub-grouping of types of desertification, including, for example, the validity and usefulness of such terms as "man-made desert" and "non-pattern desert".
Geographic areas affected
Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. It has been estimated that some 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, the total area affected by desertification being between 6 and 12 million square kilometers, that about 1–6% of the inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and that a billion people are under threat from further desertification.
Sahel
The impact of climate change and human activities on desertification are exemplified in the Sahel region of Africa. The region is characterized by a dry hot climate, high temperatures and low rainfall (100–600 mm per year). So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region. The Sahel has lost approximately 650,000 km2 of its productive agricultural land over the past 50 years; the propagation of desertification in this area is considerable.
The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variations over the last few hundred thousand years, oscillating between wet (grassland) and dry (desert) every 20,000 years (a phenomenon believed to be caused by long-term changes in the North African climate cycle that alters the path of the North African Monsoon, caused by an approximately 40000-year cycle in which the axial tilt of the earth changes between 22° and 24.5°). Some statistics have shown that, since 1900, the Sahara has expanded by 250 km to the south over a stretch of land from west to east 6,000 km long.Lake Chad, located in the Sahel region, has undergone desiccation due to water withdrawal for irrigation and decrease in rainfall. The lake has shrunk by over 90% since 1987, displacing millions of inhabitants. Recent efforts have managed to make some progress toward its restoration, but it is still considered to be at risk of disappearing entirely.To limit desertification the Great Green Wall (Africa) initiative was started in 2007 involving the planting of vegetation along a stretch of 7,775 kms, 15 kms wide, involving 22 countries to 2030. The purpose of this mammoth planting initiative is to enhance retention of water in the ground following the seasonal rainfall, thus promoting land rehabilitation and future agriculture. Senegal has already contributed to the project by planting 50,000 acres of trees. It is said to have improved land quality and caused an increase in economic opportunity in the region.
Gobi Desert and Mongolia
Another major area that is being impacted by desertification is the Gobi Desert located in Northern China and Southern Mongolia. The Gobi Desert is the fastest expanding desert on Earth, as it transforms over 3,600 square kilometres (1,400 square miles) of grassland into wasteland annually. Although the Gobi Desert itself is still a distance away from Beijing, reports from field studies state there are large sand dunes forming only 70 km (43.5 mi) outside the city.In Mongolia, around 90% of grassland is considered vulnerable to desertification by the UN. An estimated 13% of desertification in Mongolia is caused by natural factors; the rest is due to human influence particularly overgrazing and increased erosion of soils in cultivated areas. During the period 1940 to 2015, the mean air temperature increased by 2.24 °C. The warmest ten-year period was during the latest decade to 2021. Precipitation has decreased by 7% over this period resulting in increased arid conditions throughout Mongolia. The Gobi desert continues to expand northward, with over 70% of Mongolia’s land degraded through overgrazing, deforestation, and climate change. In addition, the Mongolia government has listed forest fires, blights, unsustainable forestry and mining activities as leading causes of desertification in the country. The transition from sheep to goat farming in order to meet export demands for cashmere wool has caused degradation of grazing lands. Compared to sheep, goats do more damage to grazing lands by eating roots and flowers.
South America
South America is another area vulnerable by desertification, as 25% of the land is classified as drylands and over 68% of the land area has undergone soil erosion as a result of deforestation and overgrazing. 27 to 43% of the land areas in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru are at risk due to desertification. In Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay greater than half the land area is degraded by desertification and cannot be used for agriculture. In Central America drought has caused increased unemployment and decreased food security - also causing migration of people. Similar impacts have been seen in rural parts of Mexico where about 1000 square kms of land have been lost yearly due to desertification. In Argentina desertification has the potential to disrupt the nation's food supply.
Causes
Immediate causes
The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors, alone or in combination, such as drought, climatic shifts, tillage for agriculture, overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials. Though vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the soil, studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover. Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.
Influence of human activities
Early studies argued one of the most common causes of desertification was overgrazing, over consumption of vegetation by cattle or other livestock. However, the role of local overexploitation in driving desertification in the recent past is controversial. Drought in the Sahel region is now thought to be principally the result of seasonal variability in rainfall caused by large-scale sea surface temperature variations, largely driven by natural variability and anthropogenic emissions of aerosols (reflective sulphate particles) and greenhouse gases. As a result, changing ocean temperature and reductions in sulfate emissions have caused a re-greening of the region. This has led some scholars to argue that agriculture-induced vegetation loss is a minor factor in desertification.
Human population dynamics have a considerable impact on overgrazing, over-farming and deforestation, as previously acceptable techniques have become unsustainable.There are multiple reasons farmers use intensive farming as opposed to extensive farming but the main reason is to maximize yields. By increasing productivity, they require a lot more fertilizer, pesticides, and labor to upkeep machinery. This continuous use of the land rapidly depletes the nutrients of the soil causing desertification to spread.
Natural variations
Scientists agree that the existence of a desert in the place where the Sahara desert is now located is due to natural variations in solar insolation due to orbital precession of the Earth. Such variations influence the strength of the West African Monsoon, inducing feedback in vegetation and dust emission that amplify the cycle of wet and dry Sahara climate. There is also a suggestion the transition of the Sahara from savanna to desert during the mid-Holocene was partially due to overgrazing by the cattle of the local population.
Other causes of desertification
Drought: Drought is a subtle and persistent natural hazard characterized by an extended duration of insufficient precipitation, typically spanning a season or longer. This lack of rainfall leads to a scarcity of water resources, impacting various activities, communities, or environmental sectors. Drought is also influenced by the timing of precipitation. Additionally, factors like elevated temperatures, strong winds, and low relative humidity are frequently linked with drought conditions, whether for brief or prolonged periods. When an area undergoes prolonged periods of drought, the natural vegetation and cultivated crops in that region will inevitably wither, leaving the land barren. In cases of recurring insufficient rainfall and inadequate soil moisture, the land becomes unsuitable for both crop cultivation and animal husbandry. As a result, people in these affected areas are compelled to migrate to regions that can sustain their livelihoods and the well-being of their livestock, especially for those engaged in animal husbandry. This prolonged lack of rainfall contributes to the process of desertification.
Poor irrigation practice: Irrigation is the deliberate and controlled provision of water to land or soil, serving various purposes such as supporting the cultivation of agricultural crops, sustaining landscapes, and restoring disturbed soils in arid regions or during times of insufficient natural rainfall. Given the contemporary need to enhance plant growth while minimizing expenses, the development of an efficient irrigation system that reduces water wastage, labor requirements, and monitoring costs is paramount. Irrigation, the intentional provision of water to supplement or compensate for insufficient natural rainfall, represents a powerful instrument for boosting food production and ensuring year-round crop availability when executed correctly. While its benefits are significant, improper implementation can result in adverse consequences, including soil salinity and waterlogging, which may transform once-fertile lands into arid wastelands. This situation is already a present-day reality in several irrigation projects in Nigeria, such as the Bakolori Irrigation, South Chad Irrigation, and the Hadejia-Jamaare Irrigation Projects.
Deforestation: Deforestation results in the loss of habitats, whereas the preservation and conservation of natural forests enhance biological diversity. This phenomenon is primarily driven by the expansion of agricultural land in diverse regions, yet it is regarded as a significant and direct contributor to desertification. The energy sector has a detrimental influence on forest cover, vegetation, and overall land productivity on a global scale. Forests are rapidly disappearing due to the growing demand for timber, whether for domestic consumption or export. Additionally, rural communities continue to harvest trees for firewood used in cooking. Industrialization is another significant factor driving deforestation. When industries are established, land is cleared to make space for buildings that will house the manufacturing processes. Roads are also constructed to facilitate the transportation of raw materials to the industries and the distribution of finished products to consumers.
Overgrazing: Unsustainable grazing is a widespread land management issue on a global scale. It is particularly prevalent in marginal, sparsely populated, and disadvantaged rural regions where the landscape is primarily characterized by pastures, low-value cropland, and fallow land. The majority of herders in this region lack proper ranches to provide adequate care for their animals. Consequently, their livestock graze openly without effective control, consuming any green vegetation within their reach. This extensive grazing leads to the land being denuded and vulnerable to erosion. Excessive grazing, without allowing plants time to recover, is a significant factor contributing to desertification in the area. Additionally, the continuous grazing compacts the soil, hindering water absorption and resulting in runoff.
Bush burning: In numerous regions, there has been a shift in attitude towards extensive burning, including wildfires. This transformation has become a significant factor leading to the depletion of nutrient levels in the soil. Clearing and preparing land for cropping each year has led to the widespread adoption of bush burning, which has become the simplest and most convenient method used in agricultural practices and environmental management. Indiscriminate bushfires are another significant factor contributing to the transformation of vegetative cover into desert. People often set bushes on fire, either for recreational purposes or to clear their farmlands in preparation for the upcoming planting season. Many farmers, being financially disadvantaged, lack access to modern agricultural equipment to clear their land efficiently. Additionally, the local population's desire for bushmeat, seen as a valuable source of animal protein, motivates the practice of bush burning. They either sell the bushmeat at high prices or consume it within their households.
Poverty: Poverty is a harsh reality characterized by a deficiency in essential provisions like food, clothing, education, and other fundamental necessities. Those living in severe poverty endure conditions so deprived that one may question how they sustain themselves. Many inhabitants of this region are impoverished farmers who rely on their agricultural yields to make ends meet. A significant portion of them lacks the financial means to access clean energy, leading them to continue the practice of cutting down trees for firewood, both for their domestic cooking needs and for sale to purchase other household essentials. Poverty plays a pivotal role in driving them to engage in indiscriminate bush burning, with the hope of obtaining bush meat, and they also view it as a method for clearing land for the upcoming farming season since the majority of them cannot afford modern agricultural equipment.
Effects
Sand and dust storms
There has been a 25% increase in global annual dust emissions between the late nineteenth century to present day. The increase of desertification has also increased the amount of loose sand and dust that the wind can pick up ultimately resulting in a storm. For example, dust storms in the Middle East “are becoming more frequent and intense in recent years” because “long-term reductions in rainfall [cause] lower soil moisture and vegetative cover”.Dust storms can contribute to certain respiratory disorders such as pneumonia, skin irritations, asthma and many more. They can pollute open water, reduce the effectiveness of clean energy efforts, and halt most forms of transportation.
Dust and sand storms can have a negative effect on the climate which can make desertification worse. Dust particles in the air scatter incoming radiation from the sun (Hassan, 2012). The dust can provide momentary coverage for the ground temperature but the atmospheric temperature will increase. This can disform and shorten the life time of clouds which can result in less rainfall.
Food insecurity
Global food security is being threatened by desertification. The more that population grows, the more food that has to be grown. The agricultural business is being displaced from one country to another. For example, Europe on average imports over 50% of its food. Meanwhile, 44% of agricultural land is located in dry lands and it supplies 60% of the world's food production. Desertification is decreasing the amount of sustainable land for agricultural uses but demands are continuously growing. In the near future, the demands will overcome the supply. The violent herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, Sudan, Mali and other countries in the Sahel region have been exacerbated by climate change, land degradation and population growth.
Vegetation patterning
As the desertification takes place, the landscape may progress through different stages and continuously transform in appearance. On gradually sloped terrain, desertification can create increasingly larger empty spaces over a large strip of land, a phenomenon known as "brousse tigrée". A mathematical model of this phenomenon proposed by C. Klausmeier attributes this patterning to dynamics in plant-water interaction. One outcome of this observation suggests an optimal planting strategy for agriculture in arid environments.
Increasing poverty
At least 90% of the inhabitants of drylands live in developing countries, where they also suffer from poor economic and social conditions. This situation is exacerbated by land degradation because of the reduction in productivity, the precariousness of living conditions and the difficulty of access to resources and opportunities.Many underdeveloped countries are affected by overgrazing, land exhaustion and overdrafting of groundwater due to pressures to exploit marginal drylands for farming. Decision-makers are understandably averse to invest in arid zones with low potential. This absence of investment contributes to the marginalization of these zones. When unfavorable agri-climatic conditions are combined with an absence of infrastructure and access to markets, as well as poorly adapted production techniques and an underfed and undereducated population, most such zones are excluded from development.Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas particularly in Africa creating unemployment and slums. The number of these environmental refugees grows every year, with projections for sub-Saharan Africa showing a probable increase from 14 million in 2010 to nearly 200 million by 2050. This presents a future crisis for the region, as neighboring nations do not always have the ability to support large populations of refugees.In Mongolia the land is 90% fragile dry land, which causes many herders to migrate to the city for work. With very limited resources the herders that stay on the dry land graze very carefully in order to preserve the land. With the increasing population of Mongolia it is very difficult to stay a herder for long.Agriculture is a main source of income for many desert communities. The increase in desertification in these regions has degraded the land to such an extent where people can no longer productively farm and make a profit. This has negatively impacted the economy and increased poverty rates.There is, however, increased global advocacy e.g. the UN SDG 15 to combat desertification and restore affected lands.
Reduced agricultural activity
In regions affected by desertification, conducting productive agricultural activities becomes nearly impossible without access to advanced technology, a resource that is often lacking in many developing countries. Desert areas are unsuitable for agriculture due to their inability to retain water for sustaining crop growth, and the soil in such regions typically lacks the necessary nutrients to support the entire growth cycle of crops, from flowering to fruiting and maturation. A decline in agricultural productivity results in food shortages, leading to a surge in the prices of available food items, a phenomenon commonly referred to as food inflation.
Forced migration
The transformation of an area into a desert prompts people and their livestock to seek alternative regions with more favorable conditions for survival and adequate pastures. This mass migration has given rise to conflicts between those forced to relocate due to desertification and the existing populations in the areas they are moving into. For example, the ongoing conflicts between farmers and herdsmen in various regions of Nigeria are often linked to the consequences of desertification.
Loss of biodiversity
This is among the most devastating outcomes of desertification. When desertification takes hold, many native plant species in the affected areas face extinction. As for wildlife, some perish due to the scarcity of pasture and water, while others that manage to escape to regions where their survival is not at risk—either from environmental challenges or human activities—swiftly relocate. Consequently, certain animal species have become endangered due to habitat destruction, which can stem from either climate-induced or human-induced desertification.
Heat waves
In regions where desertification leads to the loss of vegetative cover, heat waves become a frequent occurrence. In areas with dense vegetation, trees play a crucial role in absorbing some of the heat. However, in environments that have been severely affected by desertification, the absence of trees eliminates this heat-absorbing function. Heat waves can have detrimental effects on human health, and the prevalence of conditions like meningitis, especially common in northern Nigeria, can be attributed to these heat waves.
Waterborne diseases
In desert regions, accessing clean drinking water is extremely challenging due to a chronic water shortage. People in these areas often have to use any water source they can find, regardless of its hygiene. Sometimes, there is competition between humans and animals for the limited available water, which can lead to contamination of water sources by these animals and, consequently, outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Countermeasures
Techniques and countermeasures exist for mitigating or reversing the effects of desertification, and some possess varying levels of difficulty. For some, there are numerous barriers to their implementation. Yet for others, the solution simply requires the exercise of human reason.
One proposed barrier is that the costs of adopting sustainable agricultural practices sometimes exceed the benefits for individual farmers, even while they are socially and environmentally beneficial. Another issue is a lack of political will, and lack of funding to support land reclamation and anti-desertification programs.Desertification is recognized as a major threat to biodiversity. Some countries have developed biodiversity action plans to counter its effects, particularly in relation to the protection of endangered flora and fauna.
Reforestation
Reforestation gets at one of the root causes of desertification and is not just a treatment of the symptoms. Environmental organizations work in places where deforestation and desertification are contributing to extreme poverty. There they focus primarily on educating the local population about the dangers of deforestation and sometimes employ them to grow seedlings, which they transfer to severely deforested areas during the rainy season. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the FAO Drylands Restoration Initiative in 2012 to draw together knowledge and experience on dryland restoration. In 2015, FAO published global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands, in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.The "Green Wall of China" is a high-profile example of one method that has been finding success in this battle with desertification. This wall is a much larger-scale version of what American farmers did in the 1930s to stop the great Midwest dust bowl. This plan was proposed in the late 1970s, and has become a major ecological engineering project that is not predicted to end until the year 2055. According to Chinese reports, there have been nearly 66 billion trees planted in China's great green wall. The green wall of China has decreased desert land in China by an annual average of 1,980 square km. The frequency of sandstorms nationwide have fallen 20% due to the green wall. Due to the success that China has been finding in stopping the spread of desertification, plans are currently being made in Africa to start a "wall" along the borders of the Sahara desert as well to be financed by the United Nations Global Environment Facility trust.
In 2007 the African Union started the Great Green Wall of Africa project in order to combat desertification in 20 countries. The wall is 8,000 km wide, stretching across the entire width of the continent and has 8 billion dollars in support of the project. The project has restored 36 million hectares of land, and by 2030 the initiative plans to restore a total of 100 million hectares. The Great Green Wall has created many job opportunities for the participating countries, with over 20,000 jobs created in Nigeria alone.
Soil restoration
Techniques focus on two aspects: provisioning of water, and fixation and hyper-fertilizing soil. Fixating the soil is often done through the use of shelter belts, woodlots and windbreaks. Windbreaks are made from trees and bushes and are used to reduce soil erosion and evapotranspiration. They were widely encouraged by development agencies from the middle of the 1980s in the Sahel area of Africa.
Some soils (for example, clay), due to lack of water can become consolidated rather than porous (as in the case of sandy soils). Some techniques as zaï or tillage are then used to still allow the planting of crops.Another technique that is useful is contour trenching. This involves the digging of 150 m long, 1 m deep trenches in the soil. The trenches are made parallel to the height lines of the landscape, preventing the water from flowing within the trenches and causing erosion. Stone walls are placed around the trenches to prevent the trenches from closing up again. This method was invented by Peter Westerveld.Enriching of the soil and restoration of its fertility is often achieved by plants. Of these, leguminous plants which extract nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, succulents (such as Opuntia), and food crops/trees as grains, barley, beans and dates are the most important. Sand fences can also be used to control drifting of soil and sand erosion.
Another way to restore soil fertility is through the use of nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Due to the higher cost of this fertilizer, many smallholder farmers are reluctant to use it, especially in areas where subsistence farming is common. Several nations, including India, Zambia, and Malawi have responded to this by implementing subsidies to help encourage adoption of this technique.Some research centres (such as Bel-Air Research Center IRD/ISRA/UCAD) are also experimenting with the inoculation of tree species with mycorrhiza in arid zones. The mycorrhiza are basically fungi attaching themselves to the roots of the plants. They hereby create a symbiotic relation with the trees, increasing the surface area of the tree's roots greatly (allowing the tree to gather much more nutrient from the soil).The bioengineering of soil microbes, particularly photosynthesizers, has also been suggested and theoretically modeled as a method to protect drylands. The aim would be to enhance the existing cooperative loops between soil microbes and vegetation.
Desert reclamation
As there are many different types of deserts, there are also different types of desert reclamation methodologies. An example for this is the salt flats in the Rub' al Khali desert in Saudi Arabia. These salt flats are one of the most promising desert areas for seawater agriculture and could be revitalized without the use of freshwater or much energy.Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) is another technique that has produced successful results for desert reclamation. Since 1980, this method to reforest degraded landscape has been applied with some success in Niger. This simple and low-cost method has enabled farmers to regenerate some 30,000 square kilometers in Niger. The process involves enabling native sprouting tree growth through selective pruning of shrub shoots. The residue from pruned trees can be used to provide mulching for fields thus increasing soil water retention and reducing evaporation. Additionally, properly spaced and pruned trees can increase crop yields. The Humbo Assisted Regeneration Project which uses FMNR techniques in Ethiopia has received money from The World Bank's BioCarbon Fund, which supports projects that sequester or conserve carbon in forests or agricultural ecosystems.
Managed grazing
Restored grasslands store CO2 from the atmosphere as organic plant material. Grazing livestock, usually not left to wander, consume the grass and minimize its growth. A method proposed to restore grasslands uses fences with many small paddocks, moving herds from one paddock to another after a day or two in order to mimic natural grazers and allowing the grass to grow optimally. Proponents of managed grazing methods estimate that increasing this method could increase carbon content of the soils in the world's 3.5 billion hectares of agricultural grassland and offset nearly 12 years of CO2 emissions.
History
The world's most noted deserts have been formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independently of human activities. Paleodeserts are large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, some extending beyond the present margins of core deserts, such as the Sahara, the largest hot desert.Historical evidence shows that the serious and extensive land deterioration occurring several centuries ago in arid regions had three centers: the Mediterranean, the Mesopotamian Valley, and the Loess Plateau of China, where population was dense.The earliest known discussion of the topic arose soon after the French colonization of West Africa, when the Comité d'Etudes commissioned a study on desséchement progressif to explore the prehistoric expansion of the Sahara Desert. The modern study of desertification emerged from the study of the 1980s drought in the Sahel.
See also
Aridification
Desert greening
Detention basin
Ecological engineering
Oasification
Soil retrogression and degradation
Water scarcity
World Day to Combat Desertification and DroughtOther related portals:
References
Sources
This article incorporates public domain material from Desertification. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
External links
Official website of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
Procedural history and related documents on the UNCCD, from the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
Official website of Action Against Desertification, a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
Global Deserts Outlook (2006), thematic assessment report in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) series of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). |
environmental biology of fishes | Environmental Biology of Fishes is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on all aspects of fish and fish-related biology, and the links to their environment. The journal is published by Springer Science+Business Media and was established in 1976. The current editor-in-chief is Margaret F. Docker (University of Manitoba).
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed in the following databases:
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 1.844.
References
External links
Official website |
waste treatment | Waste treatment refers to the activities required to ensure that waste has the least practicable impact on the environment. In many countries various forms of waste treatment are required by law.
Solid waste treatment
The treatment of solid wastes is a key component of waste management. Different forms of solid waste treatment are graded in the waste hierarchy.
Waste water treatment
Agricultural waste water treatment
Agricultural wastewater treatment is treatment and disposal of liquid animal waste, pesticide residues etc. from agriculture.
Industrial wastewater treatment
Industrial wastewater treatment is the treatment of wet wastes from factories, mines, power plants and other commercial facilities.
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment is the treatment and disposal of human waste. Sewage is produced by all human communities. Treatment in urbanized areas is typically handled by centralized treatment systems. Alternative systems may use composting processes or processes that separate solid materials by settlement and then convert soluble contaminants into biological sludge and into gases such as carbon dioxide or methane.
Radioactive waste treatment
Radioactive waste treatment is the treatment and containment of radioactive waste.
== References == |
sustainable urban infrastructure | Sustainable urban infrastructure expands on the concept of urban infrastructure by adding the sustainability element with the expectation of improved and more resilient urban development. In the construction and physical and organizational structures that enable cities to function, sustainability also aims to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the capabilities of the future generations.SDG 9, of the international Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly, deals with infrastructure, however, infrastructure is a building block for the rest of the SDGs. Therefore, the achievement of sustainable infrastructure is of significant concern in multiple areas of society.The sustainable development of urban areas is crucial since more than 56% of the world's population lives in cities. Cities are in the lead of climate action, while being responsible for an estimated 75% of the world's carbon emissions.
Concept
A bibliometric study, published in 2019, of the evolution of research regarding sustainable urban infrastructure emphasizes that this concept continues to grow in the research community and change in scope as technology improves. According to the College of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Colorado Denver, urban infrastructure refers to the engineered systems (water, energy, transport, sanitation, information) that make up a city. Not solely based on evaluating utilities, sustainability efforts in urban infrastructure seek to combat global warming and municipal waste, as well as encourage economic prosperity. Socioeconomic implications of these efforts often involve policy and governance in the implementation of sustainable infrastructure, and their variation results in different programs sized on national, regional, or more local scales.
Challenges resulting from increasing population growth have generated a need for sustainable infrastructure that is high performing, cost-effective, resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly.The United States Environmental Protection Agency maintains that the planning process of sustainable design can lead to the development of a community that is ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable. The design for a sustainable urban infrastructure emphasizes localization and sustainable living. According to the principle of sustainable development, the aim is to reduce an individual's ecological footprint in areas with a high population density.
The criteria for what can be included in this kind of urban environment varies from place to place given differences in existing infrastructure and built form, climate, and availability of local resources and talents.
Generally speaking, the following could be considered sustainable urban infrastructure:
public transport networks
distributed generation and integrated energy demand management initiatives and programs
high efficiency buildings and other development constraints such as only permitting the construction of green buildings and sustainable habitats with energy-efficient landscaping.
connected green spaces and wildlife corridors
low impact development practices to protect water resources
disaster mitigation techniques and plans
highly integrative communication networks
systems to increase accessibility of localized and renewable resourcesA more systematic view of sustainable urban infrastructure has grown in popularity. Instead of just focusing on housing and space, experts now incorporate ideas regarding urban resource metabolism, the interconnectedness of citizens, and the complex vulnerabilities that cities develop over time. Green infrastructure is a subset of sustainable urban infrastructure, and mostly considers ecological implications, water resources, and nature-based solutions.
Global Initiatives
Generalized
When comparing volume of research and developments, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China are the most involved in generating solutions for infrastructure. Different national priorities often result in different sustainability foci among countries. According to a review of available projects and research, the United States and United Kingdom prioritize sustainable solutions towards culture, water, disasters, and urban planning. The United States especially has made progress with green infrastructure initiatives (e.g. Green Alley Programs). China and Australia have similar priorities, but Australian tourism takes larger precedence as opposed to disaster prevention, while China is significantly involved in governance, electricity, and land development.
Africa
Existing infrastructure and governance challenges in general can slow progression towards sustainable urban practices. The United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, applicable for a multitude of African countries, seeks to deal with these challenges while working towards sustainability. According to the UN, only 40% of the African population lives in urban areas, but these urban areas, and their interconnectedness, are quickly growing, requiring the consideration of sustainability. In light of this, the African Union (AU) began its own sustainability and infrastructure initiative in Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. African discourse with the UN has notably referenced the ethical extraction of resources and equitable access to resources as measures of sustainability within the infrastructure of a society's urban culture and metabolism. However, a lack of consistent government regulation and socioeconomic conditions continue to hinder attempts to establish a resilient and sustainably motivated network of cities across Africa. A national movement to create integrative urban policies, which have been adopted by many African countries, gives hope to the idea of governmental commitment to cooperatively developing land in the best interest of growing urban areas.
Australia
In contrast to the increasing Chinese population, the population in Australia faces threatened resiliency due to decreasing population growth rates. More efficient land development, also carried out by an integrated group of bureaucratic bodies throughout Australia, and multiuse utility systems can maximize the social, environmental, and economic benefits of a country regardless of whether the population is increasing or decreasing.
Canada
Sustainable urban infrastructure is also called sustainable municipal infrastructure in Canada. It is an infrastructure initiative that facilitates progress towards the goal of sustainable living in a place or region. Attention is paid to technological and government policies which enable urban planning for sustainable architecture and sustainable agriculture.
In Canada, several organizations related to the FCM InfraGuide project, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Infrastructure Canada, National Research Council of Canada, and Canadian Public Works Association, seek to achieve sustainability in municipal infrastructure, especially large scale urban infrastructure. These organizations advocate environmental protocols, and inclusion of ecological and social indicators and factors in decision making at the earliest possible stage. There is little focus yet on sustainable rural infrastructure, though, this is a stated goal of the project, as is the achievement of sustainable rural development in developing nations.
In their view, sustainability concerns apply to all of "maintaining, repairing and upgrading the infrastructure that sustains our quality of life" including at least:
municipal decision making and investment planning
potable water supply
stormwater and wastewater especially minimizing the distance that such water travels to be treated and reused
roads and sidewalks and their integration with transit systems to achieve smoother flow of people
environmental protocols and multidisciplinary practices to ensure they are respected, e.g. green procurement.These and other Canadian official entities, including the Auditor General of Canada and Service Canada, are focused on related efforts such as municipal performance audits, information technology, communications technology, moral purchasing and sharing of "data, information, common infrastructure, technology," and the need to "integrate their business processes." In particular, this integration further reduces duplication and waste, especially e-waste and greenhouse gas emissions that were a concern under Kyoto Protocol targets that Canada committed to achieve. In 2011, Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol due to economic concerns.
China
The increasing population of China has significantly impacted the ratio of resource consumption to resource production, which has put pressure on the Chinese government and economy to establish a more efficient way of using resources to permit sustained longevity of Chinese society. The Circular Economy Policy has already begun to address this issue by enforcing repeated analysis and reuse throughout a product's entire life cycle. To solve this problem, first of all, China will improve to promote the progress of science and technology and business management and improve labor efficiency. The second is to guide enterprises to optimize the combination of production factors following market needs and achieve the interface between production and demand. Thirdly the government will allow competition and the mechanism of eliminating winners and losers among enterprises to enhance the ability to produce and operate goods. Last but not least, the Chinese government plans modern urban centers in completely different areas. A modern framework includes open transportation, water supply, and distinctive private regions and mechanical regions dissemination. First-world and developed countries, such as some parts of China, often seek to grow exponentially in economic productivity and consumerism, but this exponential growth must be matched with an exponential drop in resource consumption that may be achieved through an integrated system approach. This systematic approach of incorporating consumerist and lifestyle changes on many societal levels, reflects the systematic dynamic of sustainable urban infrastructure. By treating sustainability as a function of interconnected systems (e.g. transportation, land development, community formation, etc.), the impact of any change in one system can be amplified without causing a sector of infrastructure to singularly fail.
Indonesia
The redevelopment of North Jakarta was the subject of a 2012 project to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing sustainable design, as well as public knowledge about the benefits of such design. City areas along the coast particularly suffer from large socioeconomic gaps, high density slums, and poor development planning. Results from the Structural Equations Model (SEM) revealed that, although sustainable redesigning would help uplift coastal areas, public efficacy towards sustainable urban infrastructure was lacking significantly. Public surveys conducted in Jakarta emphasized the following priorities:
land use
public transportation
built space
open space
network infrastructure and waste
energy
hydrology
air and sunBy applying sustainable technology and methods to these components of infrastructure, the government seeks to reinvigorate the socioeconomic wellbeing of North Jakarta. However, in order to effectively create a wholly resilient society, the project stresses that the design process must be shared between government initiatives, the commercial sector, and public opinion. This mutual relationship is reflected in the project philosophy, which viewed cities as an ecosystem of the aforementioned priorities shared effectively among different levels of society in order to thrive. One of the biggest challenges faced when implementing sustainable design is expected to be the quantification of future operational costs and maintenance, which are ideally offset by the benefits of increased sustainability.
Switzerland
The Swiss Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) supports various stakeholders, such as governments, banks, and cities, in designing, implementing, and financing sustainable urban infrastructure projects at all stages of the project cycle. Currently, GIB has developed, in cooperation with the French bank Natixis, the SuRe® Standard – The Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, which is a global voluntary ISEAL standard. GIB has also developed the SuRe® SmartScan, a simplified version of the SuRe® Standard that serves as a self-assessment tool for sustainable infrastructure projects. It provides project developers with a comprehensive analysis of the various themes covered by the SuRe® Standard, offering a solid foundation for green infrastructure projects that are planning to become certified by the SuRe® Standard.
Infrastructural aspects
Roadway materials
Roadside and urban infrastructures such as signposts, bollards, and street furniture are prone to damage and deterioration. As infrastructure deteriorates, it requires either replacement or enhancement. Existing public funding sources are inadequate to meet these needs. Self-healing technology could protect surrounding paving and foundations from damage when items of infrastructure are impacted, which can reduce maintenance and improve the sustainability of urban developments. Self-healing developments result in zero waste and zero-landfill from maintenance on items of urban infrastructure for the life of the development.
Renewable energy
Policy and technology are key factors in the implementation of renewable energy sources, which not only improve energy efficiency, but also the electricity demand of communication networks and the self-sufficiency of a city in the instance of disaster. Projects that involve zero-energy buildings, reduced cooling and heating demand, and greater understanding of occupant behavior achieve a greater holistic perspective of wasteful energy sourcing.
Smart grid
Distributed generation and energy demand management are components of the smart grid, a term for an electrical grid that uses renewable and energy efficient means of generation. An optimized city might also use the smart grid for communication networks, the Internet, and other electronic signals that build the electronic and cultural infrastructure of urban communities. Electric vehicles and substations link transportation with the grid, and commercial transactions over the Internet directly link the economy. As cities grow larger and more electronically dependent, reliability and security become significant concerns for institutions and private citizens. By using a renewable and efficient system, a city can reduce the threat of a collapse of power and information services.
Transportation
To reduce overall footprint, transportation infrastructure requires a localized consumer base made accessible by integrative design within neighborhoods. This design, which results from effective land development, is ideally overseen by competent governance. Consistent funding and effective investments also allow public transportation to maintain stable services, keeping the city itself more stable as a result. These aforementioned concepts are one interpretation of the "4 Pillars of Transportation" known as
Governance
Financing
Neighborhoods
InfrastructureAutomobile emissions associated with urban congestion directly correlate with a decline in urban citizen health, making public transportation more optimized for maintaining resilient public and environmental health. Once again, cost-effectiveness is important, in that maintenance costs must be exceeded by benefits (monetary and/or societal), but oftentimes state-owned public transportation suffers significant losses.
Resources
A common governance and administration method subjected to studies, such as from the Complex and Sustainable Urban Networks (CSUN) Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the control of resource supply and demand. When supply and demand are manipulated, it may be possible to steer an urban society toward resources and forms of infrastructure that are more conservatively used and conducive towards sustained use. In addition, by systematically designing interdependencies and multifunctionality among forms of urban infrastructure, a society ensures that, if one part of infrastructure fails, other parts can help remediate the loss in service. This references back to integrative design as well.Life cycle assessments of resource materials can also help calculate the environmental footprint of a city. In 2017, at least 84 sampled cities from around the globe had a projected footprint increase of 58%-116% by 2050. If the cities reduced resource consumption on a social and technical basis, and adopted energy efficient practices, the projected footprint improved dramatically. Unfortunately, these statistics are often difficult to compare because the exact conditions, resources, and assets of the cities all differed. The countries are more relatable, however, when globally valued resources are used, thus encouraging international dialogue, planning and foresight.
See also
Sustainable city
Environmental design
Green infrastructure
Landscape urbanism AALU
New Urbanism
Regional Planning
Smart city
Sustainable urban drainage systems
Transit-Oriented Development
Sustainable Implant
Eco-cities
Urban ecology
References
External links
Cities can Save the Earth: the urban solution to climate change, species extinctions and peak oil
Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and Economy suggestions re: sustainable urban infrastructure
Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and Economy Sustainable Cities Initiative
Communities of Tomorrow industry-research partnership in Regina, Canada
[1] |
environmental footprint of electric cars | Electric cars (or electric vehicles, EVs) have a smaller environmental footprint than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). While aspects of their production can induce similar, less or alternative environmental impacts, they produce little or no tailpipe emissions, and reduce dependence on petroleum, greenhouse gas emissions, and health effects from air pollution. Electric motors are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines and thus, even accounting for typical power plant efficiencies and distribution losses, less energy is required to operate an EV. Manufacturing batteries for electric cars requires additional resources and energy, so they may have a larger environmental footprint from the production phase. EVs also generate different impacts in their operation and maintenance. EVs are typically heavier and could produce more tire and road dust air pollution, but their regenerative braking could reduce such particulate pollution from brakes. EVs are mechanically simpler, which reduces the use and disposal of engine oil.
Comparison with fossil-fueled cars
Although all cars have effects on other people, battery electric cars have major environmental benefits over conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), such as:
Elimination of harmful tailpipe pollutants such as various oxides of nitrogen, which kill thousands of people every year
EVs use 38 megajoules per 100 km in comparison to 142 megajoules per 100 km for ICE cars. However if the electricity is generated in an oil-fired power station, it takes 48MJ more (74 cf 26) to provide it in the electric case.
Less CO2 emissions globally than fossil-fuelled cars, thus limiting climate changePlug-in hybrids capture most of these benefits when they are operating in all-electric mode.Electric cars have some disadvantages, such as:
Possible increased particulate matter emissions from tires compared to fossil-fueled cars. This is sometimes caused by the fact that most electric cars have a heavy battery, which means the car's tires are subjected to more wear. This is drastically reduced when EV-rated weight-specific tires are used on the EV which are built specifically for the extra weight. Devices to capture tyre particulates are being developed.Even though electric cars do produce less emissions, electricity power used to power the cars and the creation of electric cars do produce emissions.
The brake pads, however, can be used less frequently than in non-electric cars, if regenerative braking is available and may thus sometimes produce less particulate pollution than brakes in non-electric cars. Also, some electric cars may have a combination of drum brakes and disc brakes, and drum brakes are known to cause less particulate emissions than disc brakes.
Reliance on rare-earth elements such as neodymium, lanthanum, terbium, and dysprosium, and other critical metals such as lithium and cobalt, though the quantity of rare metals used differs per car. Despite the name rare earth metals are plentiful. They make up a tiny share of the minerals used to make a car.
Materials extraction impact
Raw materials
Electric cars use far less raw materials than conventional petrol/gasoline cars, according to Transport & Environment. This difference is chiefly due to fuel consumption: the petrol or diesel that is burned during the average lifetime of a car would fill a stack of oil barrels 90 metres high, and weights between 300-400 times more than the total quantity of battery metals lost with an electric car (at around 30 kilograms, these metals would fit into the size of a football).
Plug-in hybrids and electric cars run off lithium-ion batteries and rare-earth element electric motors. Electric vehicles use much more lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in their batteries compared to the 7g (0.25 oz) for a smartphone or the 30g (1.1 oz) used by tablets or computers. As of 2016, a hybrid electric passenger car might use 5 kg (11 lb) of LCE, while one of Tesla's high performance electric cars could use as much as 80 kg (180 lb) of LCE. Most EVs use permanent magnet motors as they are more efficient than induction motors. These permanent magnets use neodymium and praseodymium which can be dirty and difficult to produce.
The demand for lithium used by the batteries and rare-earth elements (such as neodymium, boron, and cobalt) used by the electric motors, is expected to grow significantly due to the future sales increase of plug-in electric vehicles.
In 2022 the IPCC said (with medium confidence) "Emerging national strategies on critical minerals and the requirements from major vehicle manufacturers are leading to new, more geographically diverse mines. The standardisation of battery modules and packaging within and across vehicle platforms, as well as increased focus on design for recyclability are important. Given the high degree of potential recyclability of lithium-ion batteries, a nearly closed-loop system in the future could mitigate concerns about critical mineral issues.": 142
Lithium
The main deposits of lithium are found in China and throughout the Andes mountain chain in South America. In 2008 Chile was the leading lithium metal producer with almost 30%, followed by China, Argentina, and Australia. Lithium recovered from brine, such as in Nevada and Cornwall, is much more environmentally friendly.Nearly half the world's known reserves are located in Bolivia, and according to the US Geological Survey, Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni desert has 5.4 million tons of lithium. Other important reserves are located in Chile, China, and Brazil.According to a 2020 study balancing lithium supply and demand for the rest of the century needs good recycling systems, vehicle-to-grid integration, and lower lithium intensity of transportation.
Rare-earth elements
Electric motor manufactured for plug-in electric cars and hybrid electric vehicles use rare earth elements. The demand for heavy metals, and other specific elements (such as neodymium, boron and cobalt) required for the batteries and powertrain is expected to grow significantly due to the future sales increase of plug-in electric vehicles in the mid and long term. Some of the largest world reserves of lithium and other rare metals are located in countries with strong resource nationalism, unstable governments or hostility to U.S. interests, raising concerns about the risk of replacing dependence on foreign oil with a new dependence on hostile countries to supply strategic materials.
It is estimated that there are sufficient lithium reserves to power 4 billion electric cars.China has 48% of the world's reserves of rare-earth elements, the United States has 13%, and Russia, Australia, and Canada have significant deposits. Until the 1980s, the U.S. led the world in rare-earth production, but since the mid-1990s China has controlled the world market for these elements. The mines in Bayan Obo near Baotou, Inner Mongolia, are currently the largest source of rare-earth metals and are 80% of China's production.
Manufacturing impact
Electric cars also have impacts arising from the manufacturing of the vehicle. The manufacturing of the battery results in significant environmental impact, as it requires copper and aluminum for its anode and cathode. Since battery packs are heavy, manufacturers work to lighten the rest of the vehicle. As a result, electric car components contain many lightweight materials that require a lot of energy to produce and process, such as aluminium and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers.The manufacturing of EV motors also results in environmental impacts. Electric cars can utilize two types of motors: permanent magnet motors (like the one found in the Mercedes EQA), and induction motors (like the one found on the Tesla Model 3). Induction motors do not use magnets, but permanent magnet motors do. The magnets found in permanent magnet motors used in electric vehicles contain rare-earth metals to increase the power output of these motors. The mining and processing of metals such as lithium, copper, and nickel requires significant energy and can release toxic compounds into the surrounding area. Local populations may be exposed to toxic substances through air and groundwater contamination.Several reports have found that hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars generate more carbon emissions during their production than current ICE vehicles but still have a lower overall carbon footprint over the full life cycle. The initial higher carbon footprint is due mainly to battery production, but it is difficult to measure the embodied energy that is used to create the energy used to power the vehicle.
Consumer use impacts
Air pollution and carbon emissions
Compared to conventional internal combustion engine automobiles, electric cars reduce local air pollution, especially in cities, as they do not emit harmful tailpipe pollutants such as particulates (soot), volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, and various oxides of nitrogen. Some of the environmental impact may instead be shifted to the site of the generation plants, depending on the method by which the electricity used to recharge the batteries is generated. This shift of environmental impact from the vehicle itself (in the case of ICE vehicles) to the source of electricity (in the case of EVs) is referred to as the long tailpipe of electric vehicles. This impact, however, is still less than that of traditional vehicles, as the large size of power plants allow them to generate less emissions per unit power than internal combustion engines, and electricity generation continues to become greener as renewables such as wind, solar and nuclear power become more widespread. By 2050, carbon emissions reduced by the use of electric cars can save over 1163 lives annually and over $12.61 billion in health benefits in many major U.S. metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles and New York City.The specific emission intensity of generating electric power varies significantly with respect to location and time, depending on current demand and availability of renewable sources (See List of renewable energy topics by country and territory). The phase-out of fossil fuels and coal and transition to renewable and low-carbon power sources will make electricity generation greener, which will reduce the impact of EVs that use that electricity.
Charging a vehicle using only renewable energy (e.g., wind power or solar panels) yields a very low carbon footprint. According to The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the ability to recycle greenhouse gas of an electric vehicle is far more superior than a gasoline car, which is a great selling point for people who are looking to invest into the future in return for the electric car's longevity and reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions are generated exclusively by the production and installation of the generation system (see Energy Returned On Energy Invested.) A household with solar panels can feasibly produce enough energy to offset the power needed to charge an electric car, and thus (on average) make the EV produce net-zero emissions.
Particulates
The operation of electric vehicles results in brake dust, airborne road dust, and tire erosion, which contribute to particulate matter in the air. Particulate matter is dangerous for respiratory health. In the UK non-tailpipe PM from all types of vehicles (including EVs) may be responsible for between 7,000 and 8,000 premature deaths a year.
Lower operational impacts and maintenance needs
Battery electric vehicles have lower maintenance costs compared to internal combustion vehicles since electronic systems break down much less often than the mechanical systems in conventional vehicles, and the fewer mechanical systems onboard last longer due to the better use of the electric engine. Electric cars do not require oil changes and other routine maintenance checks.Internal combustion engines are relatively inefficient at converting on-board fuel energy to propulsion as most of the energy is wasted as heat, and the rest while the engine is idling. Electric motors, on the other hand, are more efficient at converting stored energy into driving a vehicle. Electric drive vehicles do not consume energy while at rest or coasting, and modern plug-in cars can capture and reuse as much as one fifth of the energy normally lost during braking through regenerative braking. Typically, conventional gasoline engines effectively use only 15% of the fuel energy content to move the vehicle or to power accessories, and diesel engines can reach on-board efficiencies of 20%, while electric drive vehicles typically have on-board efficiencies of around 80%.
End-of-life
Batteries
Lead-acid
Like ICE cars, many electric cars, as of 2021, contain lead–acid batteries which are used to power the vehicle's auxiliary electrical systems. In some countries lead acid batteries are not recycled safely.
Lithium-ion
Current retirement criteria for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles cite 80% capacity for end-of-first-life, and 65% capacity for end-of-second-life. The first-life defines the lifespan of the battery's intended use, while the second-life defines the lifespan of the battery's subsequent use-case. Lithium-ion batteries from cars can sometimes be re-used for a second-life in factories or as stationary batteries. Some electric vehicle manufacturers, such as Tesla, claim that a lithium-ion battery that no longer fulfills the requirements of its intended use can be serviced by them directly, thereby lengthening its first-life. Reused electric vehicle batteries can potentially supply 60-100% of the grid-scale lithium-ion energy storage by 2030. The carbon footprint of an electric vehicle lithium-ion battery can be reduced by up to 17% if reused rather than immediately retired. After retirement, direct recycling processes allow reuse of cathode mixtures, which removes processing steps required for manufacturing them. When this is infeasible, individual materials can be obtained through pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. When lithium-ion batteries are recycled, if they are not handled properly, the harmful substances inside will cause secondary pollution to the environment. These same processes can also endanger workers and damage their health. Lithium-ion batteries, when disposed of in household trash, can present fire hazards in transport and in landfills, resulting in trash fires that can destroy other recyclable materials and create increased carbon dioxide and particulate matter emissions.
Motors
Electric motors are an essential component of electric cars that convert electrical energy into mechanical energy to move the wheels, where neodymium magnets are commonly used in the manufacturing process. There is currently no cost-effective way for the industry to recycle electric motors due to the complicated extraction process of these magnets. Many electric motors end up in the landfill or are shredded because there is no viable recycle or disposal alternative.Two primary efforts to remedy this dilemma include the DEMETER project and a joint venture between Nissan Motors and Waseda University to lessen the environment impact of electric motors. The DEMETER project was a research initiative between the European Union and private entities, which culminated in the development of a recyclable electric motor designed by French company Valeo. Nissan and Waseda identified and refined a new process for extracting rare-earth magnets for re-use in the manufacturing of new electric vehicle motors.
See also
All-electric mode
Battery
Battery fade
Converting existing vehicle to electric
Downcycling of end-of-life e-automotive batteries
Electric power
Electric velomobiles
Fuel cell car
Full cost accounting
Hybrid electric vehicle
Induction motor
Modal shift
NEVs
Phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles
Plug-in hybrid electric car
Robotic disassembly of electric car batteries
Solar car
Vehicles powered by advanced biofuels
== References == |
climatarian diet | Climatarian diet is a diet focused on reducing the carbon footprint.
Etymology
The term first appeared around the mid-2010s, with The New York Times including it on its list of new food-related words in 2015, where it was defined as "a diet whose primary goal is to reverse climate change". The word itself is a portmanteau of the noun "climate" and the splinter word "-tarian", which has come to refer to someone with a dietary restriction.
Suggested ways reduce dietary carbon footprint
Climate-centered diets do not involve strict rules so much as mindfulness about food production, such as where food comes from, and where it goes. The Core Principles involve eating locally, reducing meat consumption or choosing lower-impact meats, and eliminating food waste wherever possible. Suggestions include:
Eat "land-efficient" foods
Eat less feedlot beef
Buy local
Buy organic
Eat drought-hardy crops
Cut down on food waste
Motivation
The climatarian diet is supposed to carry dual benefits, not only for the consumer, who will enjoy healthier diet, but also for the planet as a whole, by reducing the climate impact of food production. Proponents of climatarianism claim that the diet is based on clear scientific data, as it seeks to reduce the consumption of those foods that are identified as the largest emitters of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.One of the main ways in which climatarians strive to make their food consumption less environmentally harmful is by avoiding eating beef and lamb.According to a 2014 study, "beef used 28 times more land, 11 times more water and emitted five times more greenhouse gases than the production of either pork, poultry, dairy or eggs." It has also been calculated that the carbon footprint of beef is well over the equivalent of 20,000 g of CO2 per kilo, while fish is just under 4,500 g, and poultry is around 4,000 g. Beans and dried fruit are under the equivalent of 2,000 g of CO2 per kilo, while vegetables and seasonal fruit use less than 1,000 g.Other goals of the climatarian diet consist of eating many vegetables, choosing locally produced food and using all parts of an animal when eating meat, in order to reduce waste.
Climatarian app
In 2016, the Australian climate group Less Meat Less Heat launched a crowdfunding campaign in order to develop an app that will make it easier for consumers to eat in an environmental-conscious way. The app was launched in November 2016 and is meant to encourage users to reduce their food-based footprint to less than 80 kilograms of carbon per month.
== Notes == |
net zero emissions | Global net zero emissions describes the state where emissions of carbon dioxide due to human activities and removals of these gases are in balance over a given period. It is often called simply net zero. In some cases, "emissions" refers to emissions of all greenhouse gases, and in others it refers only to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).To reach net zero targets requires actions to reduce emissions. One example would be by shifting from fossil fuel energy to sustainable energy sources. Organizations often offset their residual emissions by buying carbon credits. People often switch between the terms net zero emissions, carbon neutrality, and climate neutrality with the same meaning.: 22–24 However in some cases, these terms have different meanings from each other. Some standards bodies allow more use of offsets for carbon neutral certification than for net zero certification.
In the last few years, net zero has become the main framework for climate ambition. Both countries and organizations are setting net zero targets. Today more than 140 countries have a net zero emissions target. They include some countries that were resistant to climate action in previous decades. Country-level net zero targets now cover 92% of global GDP, 88% of emissions and 89% of the world population. 65% of the largest 2,000 publicly traded companies by annual revenue have net zero targets. Among Fortune 500 companies the percentage is 63%. Company targets can result from both voluntary action and government regulation.
Net zero claims vary enormously in how credible they are. Most have low credibility. This is despite the increasing number of commitments and targets. While 61% of global carbon dioxide emissions are covered by some sort of net zero target, credible targets cover only 7% of emissions. This low credibility reflects a lack of binding regulation. It is also due to the need for continued innovation and investment to make decarbonization possible.To date, 27 countries have enacted domestic net zero legislation. These are laws that legislatures have passed which contain net zero targets or equivalent. There is currently no national regulation in place that legally requires companies based in that country to achieve net zero. Several countries including Switzerland are developing such legislation.
History and scientific justification
The idea of net zero came out of research in the late 2000s into how the atmosphere, oceans and carbon cycle were reacting to CO2 emissions. This research found that global warming will only stop if CO2 emissions are reduced to net zero. Net zero was basic to the goals of the Paris Agreement. This stated that we must "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century". The term "net zero" gained popularity after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (SR15) in 2018, This report stated that "Reaching and sustaining net zero global anthropogenic [human-caused] CO2 emissions and declining net non-CO2 radiative forcing would halt anthropogenic global warming on multi-decadal timescales (high confidence)."The idea of net zero emissions is often confused with "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere". This is a term that dates from the 1992 Rio Convention. The two concepts are not the same. This is because the carbon cycle continuously sequesters or absorbs a small percentage of cumulative historical human-caused CO2 emissions into vegetation and the ocean. This happens even after current CO2 emissions are reduced to zero. If the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere were kept constant, some CO2 emissions could continue. However global average surface temperatures would continue to increase for many centuries due to the gradual adjustment of deep ocean temperatures. If CO2 emissions that result directly from human activities are reduced to net zero, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere would decline. This would be at a rate just fast enough to compensate for this deep ocean adjustment. The result would be approximately constant global average surface temperatures over decades or centuries.It will be quicker to reach net-zero emissions for CO2 alone rather than CO2 plus other greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases. The net-zero target date for non-CO2 emissions is later partly because modellers assume that some of these emissions such as methane from farming are harder to phase out. Emissions of short-lived gases such as methane do not accumulate in the climate system in the same way that CO2 does. Therefore there is no need to reduce them to zero to halt global warming. This is because reductions in emissions of short-lived gases cause an immediate decline in the resulting radiative forcing. Radiative forcing is the change in the Earth's energy balance that they cause. However, these potent but short-lived gases will drive temperatures higher in the short term. This could possibly push the rise in temperature past the 1.5 °C threshold much earlier. A comprehensive net-zero emissions target would include all greenhouse gases. This would ensure that we also urgently reduce non-CO2 gases.
Terminology
Countries, local governments, corporations, and financial institutions may all announce pledges for achieving to reach net zero emissions. In climate negotiations we refer to these groups as actors.In climate change discussions we often use the terms net zero, carbon neutrality, and climate neutrality as if they mean the same thing.: 22–24 In some contexts, however, they have different meanings from each other. The sections below explain this. People often use these terms without rigorous standard definitions.
Implementation
Since 2015, there has been significant growth in the number of actors pledging net zero emissions. Many standards have emerged that interpret the net zero concept and aim to measure progress towards net zero targets.: 38 Some of these standards are more robust than others. Some people have criticized weak standards for facilitating greenwashing.: 38 The UN, UNFCCC, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) promote more robust standards.
Types of greenhouse gas
Some targets aim to reach net zero emissions only for carbon dioxide. Others aim to reach net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases. Robust net zero standards state that all greenhouse gases should be covered by a given actor's targets.Some authors say that carbon neutrality strategies focus only on carbon dioxide, but net zero includes all greenhouse gases. However some publications, such as the national strategy of France, use the term "carbon neutral" to mean net reductions of all greenhouse gases. The United States has pledged to achieve "net zero" emissions by 2050. As of March 2021 it had not specified which greenhouse gases will be included in its target.
Scopes of emissions sources
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a group of standards that are the most common in GHG accounting. These standards reflect a number of accounting principles. They include relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency, and accuracy. The standards divide emissions into three scopes:
Scope 1 covers all direct GHG emissions within a corporate boundary (owned or controlled by a company). It includes fuel burned by the company, use of company vehicles, and fugitive emissions.
Scope 2 covers indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat, cooling or steam. As of 2010, at least one third of global GHG emissions are Scope 2.
Scope 3 emission sources include emissions from suppliers and product users (also known as the "value chain"). Transportation of goods, and other indirect emissions are also part of this scope. Scope 3 emissions these were estimated to represent 75% of all emissions reported to the Carbon Disclosure Project, though that percentage varies widely amongst business sectors.Corporate net zero targets vary in how widely they cover emissions related to the company's activities. This can greatly affect the volume of emissions that are counted. Some oil companies, for instance, claim that their operations (Scopes 1 and 2) produce net zero emissions. These claims do not cover the emissions produced when the oil is burned by its customers, which are 70 - 90% of oil-related emissions. This is because they count as Scope 3 emissions.Robust net zero standards require Scope 3 emissions to be counted, but "carbon neutrality" standards do not.
Approaches
A given actor may plan to achieve net zero emissions through a combination of approaches. These would include (1) actions to reduce their own emissions, (2) actions to directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and (3) purchasing carbon credits.
Reducing emissions
Robust net zero standards require actors to reduce their own emissions as much as possible following science-based pathways. They must then balance their residual emissions using removals and offsets.: 12 This typically involves shifting from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. Residual emissions are emissions that are not practical to reduce for technological reasons.Experts and net zero frameworks disagree over the exact percentage of residual emissions that may be allowed. Most guidance suggests this should be limited to a small fraction of total emissions. Sector-specific and geographical factors would determine how much. The Science Based Targets initiative says that residual emissions across most sectors should fall between 5-10% of an organization's baseline emissions. It should be even lower for some sectors with competitive alternatives like the power sector. Sectors such as heavy manufacturing where it is harder to mitigate emissions will probably have a higher percentage of residual emissions by 2050.The ISO and British Standards Institution (BSI) publish "carbon neutrality" standards that have higher tolerance for residual emissions than "net zero" standards. For example, BSI PAS 2060 is a British standard for measuring carbon neutrality. According to these standards, carbon neutrality is a short-term target, and net zero is a longer-term target.
Carbon removals and offsets
To balance residual emissions, actors may take direct action to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it. Alternatively or in addition they can buy carbon credits that "offset" emissions. Carbon credits can be used to fund carbon removal projects such as reforestation.
Strong standards such as the ISO and BSI "net zero" standards only allow removal-based offsets that have the same permanence as the greenhouse gases that they balance. We call this concept "like for like" removals. Permanence means that removals must store greenhouse gases for the same period as the lifetime of the GHG emissions they balance. For example, methane has a lifetime of around 12 years in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide lasts between 300 and 1,000 years. Accordingly, removals that balance carbon dioxide must last much longer than removals that balance methane.
Carbon credits can also fund initiatives that aim to avoid emissions. One example would be energy efficiency retrofits or renewable energy projects. Avoided emissions offsets result from actions that reduce emissions relative to a baseline or status quo. But they do not remove emissions from the atmosphere. Weak standards such as ISO and BSI "carbon neutrality" standards allow organizations to use avoided-emissions carbon credits. They do not specify how permanent or durable a credit must be.Carbon offsetting has been critizied on several fronts. One important concern is that offsets may delay active emissions reductions. In a 2007 report from the Transnational Institute, Kevin Smith likened carbon offsets to medieval indulgences. He said they allowed people to pay "offset companies to absolve them of their carbon sins." He said this permits a "business as usual" attitude that stifles required major changes. Many people have criticized offsets for playing a part in greenwashing. This argument appeared in a 2021 watchdog ruling against Shell.Loose regulation of claims by carbon offsetting schemes combined with the difficulties in calculating greenhouse gas sequestration and emissions reductions has also given rise to criticism. This argument is that this can result in schemes that do not adequately offset emissions in reality. There have been moves to create better regulation. The United Nations has operated a certification process for carbon offsets since 2001. This is called the Clean Development Mechanism. It aims to stimulate "sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction limitation targets." The UK Government's Climate Change Committee says reported emissions reductions or removals may have happened anyway or. not last into the future. This is despite an improvement in standards globally and in the UK.There has also been criticisms of non-native and monocultural forest plantations as carbon offsets. This is because of their "limited—and at times negative—effects on native biodiversity" and other ecosystem services.Most of the carbon credits on the voluntary market today do not meet UN, UNFCCC, ISO or SBTi standards for permanent carbon dioxide removals. So significant investment in carbon capture and permanent geological storage will probably be necessary to achieve net-zero targets by mid-century.
Timeframe
To achieve net zero, actors are encouraged to set net zero targets for 2050 or earlier. Long-term net zero targets should be supplemented by interim targets for every one to five years. The UN, UNFCCC, ISO, and SBTi all say that organizations should prioritize early, front-loaded emissions reduction. They say they should aim to halve emissions by 2030. Specific emissions reduction targets and pathways may look different for different sectors. Some may be able to decarbonize more quickly and easily than others.
Comprehensive accounting
The guidance from standards institutions says that organizations should choose a base year to measure emissions reductions against. This should be representative of their typical greenhouse gas profile. They should explain the choice of baseline and how they will acount for changes in conditions since the baseline. Financial organizations should also include emissions within their portfolio. This should include all organizations they have financed, invested in, or insured. Countries and regions should include both territorial emissions released within their boundaries and consumption emissions related to products and services imported and consumed within their boundaries)Cities and countries pose a challenge when it comes to calculating emissions. This is because the production of products and services within their boundaries might be linked to either internal consumption or exports. At the same time the population also consumes imported products and services. So it is important to state explicitly whether emissions are counted at the location of production or consumption. This helps to prevent double counting. The lengthy manufacturing chains of a globalised market might make this challenging. There are additional challenges with looking at renewable energy systems and electric vehicle batteries. This is because the necessary embodied energy and other effects of raw material extraction are often significant when measuring life-cycle emissions. However the local emissions at the place they are used may be small.
Equity and impact
The concept of net zero has attracted criticism for the impact it could have on equity and distribution. The use of removals or carbon credits for offsetting has been particularly controversial. This is because of the possibility that offset projects themselves could have harmful effects. The ISO Net Zero Guidelines say that net zero strategies should align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.This is in order to "support equity and global transition to a net zero economy, and any subsequent UN global goals which supersede the 2030 SDGs." The UNFCCC's Race to Zero campaign says emissions reductions and removals should "safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable people and communities". It says that organizations should disclose how they will support communities affected by climate impacts and climate transition.
Alignment with the global net zero goal
The United Nations High-Level Expert Group on the Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities has made several recommendations for non-state actors. Non-state actors include cities, regional governments, financial institutions, and corporations. One of these is not financing new fossil fuel development. Another is supporting strong climate policy. And another is ensuring that business activities and investments do not contribute to deforestation.: 12–13
Standards for products
Leading standards and guidance allow official accreditation bodies to certify products as carbon neutral but not as net zero. The rationale behind this is that until organizations and their supply chains are on track for net zero, allowing a product to claim to be net zero at this point would be disingenuous and lead to greenwashing.
Credibility
More and more nations and private and public-sector organizations are committing to net zero. But the credibility of these claims remains low. There is no binding regulation requiring a transition to net zero. So the overwhelming majority of net zero commitments have been made on a voluntary basis. The lack of an enforcement mechanism surrounding these claims means that many are dubious. In many sectors such as steel, cement, and chemicals, the pathway to reaching net zero in terms of technology remains unclear. Further investment in research and innovation and further regulation will probably be necessary if net zero claims are to become more credible.
A consortium of climate scientists has tracked net zero commitments. Their research found that net pledges drafted in law or policy documentation have grown from 7% of countries in 2020 to 75% in 2023. However, very few have met the minimum requirements for a "decent pledge". The UN Race to Zero campaign calls them "starting line criteria". This states that they must have a "plan and published evidence of action taken towards reaching the target" besides a stated pledge,
The role of carbon credits
One of the main reasons for the low credibility of many net zero claims is their heavy reliance on carbon credits. Carbon credits are often used for offsetting. They reduce or remove emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Many fossil fuel companies have made commitments to be net zero by 2050. At the same time they continue to increase greenhouse gas emissions by extracting and producing fossil fuels. They claim that they will use carbon credits and carbon capture technology in order to continue extracting and burning fossil fuels. The UN has condemned such pledges as dangerous examples of greenwashing.
2050 deadline
Many companies often claim a commitment to reach net zero emissions by the year 2050. These promises are often made at the corporate level. Both governments and international agencies encourage businesses to contribute to a national, or international, net zero pledge. The International Energy Agency says that global investment in low carbon substitutes for fossil fuels needs to reach US$4 trillion annually by 2030 for the world to get to net zero by 2050. At the national level, US President Joe Biden has published strategies towards net zero and encouraged Americans to help the United States reach net zero. Biden has signed an executive order for government agencies to reach net zero by 2050. Many companies have made net zero pledges by 2050. They include German train manufacturer Siemens, American automaker Ford, and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn. In addition, the magazine Forbes has released a list of US companies that have made the most progress towards net zero with 2050 or earlier goals. As of September 2023, the companies topping this list are Moody's, MSCI, and Northrop Grumman.Some groups have raised concerns that net zero cannot be achieved worldwide by 2050. Energy company ExxonMobil has said this would be highly unlikely because it would require high losses in living standards. given the high loss in standards of living that humanity would sacrifice in order to attain net zero. Others, such as Bloomberg's editorial board and investment banker Mark Carney, have stated that net zero is only possible with nuclear power.
Criticism
Climate scientists James Dyke, Bob Watson, and Wolfgang Knorr argue that the concept of net zero has been harmful for emissions reductions. This is because it allows actors to defer present-day emissions reductions by relying on future, unproved technological fixes. Examples are carbon offsetting, carbon dioxide removal and geoengineering. "The problems come when it is assumed that these [technological fixes] can be deployed at vast scale. This effectively serves as a blank cheque for the continued burning of fossil fuels and the acceleration of habitat destruction," they said. By tracing the history of previous failures in climate policy at reducing emissions from 1988 to 2021, they said they "[arrive] at the painful realisation that the idea of net zero has licensed a recklessly cavalier 'burn now, pay later' approach which has seen carbon emissions continue to soar". They concluded: "Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5 °C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. [...] The time for wishful thinking is over."In March 2021, Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, argued that the Treaty would be a more genuine and realistic way to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement than the net zeron approach. She described net zero as "delusional and based on bad science".In his 2021 report, Dangerous Distractions, economist Marc Lee said that net zero had the potential to be a dangerous distraction that reduced political pressure to reduce emissions. "A net zero target means less incentive to get to 'real zero' emissions from fossil fuels, an escape hatch that perpetuates business as usual and delays more meaningful climate action," he said. "Rather than gambling on carbon removal technologies of the future, Canada should plan for a managed wind down of fossil fuel production and invest public resources in bona fide solutions like renewables and a just transition from fossil fuels," he said.
See also
Carbon footprint
Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance
Carbon Neutrality Coalition
Carbon neutrality in India
Carbon neutrality in the United States
European Green Deal
Low-carbon economy
References
=== Sources === |
carbon trust | The Carbon Trust was developed and launched in the UK over 1999-2001 as part of the development of the Climate Change Levy (CCL), a tax on business energy use that still operates today. The Carbon Trust was originally funded by around £50m of UK tax revenue generated from the Levy to help businesses reduce energy costs and therefore offset the additional cost of paying the CCL. The establishment of the Carbon Trust was announced in the 2000 UK White Paper "Climate Change - the UK Programme" (Cmd 4913)[1]. It was launched alongside the introduction of the CCL in March–April 2001.
The Carbon Trust was conceived as a business-led, publicly funded organisation operating at arms length from the UK government. The early concept, design, and governance were carried out in close consultation with business. Senior officials from the Devolved Administrations and the UK department (the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) would sit on the Trust's Board, where non-business non-executive Directors were in the majority. However, the chair, CEO and most of the executive team were appointed from the private sector, most notably the oil and gas and management consultancy sectors.
Remit and initial programmes
Source:The Trust began its work with three core activities:
To ensure that UK business and the public sector contribute fully to meeting ongoing targets for greenhouse gas emissions.
To improve the competitiveness of UK business through resource efficiency; and
To support the development of a UK industry sector that capitalises on the innovation and commercial value of low carbon technologies nationally and internationally.The need to recycle CCL revenues back to business by reducing energy costs through energy efficiency was a key early driver of the Carbon Trust's work. Its first act was to take over the UK government's £17m pa Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (EEBPP) in 2002, a UK-wide information-based measure providing independent advice and support on existing energy efficient technologies and energy management practices.
The Trust reconfigured the EEBPP to improve its focus and services to business under a new branding called "Action Energy".
The Carbon Trust also initiated work on new and emerging low carbon technologies using a range of programmes and measures including traditional research, development, and demonstration support to supporting early stage companies developing new technologies and practices. These activities came under the banner of the "Low Carbon Innovation Programme".
Current work
The Carbon Trust presents itself as a global organisation, with offices in China, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, the UK and USA.
Services
Carbon footprinting, verification and Carbon Trust standard
The Carbon Trust provides voluntary carbon certification services and carbon labelling schemes – it verifies organisation and product carbon footprint data and provides marks of quality to organisations to demonstrate standards have been met.
Developing clean technology
The Carbon Trust works with governments, innovators and corporates with the aim of accelerating the commercialisation of low carbon technologies, and leads projects to deliver commercial partnerships and develop low carbon technologies. It is particularly active in the areas of offshore wind, marine energy, fuel cell development and industrial energy efficiency. One such project is the Offshore Wind Accelerator, which is aimed at reducing the cost of wind power through projects focused in the North Sea. The Offshore Wind Accelerator is a partnership between industry and governments.
Programmes and Innovations
The Carbon Trust provides analysis on sustainability issues to help businesses, investors and policy makers with their roles in reducing carbon and saving energy. It works with companies and governments across the world.
Carbon footprinting, verification and Carbon Trust standard
Carbon Trust standards
The Carbon Trust runs a series of environmental standards that certify measurement and reduction. Currently, these cover carbon, water and waste and have been awarded to hundreds of leading companies and organisations across the world.
In June 2008 the Carbon Trust introduced the Carbon Trust Carbon Standard to address what it describes as business greenwash. The Carbon Trust Carbon Standard is only awarded to companies and organisations who measure and reduce their carbon emissions year on year. Examples of organisations who have held the Carbon Standard include Sky, Aldi, Eurotunnel, Bupa, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Samsung Electronics, Angus Council, Capital & Regional, O2, npower, Credit Suisse and the Scottish Government.
In February 2013 the Carbon Trust introduced the Carbon Trust Water Standard to recognise those companies reducing their water use year on year. The first four companies to receive the Water Standard were Sainsbury's, Coca-Cola, Sunlight Services Group and Branston.In July 2013 the Carbon Trust introduced the Carbon Trust Waste Standard. In November 2013 the waste standard was awarded to the first wave of organisations, which included The Football Association, Renishaw, Whitbread, PricewaterhouseCoopers and AkzoNobel Decorative Paints. These last three became the first in the world to gain the triple crown of reaching the carbon, water and waste standard.
In 2015, the Carbon Trust launched the Carbon Trust Supply Chain Standard to look at carbon footprints across the supply chain. It is the world's first independent certification for organisations that are measuring, managing and reducing greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions in their supply chains.
Carbon footprint label
The Carbon Trust helps companies to measure the carbon emissions associated with their products (embodied emissions) and also provides a label for these products carbon footprint. Measuring the embodied emissions of products enables reductions to be identified and achieved across the supply chain. The label demonstrates a commitment by the product owner to reduce that footprint every two years. The Carbon Reduction Label was introduced in March 2007.Examples of products that have featured the carbon footprint label are Amazon Devices, Evian water, Tetra Pak packaging, Kingsmill bread, Quorn foods, Silver Spoon sugar, Walkers crisps, a range of own brand products in Tesco supermarkets, Halifax (HBOS) bank accounts, Dyson airblades, Marshalls building products, Quaker oats, Lafarge cement, and Pompeian Olive Oil.
The standards behind carbon labelling are now formally recognised through the PAS 2050 developed by the Carbon Trust in conjunction with BSI and Defra. This methodology is now gaining international acceptance following its launch in October 2008.However, currently this standard has been revised to the PAS 2050: 2011 version, but the Carbon Trust has not received UKAS accreditation.
References
External links
Carbon Trust official website
Low Carbon Workplace
Green Business Fund
Introduction to the Carbon Trust, presentation in the California Air Resources Board's Air Pollution Seminar Series.
The Carbon Trust profile on database of Market Governance Mechanisms |
hewlett packard enterprise | The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States.
HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the Hewlett-Packard company. It is a business-focused organization which works in servers, storage, networking, containerization software and consulting and support.
The split was structured so that the former Hewlett-Packard Company would change its name to HP Inc. and spin off Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a newly created company. HP Inc. retained the old HP's personal computer and printing business, as well as its stock-price history and original NYSE ticker symbol for Hewlett-Packard; Enterprise trades under its own ticker symbol: HPE. At the time of the spin-off, HPE's revenue was slightly less than that of HP Inc.In 2017, HPE spun off its Enterprise Services business and merged it with Computer Sciences Corporation to become DXC Technology. Also in 2017, it spun off its software business segment and merged it with Micro Focus.HPE was ranked No. 107 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Naming
The full name for the company is "Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company", which drops the hyphen that previously existed between the "Hewlett" and "Packard" of the former Hewlett-Packard Company. The company is commonly referred to as "Hewlett Packard Enterprise" or by its initials "HPE".
The company has also been referred to as "HP Enterprise" by some media outlets and has even been incorrectly referred to as "HP Enterprises".
History
In May 2016, the company announced it would sell its enterprise services division to one of its competitors, Computer Sciences Corporation in a deal valued at US$8.5 billion. The merger of HPE Enterprise Services with CSC, to form a new company DXC Technology, was completed on March 10, 2017. Approximately 100,000 current HPE employees were affected. More than 30,000 services employees from other areas of the HPE business remained at HPE including technology services support and consulting as well as software professional services.In August 2016, the company announced plans to acquire Silicon Graphics International (SGI), known for their capabilities in high performance computing. On November 1, 2016, HPE announced it completed the acquisition, for US$7.75 per share in cash, a transaction valued at approximately US$275 million, net of cash and debt.On September 7, 2016, HPE announced a "spin-merge" with Micro Focus, who would acquire HPE's "non-core" software (which included the HP Autonomy unit), and HPE shareholders would own 50.1 percent of the merged company, which would retain its current name. The merger concluded on September 1, 2017.
In November 2016, PC World wrote that "HPE, and before it, Hewlett-Packard, failed to develop middleware tools to really make a dent in the software market, where other companies like IBM, SAP, and Oracle are excelling," and that "without major software product lines, HPE's integrated offerings won't be as strong as competitors like Dell, which have the software and hardware assets", adding that "If all HPE is doing at this point is focusing largely on hardware, you have to ask what the end game here is."In September 2016, Hewlett Packard Enterprise transferred two patents to Texas-based wholly owned shell company Plectrum LLC. These two patents were originated at the 3Com Corporation, which was bought by HP in 2010, along with about 1,400 patents.On April 11, 2017, it was reported that Synack had raised US$21 million in a round of funding that included Hewlett Packard Enterprise.In January 2017, the company acquired data management platform SimpliVity, the developer of the OmniCube hyper-converged infrastructure appliance, for US$650M.In April 2017, Hewlett Packard Enterprise completed its acquisition of hybrid flash and all flash manufacturer, Nimble Storage Inc, for US$1.2 billion or US$12.50 per share. In October, Reuters reported that the company had allowed a Russian defense agency to examine a cyber-defense system used by The Pentagon. The report noted: "Six former U.S. intelligence officials, as well as former ArcSight [Hewlett Packard Enterprise] employees and independent security experts, said the source code review could help Moscow discover weaknesses in the software, potentially helping attackers to blind the U.S. military to a cyber attack."
In November 2017, Meg Whitman announced that she would be stepping down as CEO, after six years at the helm of HP and HPE, stating that, on February 1, 2018, Antonio Neri would officially become HPE's president and chief executive officer. The announcement created controversy leading to a 6% drop in stock price, which quickly recovered during the next few days.In June 2018, Hewlett Packard Enterprise launched a hybrid cloud service called GreenLake Hybrid Cloud, built on top of HPE's OneSphere cloud management SaaS console, offered under its brand HPE GreenLake. GreenLake is designed to provide cloud management, cost control, and compliance control capabilities, and will run on AWS and Microsoft Azure. GreenLake includes cloud data services for containers, machine learning, storage, compute, data protection and networking through a management portal called GreenLake Central.In February 2019, Meg Whitman announced she would not be seeking re-election to the board of directors, ending her professional involvement in HPE.In May 2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced plans to acquire Cray Inc for US$35 per share. The announcement came soon after Cray had landed a US$600 million US Department of Energy contract to supply the Frontier supercomputer to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2021. The acquisition was completed in September 2019 in a transaction valued at approximately US$1.4 billion.In December 2020, Hewlett Packard Enterprise disclosed it is relocating its corporate headquarters from San Jose, California to Spring, Texas, a northern suburb of Houston. As of December 2021, HPE headquarters remain at the former HP property and headquarters campus of Compaq in northwest Harris County near SH 249 and Louetta. Construction of the new Springwoods Village campus in Spring is expected to complete sometime in early 2022. Concerns about major flooding at the Compaq complex were a contributing factor for HPE CEO Antonio Neri to have the new campus built. The old campus had previously been flooded by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Corporate affairs
The headquarters is in Houston, in a limited purpose annexation area.
Operating segments
Intelligent Edge (10% of FY20 revenue) – offers platforms designed for network security, including Aruba Networks and Silver Peak Systems
HPC & MCS (11% of FY20 revenue) – High Performance Compute and Mission Critical Systems. Also includes Hewlett Packard Labs
Compute (44% of FY20 revenue) – the core server business
Storage (17% of FY20 revenue) – the core storage business, including recent acquisition Zerto
HPE Financial Services (12% of FY20 revenue) – provides financing services for HPE customers and partners
A&PS (4% of FY20 revenue) – Advisory and Professional Services through 'HPE Pointnext'.
Corporate Investments (2% of FY20 revenue) – includes 'HPE Pathfinder' (HPE's venture capital arm) and the Communications Technology GroupCEO Antonio Neri announced in 2019 that he expects all products to be sold 'as a service' by 2022 via HPE Greenlake.
Products
Intelligent Edge: Aruba Networks, Silver Peak Systems, FlexFabric
HPC & MCS: Apollo (High-Performance Computing), Cray
Compute: HP XP, HPE GreenLake Hybrid Cloud, Edgeline, Cloudline, Synergy, OneView, OneSphere, ProLiant, Synergy, Cloudline, Edgeline, HPE Integrity Servers, NonStop, HPE Superdome, Apollo (High-Performance Computing), Simplivity (HyperConvergence)
Storage: HPE 3PAR, StoreOnce, StoreEver, Nimble Storage, HP XP, HPE GreenLake Hybrid Cloud, HPE Alletra, HPE Primera, MSA, Nimble & Alletra dHCI
Communications Technology Group: OpenCall and Service Activator
Acquisitions
Note: Aruba Networks was acquired by the Hewlett-Packard Company before demerger and was inducted into Hewlett Packard Enterprise while demerging.
Carbon footprint
HPE reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 30 September 2020 at 343 Kt (-48 /-12.4% y-o-y). The company commits to reduce emissions by 55% by 2025 from 2016 base year, and this science-based target is aligned with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
See also
List of networking hardware vendors
HP Inc. – the demerged sibling company that offers printers and personal computers.
HP Release Control
Hewlett Packard Labs – the research & development arm of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Hewlett Packard Enterprise: |
micron technology | Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and USB flash drives. It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Its consumer products, including the Ballistix line of memory modules, are marketed under the Crucial brand. Micron and Intel together created IM Flash Technologies, which produced NAND flash memory. It owned Lexar between 2006 and 2017.
History
1978–1999
Micron was founded in Boise, Idaho, in 1978 by Ward Parkinson, Joe Parkinson, Dennis Wilson, and Doug Pitman as a semiconductor design consulting company. Startup funding was provided by local Idaho businessmen Tom Nicholson, Allen Noble, Rudolph Nelson, and Ron Yanke. Later it received funding from Idaho billionaire J. R. Simplot, whose fortune was made in the potato business. In 1981, the company moved from consulting to manufacturing with the completion of its first wafer fabrication unit ("Fab 1"), producing 64K DRAM chips.
In 1984, the company went public.In 1994, founder Joe Parkinson retired as CEO and Steve Appleton took over as Chairman, President, and CEO.A 1996 3-way merger among ZEOS International, Micron Computer, and Micron Custom Manufacturing Services (MCMS) increased the size and scope of the company; this was followed rapidly with the 1997 acquisition of NetFrame Systems, in a bid to enter the mid-range server industry.
2000–present
In 2000, Gurtej Singh Sandhu and Trung T. Doan at Micron initiated the development of atomic layer deposition high-k films for DRAM memory devices. This helped drive cost-effective implementation of semiconductor memory, starting with 90 nm node DRAM. Pitch double-patterning was also pioneered by Gurtej Singh Sandhu at Micron during the 2000s, leading to the development of 30-nm class NAND flash memory, and it has since been widely adopted by NAND flash and RAM manufacturers worldwide.Micron and Intel created a joint venture in 2005, based in IM Flash Technologies in Lehi, Utah. The two companies formed another joint venture in 2011, IM Flash Singapore, in Singapore. In 2012, Micron became sole owner of this second joint venture.In 2006, Micron acquired Lexar, an American manufacturer of digital media products.The company again changed leadership in June 2007 with COO Mark Durcan becoming president.In 2008, Micron converted the Avezzano chip fab, formerly a Texas Instruments DRAM fab, into a production facility for CMOS image sensors sold by Aptina Imaging.In 2008, Micron spun off Aptina Imaging, which was acquired by ON Semiconductor in 2014. Micron retained a stake in the spinoff. The core company suffered setbacks, however, requiring layoffs of 15 percent of its workforce in October 2008, during which period the company also announced the purchase of Qimonda's 35.6% stake in Inotera Memories for $400 million. The trend of layoffs and acquisitions continued in 2009 with the termination of an additional 2,000 employees, and the acquisition of the FLCOS microdisplay company Displaytech. Micron agreed to buy flash-chip maker Numonyx for $1.27 billion in stock in February 2010.On February 3, 2012, CEO Appleton died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff from the Boise Airport; he was the pilot and sole occupant of the Lancair IV aircraft. Mark Durcan replaced Appleton as the CEO shortly thereafter, eliminating his former title of President.In 2013, the Avezzano chip fab was sold to LFoundry.In the 2012–2014 period, Micron again went through an acquisition-layoff cycle, becoming the majority shareholder of Inotera Memories, purchasing Elpida Memory for $2 billion and the remaining shares in Rexchip, a PC memory chip manufacturing venture between Powerchip and Elpida Memory for $334 million, while announcing plans to lay off approximately 3,000 workers. Through the Elpida acquisition, Micron became a major supplier to Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad.In December 2016, Micron finished acquiring the remaining 67% of Inotera, making it a 100% subsidiary of Micron.In April 2017, Micron announced Sanjay Mehrotra as the new president and CEO to replace Mark Durcan.In June 2017, Micron announced it was discontinuing the Lexar retail removable media storage business and putting some or all it up for sale. In August of that year the Lexar brand was acquired by Longsys, a flash memory company based in Shenzhen, China.On December 5, 2017, Micron sued rivals United Microelectronics Corporation and Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. (JHICC) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging infringement on its DRAM patents and intellectual property rights.Micron owns the intellectual property from Qimonda, a defunct DRAM manufacturer.
In May 2018, Micron Technology and Intel launched QLC NAND memory to increase storage density. The company ranked 150th on the Fortune 500 list of largest United States corporations by revenue.In February 2019, the first microSD card with a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB) was announced by Micron.As of March 2020, 3.84TB Micron 5210 Ion is the cheapest large-capacity SSD in the world.In September 2020, the company introduced the world's fastest discrete graphics memory solution. Working with computing technology leader NVIDIA, Micron debuted GDDR6X in the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 graphics processing units (GPUs).In November 2020, the company unveiled a new 176-layer 3D NAND chip. It offers improved read and write latency and is slated to be used in the production of a new generation of solid-state drives.On October 22, 2021, Micron closed the sale of IM Flash's Lehi, Utah fab to Texas Instruments for a sale price of US$900 million.With the passage of the CHIPS Act, Micron announced its pledge to invest billions in new manufacturing within the US. In September 2022, Micron announced they would invest $15 billion in a new facility in Boise, Idaho. In October 2022, Micron announced a $100 billion expansion in Clay, New York.In May 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China barred major Chinese information infrastructure firms from purchasing Micron products, citing significant national security risks. The move was seen as retaliation against US sanctions on China's semiconductor industry and related export controls.In November 2023, Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) filed a lawsuit against Micron alleging infringement of eight of its patents.
Carbon footprint
Micron Technology reported total CO2 emissions (direct and indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2021 at 7,421 Kt (+280/+3.9% year-on-year).
See also
Inotera
List of companies based in Idaho
List of semiconductor fabrication plants
MPC Corporation
Numonyx
icDirectory France
References
External links
Official website
Micron Channel Partners
Crucial.com by Micron - consumer sales for Micron memoryBusiness data for Micron Technology: |
abbvie | AbbVie Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. It is ranked 6th on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue. The company's primary product is Humira (adalimumab) ($21 billion in 2022 revenues, 37% of total), administered via injection. It is approved to treat autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, plaque psoriasis, and ulcerative colitis.
It developed Skyrizi ($5 billion in 2022 revenues), an interleukin-23 (IL-23) inhibitor also used to treat autoimmune diseases. Its other major products include Botox ($5 billion in 2022 revenues), Imbruvica to treat cancer ($4.5 billion in 2022 revenues), Rinvoq to treat arthritis ($2.5 billion in 2022 revenues), Venclexta to treat leukemia and lymphoma ($2 billion in annual revenues), Vraylar to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder ($2 billion in 2022 revenues), and Mavyret to treat Hepatitis C ($1.5 billion in 2022 revenues). The company is also committed to product development for other treatments of cancer, neurologic diseases, eye care, and cystic fibrosis.In 2023, Humira began facing competition from a biosimilar developed by Amgen. The company is also developing a drug for Parkinson's disease that could be a blockbuster drug in 2027 and is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration for epcoritamab, a blood-cancer therapy under development in partnership with Genmab.The name "AbbVie" is derived from a combination of "Abbott", the name of its former parent company, with "vie," intended as a reference to a Latin root meaning "life."
History
On October 19, 2011, Abbott Laboratories announced its plan to separate into two publicly traded companies, spinning off its research-based pharmaceutical manufacturer division. This spin-off company, named AbbVie, was formed on April 10, 2012. The separation was fully effective January 1, 2013, and AbbVie was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ABBV) on January 2, 2013.In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli government announced that it would force AbbVie to license its patents for Kaletra, the brand name of lopinavir/ritonavir, a fixed dose combination medication for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS which was also thought to have some applicability to fighting COVID-19. In response, AbbVie announced that it would cease enforcing its patents on the drug entirely.
Acquisitions
In January 2014, the company acquired ImmuVen. On September 3, 2014, AbbVie and Infinity Pharmaceuticals entered into a global collaboration to develop and commercialize duvelisib, Infinity's PI3K inhibitor for the treatment of patients with cancer. On the same day, AbbVie and Calico entered into a R&D collaboration intended to discover, develop and bring to market new therapies for patients with diseases of aging including neurodegeneration and cancer. California Life Company, operating as Calico, is an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary focused on aging and age-related diseases, and led by former Genentech chairman and CEO of Arthur D. Levinson and former Genentech EVP and chief medical officer Hal V. Barron (who subsequently left the company).In October 2014, AbbVie ended its efforts to acquire Shire, which would have been one of the largest M&A deals of that year and one of the largest tax inversions in history, due to changes in the US tax code by the US Treasury; AbbVie had to pay a $1.6 billion breakup fee.On March 4, 2015, AbbVie announced its agreement to acquire oncology firm Pharmacyclics and its treatment for blood cancers, ibrutinib; AstraZeneca had also been bidding to acquire Pharmacyclics. Under the terms of the transaction, AbbVie agreed to pay $261.25 per share as a mix of cash and AbbVie equity. The acquisition valued at approximately $21 billion was completed on May 26, 2015. The Pharmacyclics name was retained, and it operated as a subsidiary of AbbVie from its previous Sunnyvale, California headquarters until the consolidation of AbbVie Bay Area sites in a new building in South San Francisco. On June 3, 2015, AbbVie and Halozyme Therapeutics announced that they had entered into a global collaboration and licensing agreement to develop and commercialize products that combine AbbVie's treatments and Halozyme's ENHANZE drug-delivery technology, this was terminated in November 2016.On 28 April 2016, the company announced it would acquire Stemcentrx for up to $9.8 billion. A day later, the company announced an expansion of a two and a half-year-old cystic fibrosis deal with Galapagos NV, potentially doubling milestone payments to $600 million.On 25 June 2019, AbbVie announced it would acquire Irish-based Allergan plc for about $63 billion; however the transaction would not be structured as a tax inversion, and that post the transaction, AbbVie would remain legally domiciled in the U.S. for tax purposes. The company divested certain assets to gain FTC approval.In July 2019, the company announced it would acquire Mavupharma, boosting its cancer drug pipeline.In May 2021, Allergan Aesthetics announced the acquisition of Soliton. In June, Abbvie acquired TeneoOne and its lead compound TNB-383B. The compound is a BCMA-targeting immunotherapeutic for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.In March 2022, Abbvie acquired Syndesi Therapeutics for up to $1 billion and its portfolio of novel modulators of the synaptic vesicle protein 2A and lead compound SDI-118. In October, the company acquired DJS Antibodies for $225 million, giving it access to an experimental drug for an aggressive lung disease as well as technology to develop certain antibody medicines.
Acquisition history
Collaboration
On February 10, 2016, AbbVie and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Synlogic announced a multi-year R&D collaboration. Synlogic is a synthetic biology company built on research from the labs of James Collins and Tim Lu at MIT. As part of the collaboration, AbbVie is getting worldwide rights to Synlogic's probiotic-based technology for treating inflammatory bowel disease, and the research teams will focus on Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In April 2016, the company partnered with the University of Chicago to investigate a number of areas of oncology: breast, lung, prostate, colorectal and hematological cancers. In the same month the company announced it would co-commercialize Argenx's preclinical immunotherapy, ARGX-115. ARGX-115 is a first-in-class immunotherapy targeting GARP (glycoprotein A repetitions predominant), a membrane protein believed to enhance the immunosuppressive effects of T cells. The company also announced a deal to co-develop/commercialize at least one of CytomX Probody's conjugates against CD71 (transferrin receptor 1).In March 2020, AbbVie announced plans to evaluate the Kaletra/Aluvia HIV medicine as possible COVID-19 treatment. The company entered into various partnerships with health authorities in different countries to investigate the efficacy of the medication. However, the first non-blinded, randomized trial found the drug not useful to treat severe COVID-19.
Controversies
Drug pricing
First released in 2003, AbbVie has since raised the price of Humira by more than 470%, culminating in an annual supply costing about $77,000. It has increased the price of Imbruvica, a drug used to treat mantle cell lymphoma and other cancers, by 82% since it launched in 2013. In 2022, it was priced at $181,529. For patients taking four pills each day, the cost was $242,039.According to the Wall Street Journal, as of January 2016 ibrutinib, a specialty drug, cost US$116,600 to $155,400 a year wholesale in the United States. In spite of discounts and medical insurance, the prohibitive price causes some patients to not fill their prescriptions. AbbVie estimated global sales of the drug at $1 billion in 2016 and $5 billion in 2020.
Anti-competitive practices
AbbVie has been accused of using anti-competitive patent thickets to prevent potentially cheaper biosimilars from entering the market. It is currently caught up in a legislative battle against Icelandic Alvotech, which is trying to bring a Humira biosimilar to market. Forest Laboratories, a subsidiary of AbbVie, has been accused of using unlawful deals to prevent generic versions of its Alzheimer's disease drug, Namenda, from entering the market.In 2018, AbbVie agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it made use of kickback schemes to promote its cholesterol drug Tricor. In 2020, AbbVie agreed to pay $24M to resolve allegations that it made use of kickback schemes to promote its rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira using "nurse ambassadors".
Tax avoidance
In June 2021, the United States Senate Finance Committee, under Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), began an investigation to determine if the company used the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to buy back its own stock using income saved by the tax law. In a letter to AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez, Wyden noted the company suffered a 2020 pretax loss in the US of $4.5 billion and an overseas pretax profit of $7.9 billion the same year. Wyden accused the company of shifting revenue to avoid US taxes.
Marketing of opioid painkillers
In July 2022 the company agreed to pay up to $2.37 billion to settle U.S. lawsuits against its Allergan unit over the marketing of opioid painkillers. As part of the settlement, AbbVie, denied any wrongdoing. The company's stock fell 6 percent following an earnings report that included a $2.2 billion charge related to the opioid deal.
Litigation by the company against the NHS
In 2018, it started litigation against NHS England in the Technology and Construction Court claiming that the agency breached procurement rules and had not treated the company fairly during what was described as "the single largest medicines procurement ever done by the NHS" when seeking suppliers for hepatitis C treatments. In 2019, a UK court dismissed AbbVie's case against the NHS.
Carbon footprint
AbbVie reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 508 Kt (-57 /-10.1% y-o-y). and plans to reduce emissions 25% by 2025 from a 2015 base year.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for AbbVie: |
dell technologies | Dell Technologies Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. It was formed as a result of the September 2016 merger of Dell and EMC Corporation (which later became Dell EMC).Dell's products include personal computers, servers, monitors, computer software, computer security and network security, as well as information security services. Dell ranked 35th on the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Current operations
Approximately 50% of the company's revenue is derived in the United States.Dell operates under two divisions:
Dell Client Solutions Group (48% of fiscal 2019 revenues) – produces desktop PCs, notebooks, tablets, and peripherals, such as monitors, printers, and projectors under the Dell brand name
Dell EMC Infrastructure Solutions Group (41% of fiscal 2019 revenues) – servers, storage, and networkingDell divested its ownership in Boomi, VMware (80%) and Pivotal Software, but owns other businesses such as Secureworks, Virtustream.
History
On October 12, 2015, Dell announced its intent to acquire EMC Corporation, an enterprise software and storage company, in a $67 billion transaction. It was labeled the "highest-valued tech acquisition in history". In addition to Michael Dell, Singapore's Temasek Holdings and Silver Lake Partners were major Dell shareholders that supported the transaction.On September 7, 2016, Dell Inc. completed the merger with EMC Corp., which involved the issuance of $45.9 billion in debt and $4.4 billion common stock.The Dell Services, Dell Software Group, and the Dell EMC Enterprise Content Divisions were sold shortly thereafter for proceeds of $7.0 billion, which was used to repay debt. In October 2017, It was reported that Dell would invest $1 billion in IoT research and development.Dell Inc. had returned to private ownership in 2013, claiming that it faced bleak prospects and would need several years out of the public eye to rebuild its business.EMC was being pressured by Elliott Management Corporation, a hedge fund holding 2.2% of EMC's stock, to reorganize the unusual "Federation" structure, in which EMC's divisions were effectively being run as independent companies. Elliott argued this structure deeply undervalued EMC's core "EMC II" data storage business, and that increasing competition between EMC II and VMware products was confusing the market and hindering both companies.
The Wall Street Journal estimated that in 2014 Dell had revenue of $27.3 billion from personal computers and $8.9 billion from servers, while EMC had $16.5 billion from EMC II, $1bn from RSA Security, $6bn from VMware, and $230 million from Pivotal Software.EMC owned around 80% of the stock of VMware. The acquisition maintained VMware as a separate company, held via a new tracking stock, while the rest of EMC were rolled into Dell.The acquisition required Dell to publish quarterly financial results, having ceased these on going private in 2013.Dell Technologies has products and services in the field of scale-out architecture, converged infrastructure and private cloud computing.In February 2018, McLaren announced a multi-year partnership deal with Dell Technologies. The partnership deal was extended in October 2021.On April 15, 2021, it was reported that Dell Technologies will spin out the remainder of its VMware shares to shareholders. The two companies will continue to operate without major changes for at least five years.
IPO
On January 29, 2018, it was reported that Dell Technologies was considering a reverse merger with its VMware subsidiary to take the company public.On December 28, 2018, Dell Technologies became a public company, bypassing the traditional IPO process by buying back shares that tracked the financial performance of VMware.
Carbon footprint
Dell Technologies reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 406 Kt (-64 /-13.6% y-o-y). Reported emissions have been declining steadily since 2016.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Dell Technologies: |
nike, inc. | Nike, Inc. (stylized as NIKE) is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.The company was founded on January 25, 1964, as "Blue Ribbon Sports", by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971. The company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding, Nike CR7, and subsidiaries including Air Jordan and Converse (brand). Nike also owned Bauer Hockey from 1995 to 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan, Umbro, and Hurley International. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just Do It" and the Swoosh logo.
As of 2020, it employed 76,700 people worldwide. In 2020, the brand alone was valued in excess of $32 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. Previously, in 2017, the Nike brand was valued at $29.6 billion. Nike ranked 89th in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
History
Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS), was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach, Bill Bowerman, on January 25, 1964. The company initially operated in Eugene, Oregon as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, making most sales at track meets out of Knight's automobile.According to Otis Davis, a University of Oregon student-athlete coached by Bowerman and Olympic gold medalist at the 1960 Summer Olympics, his coach made the first pair of Nike shoes for him, contradicting a claim that they were made for Phil Knight. According to Davis, "I told Tom Brokaw that I was the first. I don't care what all the billionaires say. Bill Bowerman made the first pair of shoes for me. People don't believe me. In fact, I didn't like the way they felt on my feet. There was no support and they were too tight. But I saw Bowerman made them from the waffle iron, and they were mine".In its first year in business, BRS sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes grossing $8,000. By 1965, sales had reached $20,000. In 1966, BRS opened its first retail store at 3107 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. In 1967, due to increasing sales, BRS expanded retail and distribution operations on the East Coast, in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
In 1971, Bowerman used his wife's waffle iron to experiment on rubber to create a new sole for track shoes that would grip but be lightweight and increase the runner's speed. Oregon's Hayward Field was transitioning to an artificial surface, and Bowerman wanted a sole which could grip to grass or bark dust without the use of spikes. Bowerman was talking to his wife about this puzzle over breakfast, when the waffle iron idea came into play.Bowerman's design led to the introduction of the "Moon Shoe" in 1972, so named because the waffle tread was said to resemble the footprints left by astronauts on the moon. Further refinement resulted in the "Waffle Trainer" in 1974, which helped fuel the explosive growth of Blue Ribbon Sports/Nike.Tension between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger increased in 1971 as the latter attempted a takeover of BRS by extending an ultimatum proposal that would give the Japanese company 51 percent of BRS. In 1972, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger came to an end. BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear. The previous year, it was already able to place from two Japanese shoe manufacturers the company’s first independent order for 20,000, which included 6,000 that had the Nike logo. Runner Jeff Johnson was brought in to help market the new brand and was credited for coining the name “Nike”. It would bear the Swoosh newly designed by Carolyn Davidson. The Swoosh was first used by Nike on June 18, 1971, and was registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on January 22, 1974.In 1976, the company hired John Brown and Partners, based in Seattle, as its first advertising agency. The following year, the agency created the first "brand ad" for Nike, called "There is no finish line", in which no Nike product was shown. By 1980 Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U.S. athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year.Wieden+Kennedy, Nike's primary ad agency, has worked with Nike to create many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nike's primary ad agency. It was agency co-founder Dan Wieden who coined the now-famous slogan "Just Do It" for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th century and enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution. Walt Stack was featured in Nike's first "Just Do It" advertisement, which debuted on July 1, 1988. Wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan to "Let's do it", the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was executed.Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its product line to encompass many sports and regions throughout the world. In 1990, Nike moved into its eight-building World Headquarters campus in Beaverton, Oregon. The first Nike retail store, dubbed Niketown, opened in downtown Portland in November of that year.Phil Knight announced in mid-2015 that he would step down as chairman of Nike in 2016. He officially stepped down from all duties with the company on June 30, 2016.In a company public announcement on March 15, 2018, Nike CEO Mark Parker said Trevor Edwards, a top Nike executive who was seen as a potential successor to the chief executive, was relinquishing his position as Nike's brand president and would retire in August.In October 2019, John Donahoe was announced as the next CEO, and succeeded Parker on January 13, 2020. In November 2019, the company stopped selling directly through Amazon, focusing more on direct relationships with customers.
Acquisitions
Nike has acquired and sold several apparel and footwear companies over the course of its history. Its first acquisition was the upscale footwear company Cole Haan in 1988, followed by the purchase of Bauer Hockey in 1994. In 2002, Nike bought surf apparel company Hurley International from founder Bob Hurley. In 2003, Nike paid US$309 million to acquire sneaker company Converse. The company acquired Starter in 2004 and soccer uniform maker Umbro in 2007.In order to refocus its business lines, Nike began divesting itself of some of its subsidiaries in the 2000s. It sold Starter in 2007 and Bauer Hockey in 2008. The company sold Umbro in 2012 and Cole Haan in 2013. As of 2020, Nike owns only one subsidiary: Converse Inc.Nike acquired Zodiac, a consumer data analytics company, in March 2018. In August 2019, the company acquired Celect, a Boston-based predictive analytics company. In December 2021, Nike purchased RTFKT Studios, a virtual shoe company that makes NFTs.In February 2021, Nike acquired Datalogue, a New York based company focused on digital sales and machine learning technology.
Finance
Nike was made a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2013, when it replaced Alcoa.On December 19, 2013, Nike's quarterly profit rose due to a 13 percent increase in global orders for merchandise since April of that year. Future orders of shoes or clothes for delivery between December and April, rose to $10.4 billion. Nike shares (NKE) rose 0.6 percent to $78.75 in extended trading.In November 2015, Nike announced it would initiate a $12 billion share buyback, as well as a two-for-one stock split, with shares to begin trading at the decreased price on December 24. The split will be the seventh in company history.In June 2018, Nike announced it would initiate a $15 billion share buyback over four years, to begin in 2019 upon completion of the previous buyback program.For the fiscal year 2018, Nike reported earnings of US$1.933 billion, with annual revenue of US$36.397 billion, an increase of 6.0% over the previous fiscal cycle. Nike's shares traded at over $72 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$114.5 billion in October 2018.In March 2020, Nike reported a 5% drop in Chinese sales associated with stores' closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It was the first decrease in six years. At the same time, the company's online sales grew by 36% during Q1 of 2020. Also, the sales of personal training apps grew by 80% in China.
Logo evolution
Notes
Products
Sports apparel
Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment and apparel. Their first products were track running shoes. Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987. Additional product lines were introduced later, such as Air Huarache, which debuted in 1992. The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6.0, Nike NYX, and Nike SB shoes, designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes called Air Zoom Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter than their competitors'. In 2008, Nike introduced the Air Jordan XX3, a high-performance basketball shoe designed with the environment in mind.
Nike's range of products include shoes, jerseys, shorts, cleats, baselayers, etc. for sports activities such as association football, basketball, track and field, combat sports, tennis, American football, athletics, golf, ice hockey, and cross training for men, women, and children. Nike also sells shoes for activities such as skateboarding, baseball, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, lacrosse, cricket, aquatic activities, auto racing, and other athletic and recreational uses. Nike recently teamed up with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike+ product that monitors a runner's performance via a radio device in the shoe that links to the iPod nano. While the product generates useful statistics, it has been criticized by researchers who were able to identify users' RFID devices from 60 feet (18 m) away using small, concealable intelligence motes in a wireless sensor network.In 2004, Nike launched the SPARQ Training Program/Division. Some of Nike's newest shoes contain Flywire and Lunarlite Foam to reduce weight. The Air Zoom Vomero running shoe, introduced in 2006 and currently in its 11th generation, featured a combination of groundbreaking innovations including a full-length air cushioned sole, an external heel counter, a crashpad in the heel for shock absorption, and Fit Frame technology for a stable fit.In 2023, Nike told ESPN that it would cease using kangaroo skins in its products by the end of that year and debut "a new Nike-only, proprietary synthetic upper, [with] a new material that is a better performance solution and replaces the use of kangaroo leather."
Nike Vaporfly
The Nike Vaporfly first came out in 2017 and their popularity, along with its performance, prompted a new series of running shoes. The Vaporfly series has a new technological composition that has revolutionized long-distance running since studies have shown that these shoes can improve marathon race time up to 4.2%. The composition of the sole contains a foamy material, Pebax, that Nike has altered and now calls it ZoomX (which can be found in other Nike products as well). Pebax foam can also be found in airplane insulation and is "squishier, bouncier, and lighter" than foams in typical running shoes. In the middle of the ZoomX foam there is a full-length carbon fiber plate "designed to generate extra spring in every step". At the time of this writing Nike had just released its newest product from the Vaporfly line, the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT%, which was marketed as "the fastest shoe we’ve ever made" using Nike's "two most innovative technologies, Nike ZoomX foam and VaporWeave material".
Street fashions
The Nike brand, with its distinct V-shaped logo, quickly became regarded as a status symbol in modern urban fashion and hip-hop fashion due to its association with success in sport. Beginning in the 1980s, various items of Nike clothing became staples of mainstream American youth fashion, especially tracksuits, shell suits, baseball caps, Air Jordans, Air Force 1's, and Air Max running shoes with thick, air cushioned rubber soles and contrasting blue, yellow, green, white, or red trim. Limited edition sneakers and prototypes with a regional early release were known as Quickstrikes, and became highly desirable items for teenage members of the sneakerhead subculture.By the 1990s and 2000s, American and European teenagers associated with the preppy or popular clique began combining these sneakers, leggings, sweatpants, crop tops, and tracksuits with regular casual chic street clothes such as jeans, skirts, leg warmers, slouch socks, and bomber jackets. Particularly popular were the unisex spandex Nike Tempo compression shorts worn for cycling and running, which had a mesh lining, waterproofing, and, later in the 2000s, a zip pocket for a Walkman or MP3 player.From the late 2000s into the 2010s, Nike Elite basketball socks began to be worn as everyday clothes by hip-hop fans and young children.
Originally plain white or black, these socks had special shock absorbing cushioning in the sole plus a moisture wicking upper weave. Later, Nike Elite socks became available in bright colors inspired by throwback basketball uniforms, often with contrasting bold abstract designs, images of celebrities, and freehand digital print to capitalise upon the emerging nostalgia for 1990s fashion.
In 2015, a new self-lacing shoe was introduced. Called the Nike Mag, which are replicas of the shoes featured in Back to the Future Part II, it had a preliminary limited release, only available by auction with all proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. This was done again in 2016.Nike have introduced a premium line, focused more on streetwear than sports wear called NikeLab.In March 2017, Nike announced its launch of a plus-size clothing line, which will feature new sizes 1X through 3X on more than 200 products. Another significant development at this time was the Chuck Taylor All-Star Modern, an update of the classic basketball sneaker that incorporated the circular knit upper and cushioned foam sole of Nike's Air Jordans.
Collectibles
On July 23, 2019, a pair of Nike Inc. running shoes sold for $437,500 at a Sotheby's auction. The so-called "Moon Shoes" were designed by Nike co-founder and track coach Bill Bowerman for runners participating in the 1972 Olympics trials. The buyer was Miles Nadal, a Canadian investor and car collector, who had just paid $850,000 for a group of 99 rare of limited collection pairs of sport shoes. The purchase price was the highest for one pair of sneakers, the previous record being $190,373 in 2017 for a pair of signed Converse shoes in California, said to have been worn by Michael Jordan during the 1984 basketball final of the Olympics that year.
Virtual
After acquiring RTFKT, Nike launched the Dunk Genesis Cryptokicks collection, which features over 20,000 NFTs. One design by Takashi Murakami was sold for $134,000 in April 2022.
Headquarters
Nike's world headquarters are surrounded by the city of Beaverton but are within unincorporated Washington County. The city attempted to forcibly annex Nike's headquarters, which led to a lawsuit by Nike, and lobbying by the company that ultimately ended in Oregon Senate Bill 887 of 2005. Under that bill's terms, Beaverton is specifically barred from forcibly annexing the land that Nike and Columbia Sportswear occupy in Washington County for 35 years, while Electro Scientific Industries and Tektronix receive the same protection for 30 years. Nike is planning to build a 3.2 million square foot expansion to its World Headquarters in Beaverton. The design will target LEED Platinum certification and will be highlighted by natural daylight, and a gray water treatment center.
Controversies
Nike has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45 countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and Malaysia. Nike is hesitant to disclose information about the contract companies it works with. However, due to harsh criticism from some organizations like CorpWatch, Nike has disclosed information about its contract factories in its Corporate Governance Report.
Sweatshops
In the 1990s, Nike received criticism for its use of sweatshops. Beginning in 1990, many protests occurred in big cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Boston in order to show public outcry for Nike's use of child labor and sweatshops. Nike has been criticized for contracting with factories (known as Nike sweatshops) in countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico. Vietnam Labor Watch, an activist group, has documented that factories contracted by Nike have violated minimum wage and overtime laws in Vietnam as late as 1996, although Nike claims that this practice has been stopped. The company has been subject to much critical coverage of the often poor working conditions and exploitation of cheap overseas labor employed in the free trade zones where their goods are typically manufactured. Sources for this criticism include Naomi Klein's book No Logo and Michael Moore documentaries.
Campaigns have been taken up by many colleges and universities, especially anti-globalisation groups, as well as several anti-sweatshop groups such as the United Students Against Sweatshops.As of July 2011, Nike stated that two-thirds of its factories producing Converse products still do not meet the company's standards for worker treatment. A July 2011 Associated Press article stated that employees at the company's plants in Indonesia reported constant abuse from supervisors.
Child labor allegations
During the 1990s, Nike faced criticism for the use of child labor in Cambodia and Pakistan in factories it contracted to manufacture soccer balls. Although Nike took action to curb or at least reduce the practice, they continue to contract their production to companies that operate in areas where inadequate regulation and monitoring make it hard to ensure that child labor is not being used.In 2001, a BBC documentary uncovered occurrences of child labor and poor working conditions in a Cambodian factory used by Nike. The documentary focused on six girls, who all worked seven days a week, often 16 hours a day.
Xiao Xiao lawsuit
Around 2002, Nike launched a stickman ad campaign that showed a stick figure playing sports against real sports celebrities. The Chinese graphics designer Zhu Zhiqiang believed the figure to copy his Xiao Xiao, the hero of the same named Flash animation series, and sued Nike. The company was ordered in December 2004 to pay 300,000 Chinese Yuan (around $36,000) and issue a public apology to Zhu. Nike appealed and won the case in June 2006 in the Beijing High People's Court, as Nike's figure design was found to be distinct enough from Xiao Xiao. Zhu was ordered to pay more than 40,000 Chinese Yuan in legal fees.
Strike in China factory
In April 2014, one of the biggest strikes in mainland China took place at the Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Dongguan shoe factory, producing amongst others for Nike. Yue Yuen did underpay an employee by 250 yuan (40.82 US Dollars) per month. The average salary at Yue Yuen is 3000 yuan per month. The factory employs 70,000 people. This practice was in place for nearly 20 years.
Paradise Papers
On November 5, 2017, the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, revealed that Nike is among the corporations that used offshore companies to avoid taxes.Appleby documents detail how Nike boosted its after-tax profits by, among other maneuvers, transferring ownership of its Swoosh trademark to a Bermudan subsidiary, Nike International Ltd. This transfer allowed the subsidiary to charge royalties to its European headquarters in Hilversum, Netherlands, effectively converting taxable company profits to an account payable in tax-free Bermuda. Although the subsidiary was effectively run by executives at Nike's main offices in Beaverton, Oregon—to the point where a duplicate of the Bermudan company's seal was needed—for tax purposes the subsidiary was treated as Bermuda. Its profits were not declared in Europe and came to light only because of a mostly unrelated case in US Tax Court, where papers filed by Nike briefly mention royalties in 2010, 2011 and 2012 totaling $3.86 billion. Under an arrangement with Dutch authorities, the tax break was to expire in 2014, so another reorganization transferred the intellectual property from the Bermudan company to a Dutch commanditaire vennootschap or limited partnership, Nike Innovate CV. Dutch law treats income earned by a CV as if it had been earned by the principals, who owe no tax in the Netherlands if they do not reside there.
Colin Kaepernick
In September 2018, Nike announced it had signed former American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick, noted for his controversial decision to kneel during the playing of the US national anthem, to a long-term advertising campaign. According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports, Kaepernick and Nike agreed to a new contract despite the fact Kaepernick has been with the company since 2011 and said that "interest from other shoe companies" played a part in the new agreement. Robinson said the contract is a "wide endorsement" where Kaepernick will have his own branded line including shoes, shirts, jerseys and more. According to Robinson, Kaepernick signed a "star" contract that puts him level with a "top-end NFL player" worth millions per year plus royalties. In response, some people set fire to their own Nike-branded clothes and shoes or cut the Nike swoosh logo out of their clothes, and the Fraternal Order of Police called the advertisement an "insult"; others, such as LeBron James, Serena Williams, and the National Black Police Association, praised Nike for its campaign. The College of the Ozarks removed Nike from all their athletic uniforms in response.During the following week, Nike's stock price fell 2.2%, even as online orders of Nike products rose 27% compared with the previous year. In the following three months, Nike reported a rise in sales.In July 2019, Nike released a shoe featuring a Betsy Ross flag called the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July trainers. The trainers were designed to celebrate Independence Day. The model was subsequently withdrawn after Colin Kaepernick told the brand he and others found the flag offensive because of its association with slavery.Nike's decision to withdraw the product drew criticism from Arizona's Republican Governor, Doug Ducey, and Texas's Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Nike's decision was praised by others due to the use of the flag by white nationalists, but the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism has declined to add the flag to its database of "hate symbols."
Hong Kong protests
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence criticized Nike for "siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech". He claimed that after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey was criticized by the Chinese government for his tweet supporting the 2019 Hong Kong protests, Nike removed Rockets merchandise from its stores in China. He stated that the brand "promotes itself as a so called social-justice champion, but when it comes to Hong Kong, it prefers checking its social conscience at the door."
Nike Vaporfly shoe
On January 31, 2020, the World Athletics issued new guidelines concerning shoes to be used in the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics. These updates came in response to criticisms concerning technology in the Nike Vaporfly running shoes, which had been submitted beginning around 2017–2018. These criticisms stated that the shoes provided athletes with an unfair advantage over their opponents and some critics considered it to be a form of technology doping. According to Nike funded research, the shoes can improve efficiency by up to 4.2% and runners who have tested the shoe are saying that it causes reduced soreness in the legs; sports technologist Bryce Dyer attributes this to the ZoomX and carbon fiber plate since it absorbs the energy and "spring[s] runners forward". Some athletes, scientists, and fans have compared this to the 2008 LAZR swimsuit controversy.Some of the major changes in the guidelines that have come about as a result of these criticisms include that the "sole must be no thicker than 40mm" and that "the shoe must not contain more than one rigid embedded plate or blade (of any material) that runs either the full length or only part of the length of the shoe. The plate may be in more than one part but those parts must be located sequentially in one plane (not stacked or in parallel) and must not overlap". The components of the shoes are not the only thing that had major changes; starting April 30, 2020, "any shoe must have been available for purchase by any athlete on the open retail market (online or in store) for a period of four months before it can be used in competition". Prior to these new guidelines World Athletics reviewed the Vaporfly shoes and "concluded that there is independent research that indicates that the new technology incorporated in the soles of road and spiked shoes may provide a performance advantage" and that it recommends further research to "establish the true impact of [the Vaporfly] technology."
Lil Nas X Satan Shoes
On March 29, 2021, American rapper Lil Nas X partnered with New York–based art collective MSCHF to release a modified pair of Nike Air Max 97s called Satan Shoes. The shoes are black and red with a bronze pentagram, featuring the Bible verse Luke 10:18 and are filled with "60cc and 1 drop of human blood." Only 666 pairs were created and were sold at a price of $1,018. Nike immediately iterated that they were uninvolved in the creation and promotion of the shoes and did not endorse the messages of Lil Nas X or MSCHF. Nike filed a trademark lawsuit against MSCHF with the New York federal Court, in an effort to stop the distribution of the shoes. On April 1, a federal judge ordered a temporary restraining order blocking the sale and distribution of the shoes pending a preliminary injunction.
Forced Uyghur labor allegations
In December 2021, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed a criminal complaint in a Dutch court against Nike and other brands, alleging that they benefited from the use of forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang. In July 2023, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise opened an investigation into Nike to probe allegations of forced Uyghur labor in its supply chain.
Environmental record
In 2007, New England–based environmental organization Clean Air-Cool Planet ranked Nike among the top three companies (out of 56) in a survey of climate-friendly companies.
Recycling
Nike has also been praised for its Nike Grind program, which closes the product lifecycle, by groups such as Climate Counts.Since 1993, Nike has worked on its Reuse-A-Shoe program. This program is Nike's longest-running program that benefits both the environment and the community by collecting old athletic shoes of any type in order to process and recycle them. The material that is produced is then used to help create sports surfaces such as basketball courts, running tracks, and playgrounds. Nike France made their Reuse-A-Shoe program available online so that they could make it easier for consumers to send in their old shoes. In 2017, it was estimated that 28,000,000 shoes were collected since its start in 1993. Nike limited the mail-in option of the program because they are aware that the emissions from shipping would offset the good, they are trying to do. They work with the National Recycling Coalition to help limit transportation of recycled shoes. During transportation most of the vehicles that are used are using diesel or fuel oil. Diesel oil emits 22.44 pounds of Carbon Dioxide per gallon.A campaign that Nike began for Earth Day 2008 was a commercial that featured basketball star Steve Nash wearing Nike's Trash Talk Shoe, which had been constructed in February 2008 from pieces of leather and synthetic leather waste from factory floors. The Trash Talk Shoe also featured a sole composed of ground-up rubber from a shoe recycling program. Nike claims this is the first performance basketball shoe that has been created from manufacturing waste, but it only produced 5,000 pairs for sale.
Sulfur hexafluoride
Sulfur hexafluoride is an extremely potent and persistent greenhouse gas that was used to fill the cushion bags in all "Air"-branded shoes from 1992 to 2006. 277 tons was used during the peak in 1997.
Toxic chemicals
In 2008, a project through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found workers were exposed to toxic isocyanates and other chemicals in footwear factories in Thailand. In addition to inhalation, dermal exposure was the biggest problem found. This could result in allergic reactions including asthmatic reactions.
Water pollution
In July 2011, environmental group Greenpeace published a report regarding water pollution impacting the Yangtze River emitted from a major textile factory operated by Nike supplier Youngor Group. Following the report, Nike, as well as Adidas, Puma, and a number of other brands included in the report announced an agreement to stop discharging hazardous chemicals by 2020. However, in July 2016 Greenpeace released a follow-up report which found that Nike "does not take individual responsibility" for eliminating hazardous chemicals, stating that Nike had not made an explicit commitment to riding itself of perfluorinated compounds, and that "Nike does not ensure its suppliers report their hazardous chemical discharge data and has not made a commitment to do so".Back in 2016 Nike started to use water free dyeing materials so that they can help reduce their water use in their Southeast Asian factories.
Carbon footprint
Nike reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 30 June 2020 at 317 Kt (+12/+4% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions 65% by 2030 from a 2015 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. According to a study done in 2017, Nike contributed 3,002,529 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide in 2017 combined from different sectors in the company like retail, manufacturing, management, and more.
Partnership with Newlight
In 2021, Nike announced they were working with Newlight Technologies to find more eco-friendly materials for their sneakers. They specifically mentioned Newlight’s AirCarbon product which is a bioplastic that can be used to make shoes. The bioplastic is used as a replacement to leather, plastic, and other materials that are like that. Newlight was reported saying that the goal is to reduce Nike’s carbon footprint.
Sustainability
Nike Inc. has been committed to fighting climate change by becoming a sustainable business. Even as they continue to grow, they have still achieved reducing their environmental impact. The company acknowledges both triumphs and problems in its FY12-13 Sustainable Business Performance Summary, while they are making progress in major impact areas such as climate and energy, labor, chemistry, water, waste, and community. The company's progress is evidenced by an absolute reduction in carbon emissions of close to 3% across the whole value chain from its FY11 baseline, though sales increased by 26% during the same year. Production increased as the company met its strategic goal of sourcing from fewer, higher-performing contract factories, with a 14% decrease – from 910 to 785 plants during the last two years.Nike Inc. is investing in sustainable materials and production techniques in addition to lowering their carbon footprint to combat climate change. A variety of environmentally friendly items created with materials including recycled polyester, organic cotton, and water-based adhesives have been introduced by Nike. For fiscal year 2015, the company enhanced water efficiency by 15% per unit in clothing materials dyeing and finishing and footwear manufacturing, as well as achieved a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 10% decrease in waste. Additionally, they have used cutting-edge manufacturing techniques that lessen waste production and the overall environmental impact of their products.
In 2019, Nike began an innovative program called "Move to Zero," which is an effort to achieve zero waste and zero carbon in the organization's supply chain and product lifetime. The project comprises a variety of tactics, including boosting the use of sustainable materials, investing in renewable energy, and enhancing energy efficiency. The efficiency of designs calculated for the Move to Zero collection is 90% or higher, which means that almost all of the fabric used in production ends up in the garment rather than in the trash. The men's and women's sections of the collection contain at least 60% organic and recycled materials, including sustainably sourced cotton.
Marketing strategy
Nike promotes its products through sponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams.
Advertising
In 1982, Nike aired its first three national television ads, created by newly formed ad agency Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), during the broadcast of the New York Marathon. The Cannes Advertising Festival has named Nike its Advertiser of the Year in 1994 and 2003, making it the first company to receive that honor twice.Nike also has earned the Emmy Award for best commercial in 2000 and 2002. The first was for "The Morning After," a satirical look at what a runner might face on the morning of January 1, 2000, if every dire prediction about the Y2K problem came to fruition. The second was for a 2002 spot called "Move," which featured a series of famous and everyday athletes in a variety of athletic pursuits.
Beatles song
Nike was criticized for its use of the Beatles song "Revolution" in a 1987 commercial against the wishes of Apple Records, the Beatles' recording company. Nike paid US$250,000 to Capitol Records Inc., which held the North American licensing rights to the recordings, for the right to use the Beatles' rendition for a year.That same year, Apple Records sued Nike Inc., Capitol Records Inc., EMI Records Inc. and Wieden+Kennedy for $15 million. Capitol-EMI countered by saying the lawsuit was "groundless" because Capitol had licensed the use of "Revolution" with the "active support and encouragement of Yoko Ono, a shareholder and director of Apple Records."
Nike discontinued airing ads featuring "Revolution" in March 1988. Yoko Ono later gave permission to Nike to use John Lennon's "Instant Karma" in another advertisement.
New media marketing
Nike was an early adopter of internet marketing, email management technologies, and using broadcast and narrowcast communication technologies to create multimedia marketing campaigns.
Minor Threat advertisement
In late June 2005, Nike received criticism from Ian MacKaye, owner of Dischord Records, guitarist/vocalist for Fugazi and The Evens, and front man of the defunct punk band Minor Threat, for appropriating imagery and text from Minor Threat's 1981 self-titled album's cover art in a flyer promoting Nike Skateboarding's 2005 East Coast demo tour.
On June 27, Nike Skateboarding's website issued an apology to Dischord, Minor Threat, and fans of both and announced that they have tried to remove and dispose of all flyers. They stated that the people who designed it were skateboarders and Minor Threat fans themselves who created the advertisement out of respect and appreciation for the band. The dispute was eventually settled out of court between Nike and Minor Threat.
Nike 6.0
As part of the 6.0 campaign, Nike introduced a new line of T-shirts that include phrases such as "Dope", "Get High" and "Ride Pipe" – sports lingo that is also a double entendre for drug use. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino expressed his objection to the shirts after seeing them in a window display at the city's Niketown and asked the store to remove the display. "What we don't need is a major corporation like Nike, which tries to appeal to the younger generation, out there giving credence to the drug issue," Menino told The Boston Herald. A company official stated the shirts were meant to pay homage to extreme sports, and that Nike does not condone the illegal use of drugs. Nike was forced to replace the shirt line.
NBA uniform deal
In June 2015, Nike signed an 8-year deal with the NBA to become the official uniform supplier for the league, beginning with the 2017–18 season. The brand took over for Adidas, who provided the uniforms for the league since 2006. Unlike previous deals, Nike's logo appear on NBA jerseys – a first for the league. Initially, the Charlotte Hornets, owned by longtime Nike endorser Michael Jordan, were the only team not to sport the Nike swoosh, instead wearing the Jumpman logo associated with Jordan-related merchandise. However, beginning with the 2020–21 season, the Jumpman replaced the swoosh on the NBA's alternate "Statement" uniforms.
Sponsorship
Nike sponsors top athletes in many sports to use their products and promote and advertise their technology and design. Nike's first professional athlete endorser was Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase. The first track endorser was distance runner Steve Prefontaine. Prefontaine was the prized pupil of the company's co-founder, Bill Bowerman, while he coached at the University of Oregon. Today, the Steve Prefontaine Building is named in his honor at Nike's corporate headquarters. Nike has only made one statue of its sponsored athletes and it is of Steve Prefontaine.Nike has also sponsored many other successful track and field athletes over the years, such as Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix. The signing of basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984, with his subsequent promotion of Nike over the course of his career, with Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, proved to be one of the biggest boosts to Nike's publicity and sales.
Nike is a major sponsor of the athletic programs at Penn State University and named its first child care facility after Joe Paterno when it opened in 1990 at the company's headquarters. Nike originally announced it would not remove Paterno's name from the building in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. After the Freeh Report was released on July 12, 2012, Nike CEO Mark Parker announced the name Joe Paterno would be removed immediately from the child development center. A new name has yet to be announced.
In the early 1990s, Nike made a strong push into the association football business making endorsement deals with famous and charismatic players such as Romário, Eric Cantona or Edgar Davids. They continued the growth in the sport by signing more top players including: Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Francesco Totti, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Andrés Iniesta, Wayne Rooney and still have many of the sport's biggest stars under their name, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Neymar, Harry Kane, Eden Hazard and Kylian Mbappé among others. A Barcelona prodigy, Lionel Messi had been signed with Nike since age 14, but transferred to Adidas after they successfully challenged their rival's claim to his image rights in court.Nike has been the official ball supplier for the Premier League since the 2000–01 season. In 2012, Nike carried a commercial partnership with the Asian Football Confederation.
In August 2014, Nike announced that they will not renew their kit supply deal with Manchester United after the 2014–15 season, citing rising costs. Since the start of the 2015–16 season, Adidas has manufactured Manchester United's kit as part of a world-record 10-year deal worth a minimum of £750 million.
Nike still has many of the top teams playing in their uniforms, including: FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool (the latter from the 2020–21 season), and the national teams of Brazil, France, England, Portugal and the Netherlands among many others.
Nike has been the sponsor for many top ranked tennis players. Brand's commercial success in the sport went hand in hand with the endorsement deals signed with the biggest and the world's most charismatic stars and number one ranked players of the subsequent eras, including John McEnroe in the 1980s, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in the 1990s and Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova with the start of the 21st century.
Nike has sponsored Tiger Woods for much of his career, and remained on his side amid the controversies that shaped the golfer's career. In January 2013, Nike signed Rory McIlroy, the then No 1 golfer in the world to a 10-year sponsorship deal worth $250 million. Nike has also gone on to sign top players in golf including Scottie Scheffler, Nelly Korda, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Jason Day and Francesco Molinari.
Nike was the official kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team from 2005 to 2020. On February 21, 2013, Nike announced it suspended its contract with South African limbless athlete Oscar Pistorius, due to him being charged with premeditated murder.Nike consolidated its position in basketball in 2015 when it was announced that the company would sign an 8-year deal with the NBA, taking over from the league's previous uniform sponsor, Adidas. The deal required all franchise team members to wear jerseys and shorts with the Swoosh logo, beginning with the 2017/18 season. After the success of partnership with Jordan, which resulted in the creation of the unique Air Jordan brand, Nike has continued to build partnership with the biggest names in basketball. LeBron James was given the Slogan "We are All Witnesses" when he signed with Nike. Similar to "Air Jordan", LeBron's brand became massively popular. The slogan was an extremely accurate way to describe the situation LeBron was heading into in the NBA as he was expected to be the new king of the NBA. Some have had signature shoes designed for them, including Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and more recently LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paul George, among others.A news report originating from CNN reported that Nike spent $11.5 billion, nearly a third of its sales, on marketing and endorsement contracts in the year 2018. Nike and its Jordan brand sponsored 85 men's and women's basketball teams in the NCAA tournament.
Ties with the University of Oregon
Nike maintains strong ties, both directly and through partnerships with Phil Knight, with the University of Oregon. Nike designs the University of Oregon football program's team attire. New unique combinations are issued before every game day. Tinker Hatfield, who also redesigned the university's logo, leads this effort.More recently, the corporation donated $13.5 million towards the renovation and expansion of Hayward Field.Phil Knight has invested substantial personal funds towards developing and maintaining the university's athletic apparatus. His university projects often involve input from Nike designers and executives, such as Tinker Hatfield.
Causes
In 2012, Nike is listed as a partner of the (PRODUCT)RED campaign together with other brands such as Girl, American Express, and Converse. The campaign's mission is to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. The campaign's byline is "Fighting For An AIDS Free Generation". The company's goal is to raise and send funds, for education and medical assistance to those who live in areas heavily affected by AIDS. In 2023, Nike became the presenting sponsor of Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, which encourages youth in underserved communities to participate in baseball and softball.
Program
The Nike Community Ambassador Program, allows Nike employees from around the world to go out and give to their community. Over 3,900 employees from various Nike stores have participated in teaching children to be active and healthy.
Research
In 2016, a study done by RTG Consulting Group reflected that Nike was the 3rd most relevant brand for Gen-Z in China.Roth MKM's 2023 Millennial survey reported in March that millennials with health and wellness concerns in the aftermath of the pandemic ranked brands like Nike, Adidas and Lululemon as their preferred brands for purchases.In January 2023, a study by Rakuten concluded that Nike was the most popular sportswear brand in the US, followed by Lululumon and Adidas.In July 2023, a study by Kantar found that Americans consider Nike as the Most Inclusive Brands (alongside other top brands like Amazon, and Disney).
See also
Bruce Brenn
Dick Donahue
Nike timeline
Breaking2 – A project by Nike to break the 2 hour marathon barrier.
List of companies based in Oregon
Notes
References
Further reading
Egan, Timothy (September 13, 1998). "The Swoon of the Swoosh". The New York Times.
External links
Official website
2018 FIFA World Cup: Nike says Iran World Cup saga is 'misleading'
Business data for Nike, Inc.: |
carbon emission label | A carbon emission label or carbon label describes the carbon dioxide emissions created as a by-product of manufacturing, transporting, or disposing of a consumer product. This information is important to consumers wishing to minimize their ecological footprint and contribution to global warming made by their purchases.
Existing programs
The world's first carbon label, the Carbon Reduction Label, shows the carbon footprint embodied in a product and was first introduced in the UK in 2006 by the Carbon Trust. Examples of products featuring their carbon footprint are Walkers Crisps, Kingsmill bread, British Sugar, Cemex cement, Marshalls paving and Quaker Oats, which have all used the label. One of the biggest supporters of carbon labelling was Tesco, who began labelling a range of products including washing detergent, light bulbs, oranges, milk and toilet paper in 2007. In 2012 the scheme was terminated due to unforeseen costs and lack of take-up by other businesses. HBOS feature it on their online bank account.
The Carbon Trust label also requires companies to commit to reduce the embodied carbon in the labeled product or they lose the right to feature the label. An independent panel is currently verifying the process alongside Defra and the British Standards Institute BSI and a new standard PAS 2050 is due to be introduced in mid-2008. As of August 2009, Defra is undertaking a radical rethink of the food industry on issues of security and sustainability, among many things proposing a green labelling scheme for food products.The CarbonCounted label started in January 2007. It uses a live carbon supply chain to determine the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to bring a product to market. This third party certified system, based on an open standard, eliminates the need for heavy auditing and guess work associated with values determined when using isolated accounting methods. This also addresses how to consistently and fairly apply the smaller details such as the heating, cooling, lighting etc. in the shops the products are sold in.
Another label initiative started in spring 2008 in Switzerland. The independent association climatop labels the most climate friendly products with their label "approved by climatop". In contrast to the label of Carbon Trust, this label does not indicate the carbon footprint of a specific product, it labels those products out of a comparable group of products with a remarkably lower carbon charge. As a rule of thumb, products have to be at least 20% better than other products from the same category. Therefore life cycle assessments or the products are calculated by independent offices, and the calculations are reviewed by a third party. Beside the fact that it has to be proven that those products have a lower climate charge, the products also have to fulfil several environmental and social standards. Examples of labeled products can be found at the Swiss retailer Migros, such as an organic fair trade sugar from Paraguay, recycling kitchen towels or laundry detergents. This approach has been shown to influence customer purchasing decisions.Japan announced a carbon footprint labelling scheme in 2008. The labels appeared on dozens of items including food and drink starting in April 2009, providing detailed breakdowns of each product's carbon footprint under a government-approved calculation and labeling system.
Proposed programs
California state representative Ira Ruskin sponsored a carbon labeling bill—the Carbon Labeling Act of 2009—in the California state legislature, which has been voted out of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources. The act would require the State Air Resources Board to develop and implement a program for the voluntary assessment, verification, and standardized labeling of the
carbon footprint of consumer products sold in the state.
In July 2009, Walmart announced an environmental labeling program for its products. The intent is to create over the next five years a universal rating system, that scores products based on how environmentally and socially sustainable they are over the course of their lives. Wal-Mart's goal is to have other retailers eventually adopt the indexing system.
In the United States, the Clean Energy Standard (CES) mandates that electric utilities generate a certain percentage of their power from clean energy sources.
See also
Ecolabel
Emissions trading
Energy input labeling
Food miles
References
External links
Carbon Labeling Act of 2009, California, United States
Walmart’s labeling scheme will be costly, but will it be effective? Two views.
Vanclay, Jerome K.; Shortiss, John; Aulsebrook, Scott; Gillespie, Angus M.; Howell, Ben C.; Johanni, Rhoda; Maher, Michael J.; Mitchell, Kelly M.; Stewart, Mark D.; Yates, Jim (2010). "Customer Response to Carbon Labelling of Groceries". Journal of Consumer Policy. 34: 153–160. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.679.5325. doi:10.1007/s10603-010-9140-7. S2CID 15321556. |
leather | Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, and aquatic animals such as seals and alligators.Leather can be used to make a variety of items, including clothing, footwear, handbags, furniture, tools and sports equipment, and lasts for decades. Leather making has been practiced for more than 7,000 years and the leading producers of leather today are China and India.Critics of tanneries claim that they engage in unsustainable practices that pose health hazards to the people and the environment near them.
Production processes
The leather manufacturing process is divided into three fundamental subprocesses: preparatory stages, tanning, and crusting. A further subprocess, finishing, can be added into the leather process sequence, but not all leathers receive finishing.
The preparatory stages are when the hide is prepared for tanning. Preparatory stages may include soaking, hair removal, liming, deliming, bating, bleaching, and pickling.
Tanning is a process that stabilizes the proteins, particularly collagen, of the raw hide to increase the thermal, chemical and microbiological stability of the hides and skins, making it suitable for a wide variety of end applications. The principal difference between raw and tanned hides is that raw hides dry out to form a hard, inflexible material that, when rewetted, will putrefy, while tanned material dries to a flexible form that does not become putrid when rewetted.
Many tanning methods and materials exist. The typical process sees tanners load the hides into a drum and immerse them in a tank that contains the tanning "liquor". The hides soak while the drum slowly rotates about its axis, and the tanning liquor slowly penetrates through the full thickness of the hide. Once the process achieves even penetration, workers slowly raise the liquor's pH in a process called basification, which fixes the tanning material to the leather. The more tanning material fixed, the higher the leather's hydrothermal stability and shrinkage temperature resistance.
Crusting is a process that thins and lubricates leather. It often includes a coloring operation. Chemicals added during crusting must be fixed in place. Crusting culminates with a drying and softening operation, and may include splitting, shaving, dyeing, whitening or other methods.
For some leathers, tanners apply a surface coating, called "finishing". Finishing operations can include oiling, brushing, buffing, coating, polishing, embossing, glazing, or tumbling, among others.
Leather can be oiled to improve its water resistance. This currying process after tanning supplements the natural oils remaining in the leather itself, which can be washed out through repeated exposure to water. Frequent oiling of leather, with mink oil, neatsfoot oil, or a similar material keeps it supple and improves its lifespan dramatically.
Tanning methods
Tanning processes largely differ in which chemicals are used in the tanning liquor. Some common types include:
Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned using tannins extracted from vegetable matter, such as tree bark prepared in bark mills. It is the oldest known method. It is supple and light brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of materials and the color of the skin. The color tan derives its name from the appearance of undyed vegetable-tanned leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water; it tends to discolor, and if left to soak and then dry, it shrinks and becomes harder, a feature of vegetable-tanned leather that is exploited in traditional shoemaking. In hot water, it shrinks drastically and partly congeals, becoming rigid and eventually brittle. Boiled leather is an example of this, where the leather has been hardened by being immersed in boiling water, or in wax or similar substances. Historically, it was occasionally used as armor after hardening, and it has also been used for book binding.
Chrome-tanned leather is tanned using chromium sulfate and other chromium salts. It is also known as "wet blue" for the pale blue color of the undyed leather. The chrome tanning method usually takes approximately one day to complete, making it best suited for large-scale industrial use. This is the most common method in modern use. It is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as vegetable-tanned. However, there are environmental concerns with this tanning method, as chromium is a heavy metal; while the trivalent chromium used for tanning is harmless, other byproducts can contain toxic variants. The method was developed in the latter half of the 19th century as tanneries wanted to find ways to speed up the process and to make leather more waterproof.
Aldehyde-tanned leather is tanned using glutaraldehyde or oxazolidine compounds. It is referred to as "wet white" due to its pale cream color. It is the main type of "chrome-free" leather, often seen in shoes for infants and automobiles. Formaldehyde has been used for tanning in the past; it is being phased out due to danger to workers and sensitivity of many people to formaldehyde.
Chamois leather is a form of aldehyde tanning that produces a porous and highly water-absorbent leather. Chamois leather is made using oil (traditionally cod oil) that oxidize to produce the aldehydes that tan the leather.
Brain tanned leathers are made by a labor-intensive process that uses emulsified oils, often those of animal brains such as deer, cattle, and buffalo. An example of this kind is buckskin. Leather products made in this manner are known for their exceptional softness and washability.
Alum leather is transformed using aluminium salts mixed with a variety of binders and protein sources, such as flour and egg yolk. Alum leather is not actually tanned; rather the process is called "tawing", and the resulting material reverts to rawhide if soaked in water long enough to remove the alum salts.
Grades
In general, leather is produced in the following grades:
Top-grain leather includes the outer layer of the hide, known as the grain, which features finer, more densely packed fibers, resulting in strength and durability. Depending on thickness, it may also contain some of the more fibrous under layer, known as the corium. Types of top-grain leather include:
Full-grain leather contains the entire grain layer, without any removal of the surface. Rather than wearing out, it develops a patina during its useful lifetime. It is usually considered the highest quality leather. Furniture and footwear are often made from full-grain leather. Full-grain leather is typically finished with a soluble aniline dye. Russia leather is a form of full-grain leather.
Corrected grain leather has the surface subjected to finishing treatments to create a more uniform appearance. This usually involves buffing or sanding away flaws in the grain, then dyeing and embossing the surface.
Nubuck is top-grain leather that has been sanded or buffed on the grain side to give a slight nap of short protein fibers, producing a velvet-like surface.
Split leather is created from the corium left once the top-grain has been separated from the hide, known as the drop split. In thicker hides, the drop split can be further split into a middle split and a flesh split.
Bicast leather is split leather that is pressed into a wet layer of polyurethane or vinyl on embossed release paper, then cured. This gives it the appearance of a grain. It is slightly stiffer than top-grain leather but has a more consistent texture.
Patent leather is leather that has been given a high-gloss finish by the addition of a coating. Dating to the late 1700s, it became widely popular after inventor Seth Boyden developed the first mass-production process, using a linseed-oil-based lacquer, in 1818. Modern versions are usually a form of bicast leather.
Suede is made from the underside of a split to create a soft, napped finish. It is often made from younger or smaller animals, as the skins of adults often result in a coarse, shaggy nap.
Genuine leather is a term with many definitions. In some countries, when it is the description on a product label the term means nothing more than "contains leather". The term often indicates split leather that has been extensively processed, which is not considered a high-quality product. Some sources describe it as synonymous with bicast leather, or made from multiple splits glued together and painted, or even bonded leather. In some countries regulations limit the term's use in product labelling.
Bonded leather, also called reconstituted leather, is a material that uses leather scraps that are shredded and bonded together with polyurethane or latex onto a fiber mesh. The amount of leather fibers in the mix varies from 10% to 90%, affecting the properties of the product.
From other animals
Today, most leather is made of cattle hides, which constitute about 65% of all leather produced. Other animals that are used include sheep (about 13%), goats (about 11%), and pigs (about 10%). Obtaining accurate figures from around the world is difficult, especially for areas where the skin may be eaten. Other animals mentioned below only constitute a fraction of a percent of total leather production.
Horse hides are used to make particularly durable leathers. Shell cordovan is a horse leather made not from the outer skin but from an under layer, found only in equine species, called the shell. It is prized for its mirror-like finish and anti-creasing properties.
Lamb and deerskin are used for soft leather in more expensive apparel. Deerskin is widely used in work gloves and indoor shoes.
Reptilian skins, such as alligator, crocodile, and snake, are noted for their distinct patterns that reflect the scales of their species. This has led to hunting and farming of these species in part for their skins. The Argentine black and white tegu is one of the most exploited reptile species in the world in the leather trade. However, it is not endangered and while monitored, trade is legal in most South American countries.Kangaroo leather is used to make items that must be strong and flexible. It is the material most commonly used in bullwhips. Some motorcyclists favor kangaroo leather for motorcycle leathers because of its light weight and abrasion resistance. Kangaroo leather is also used for falconry jesses, soccer footwear, (e.g. Adidas Copa Mundial) and boxing speed bags.Although originally raised for their feathers in the 19th century, ostriches are now more popular for both meat and leather. Ostrich leather has a characteristic "goose bump" look because of the large follicles where the feathers grew. Different processes produce different finishes for many applications, including upholstery, footwear, automotive products, accessories, and clothing.
In Thailand, stingray leather is used in wallets and belts. Stingray leather is tough and durable. The leather is often dyed black and covered with tiny round bumps in the natural pattern of the back ridge of an animal. These bumps are then usually dyed white to highlight the decoration. Stingray rawhide is also used as grips on Chinese swords, Scottish basket hilted swords, and Japanese katanas. Stingray leather is also used for high abrasion areas in motorcycle racing leathers (especially in gloves, where its high abrasion resistance helps prevent wear through in the event of an accident).
For a given thickness, fish leather is typically much stronger due to its criss-crossed fibers.
Environmental impact
Leather produces some environmental impact, most notably due to:
The carbon footprint of cattle rearing (see environmental impact of meat production)
Use of chemicals in the tanning process (e.g., chromium, phthalate esters, nonyl phenol ethoxylate soaps, pentachlorophenol and solvents)
Air pollution due to the transformation process (hydrogen sulfide is formed during mixing with acids and ammonia liberated during deliming, solvent vapors)
Carbon footprint
Estimates of the carbon footprint of bovine leather range from 65 to 150 kg of CO2 equivalent per square meter of production.
Water footprint
One ton of hide or skin generally produces 20 to 80 m3 of waste water, including chromium levels of 100–400 mg/L, sulfide levels of
200–800 mg/L, high levels of fat and other solid wastes, and notable pathogen contamination. Producers often add pesticides to protect hides during transport. With solid wastes representing up to 70% of the wet weight of the original hides, the tanning process represents a considerable strain on water treatment installations.
Disposal
Leather biodegrades slowly—taking 25 to 40 years to decompose. However, vinyl and petrochemical-derived materials take 500 or more years to decompose.
Chemical waste disposal
Tanning is especially polluting in countries where environmental regulations are lax, such as in India, the world's third-largest producer and exporter of leather. To give an example of an efficient pollution prevention system, chromium loads per produced tonne are generally abated from 8 kg to 1.5 kg. VOC emissions are typically reduced from 30 kg/t to 2 kg/t in a properly managed facility. A review of the total pollution load decrease achievable according to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization posts precise data on the abatement achievable through industrially proven low-waste advanced methods, while noting, "even though the chrome pollution load can be decreased by 94% on introducing advanced technologies, the minimum residual load 0.15 kg/t raw hide can still cause difficulties when using landfills and composting sludge from wastewater treatment on account of the regulations currently in force in some countries."
In Kanpur, the self-proclaimed "Leather City of World"—with 10,000 tanneries as of 2011 and a city of three million on the banks of the Ganges—pollution levels were so high, that despite an industry crisis, the pollution control board decided to shut down 49 high-polluting tanneries out of 404 in July 2009. In 2003 for instance, the main tanneries' effluent disposal unit was dumping 22 tonnes of chromium-laden solid waste per day in the open.In the Hazaribagh neighborhood of Dhaka in Bangladesh, chemicals from tanneries end up in Dhaka's main river. Besides the environmental damage, the health of both local factory workers and the end consumer is also negatively affected. After approximately 15 years of ignoring high court rulings, the government shut down more than 100 tanneries the weekend of 8 April 2017 in the neighborhood.The higher cost associated with the treatment of effluents than to untreated effluent discharging leads to illegal dumping to save on costs. For instance, in Croatia in 2001, proper pollution abatement cost US$70–100 per ton of raw hides processed against $43/t for irresponsible behavior. In November 2009, one of Uganda's main leather making companies was caught directly dumping waste water into a wetland adjacent to Lake Victoria.
Role of enzymes
Enzymes like proteases, lipases, and amylases have an important role in the soaking, dehairing, degreasing, and bating operations of leather manufacturing. Proteases are the most commonly used enzymes in leather production. The enzyme must not damage or dissolve collagen or keratin, but should hydrolyze casein, elastin, albumin, globulin-like proteins, and nonstructural proteins that are not essential for leather making. This process is called bating.Lipases are used in the degreasing operation to hydrolyze fat particles embedded in the skin.Amylases are used to soften skin, to bring out the grain, and to impart strength and flexibility to the skin. These enzymes are rarely used.
Preservation and conditioning
The natural fibers of leather break down with the passage of time. Acidic leathers are particularly vulnerable to red rot, which causes powdering of the surface and a change in consistency. Damage from red rot is aggravated by high temperatures and relative humidities. Although it is chemically irreversible, treatments can add handling strength and prevent disintegration of red rotted leather.
Exposure to long periods of low relative humidities (below 40%) can cause leather to become desiccated, irreversibly changing the fibrous structure of the leather. Chemical damage can also occur from exposure to environmental factors, including ultraviolet light, ozone, acid from sulfurous and nitrous pollutants in the air, or through a chemical action following any treatment with tallow or oil compounds. Both oxidation and chemical damage occur faster at higher temperatures.
There are few methods to maintain and clean leather goods properly such as using damp cloth and avoid using a wet cloth or soaking the leather in water. Various treatments are available such as conditioners. Saddle soap is used for cleaning, conditioning, and softening leather. Leather shoes are widely conditioned with shoe polish.
In modern culture
Due to its excellent resistance to abrasion and wind, leather found a use in rugged occupations. The enduring image of a cowboy in leather chaps gave way to the leather-jacketed and leather-helmeted aviator. When motorcycles were invented, some riders took to wearing heavy leather jackets to protect from road rash and wind blast; some also wear chaps or full leather pants to protect the lower body.
Leather's flexibility allows it to be formed and shaped into balls and protective gear. Subsequently, many sports use equipment made with leather, such as baseball gloves and the ball used in cricket and gridiron football.
Leather fetishism is the name popularly used to describe a fetishistic attraction to people wearing leather, or in certain cases, to the garments themselves.
Many rock groups (particularly heavy metal and punk groups in the 1970s and 80s) are well known for wearing leather clothing. Extreme metal bands (especially black metal bands) and Goth rock groups have extensive black leather clothing. Leather has become less common in the punk community over the last three decades, as there is opposition to the use of leather from punks who support animal rights.Many cars and trucks come with optional or standard leather or "leather faced" seating.
Religious sensitivities
In countries with significant populations of individuals observing religions which place restrictions on material choices, vendors typically clarify the source of leather in their products. Such labeling helps facilitate religious observance, so, for example, a Muslim will not accidentally purchase pigskin or a Hindu can avoid cattleskin. Such taboos increase the demand for religiously neutral leathers such as ostrich and deer.
Judaism forbids the comfort of wearing leather shoes on Yom Kippur, Tisha B'Av, and during mourning. Also, see Teffilin and Torah Scroll.
Jainism prohibits the use of leather, since it is obtained by killing animals.
Alternatives
Many forms of artificial leather have been developed, usually involving polyurethane or vinyl coatings applied to a cloth backing. Many names and brands for such artificial leathers exist, including "pleather", a portmanteau of "plastic leather", and the brand name Naugahyde.Another alternative is cultured leather which is lab-grown using cell-culture methods, mushroom-based materials and gelatin-based textile made by upcycling meat industry waste. Leather made of fungi or mushroom-based materials are completely biodegradable.
References
Further reading
Beeby, K.J. The Wonderful Story of Leather (PDF). UK: Harmatan.
Lefroy, George Alfred (1884). The leather-workers of Daryaganj . Delhi: Cambridge Mission to Delhi.
Leathers for Bookbinding and Upholstery (PDF). UK: Harmatan. 2002.
Leather for Libraries (PDF). UK: Harmatan.
Parsons, F. G. (1911). "Leather" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). pp. 330–345. (includes several diagrams) |
iphone 11 pro | The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Serving as Apple's flagship models of the 13th generation of iPhones, they succeeded the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, respectively, upon their release. Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the devices alongside the standard model, the iPhone 11, on September 10, 2019 at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. Pre-orders began on September 13, 2019, and the phones went on sale on September 20. They were discontinued on October 13, 2020, following the announcement of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.
Notable improvements over the previous devices include the triple-lens rear camera system and the A13 Bionic chip. The 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max are Apple's first iPhones to feature a "pro" designation, previously used only for larger Apple devices, such as the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. They are also the first generation of iPhones which include a Lightning to USB-C cable and that allows connection to the charger and to current Mac computers, in the box.
History
Details regarding the smartphones were leaked widely starting several months before the official release, with complete specifications, renderings, and real-life images of the phone being publicized. Substantial advancements in the camera and the continuation of the 'notch' design featured since the iPhone X were correctly predicted in leaks. Some leaks, however, were inaccurate; the inclusion of bilateral charging was widely anticipated and publicized, but was not part of the phone's design. Official release event invites sent out to press featured layered colored glass elements organized to form the Apple logo, which some reviewers drew similarities to Apple's original logo, suggesting new colors for the phone, and to a patent Apple filed for a new camera design earlier.The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro were unveiled in a press event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California on September 10, 2019; the first Apple event live streamed on YouTube. The event featured various other products and services other than the iPhone, including a new Apple Watch, a new iPad, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade. Pre-orders began on September 13, with the iPhone 11 Pro starting from a base price of $999, and the larger screen Pro Max starting from $1,099. The phones were released on September 20.On October 13, 2020, following the announcement of the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max were removed from sale on Apple's official website.In February 2021, Apple started selling refurbished iPhone 11 Pro models starting at $849.
Design
The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max is available in Gold, Silver, Space Gray, and Midnight Green, a new color previously not available on iPhones. Similar to the iPhone XS and XS Max respectively, there is a display cutout at the front that includes the 12 MP TrueDepth camera system and speaker. There is also a new rear camera design with three lenses and a flash in a larger, square-shaped bump, which is the most visible difference compared to the iPhone XS. The Apple logo is now centered on the back of the device with no text, and the glass has a frosted matte finish, unlike the glossy finish found on other previous flagship iPhones.
Specifications
Hardware
The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max both have an A13 Bionic processor. Both phones have three internal storage options: 64 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB, and have 4 GB of RAM. Both models are rated IP68 water and dust resistant, and are resistant for 30 minutes at a depth of 4 meters. The warranty does not cover any water damage to the phone. Continuing the trend set starting with the iPhone 7, neither phone includes a headphone jack, but came with wired EarPods with a Lightning connector prior to Apple's decision to halt inclusion of them in October 2020, citing environmental impact. The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are the first and only iPhones to be sold with a USB-C 18-watt fast charger.
Display
The iPhone 11 Pro has a 5.85 inch (149 mm) (marketed as 5.8-inch (15 cm)) OLED display with a resolution of 2436 × 1125 pixels (2.7 megapixels), while the iPhone 11 Pro Max has a larger 6.46 inch (164 mm) (marketed as 6.5-inch (17 cm)) OLED display with a resolution of 2688 × 1242 pixels (3.3 megapixels) which both have a pixel density of 458 PPI. Both models feature a Super Retina XDR Display with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a notch at the top for the TrueDepth camera system and speaker. Apple describes the display as having a "mini Apple Pro Display XDR" on a phone. They also have a True Tone and wide color display supporting HDR with 800 nits of standard brightness and 1200 nits peak brightness if necessary. The screen has an oleophobic coating that is fingerprint-resistant. The display of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max is made by Samsung.
Batteries
The iPhone 11 Pro is supplied with a 11.67 Wh (3,046 mAh) battery, a slight increase from the 10.13 Wh (2,658 mAh) found in the iPhone XS, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max has a 15.04 Wh (3,969 mAh) battery, another slight increase from the 12.08 Wh (3,174 mAh) found in the iPhone XS Max. Neither of the batteries are user-replaceable.
Cameras
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max both include a triple-lens 12MP rear camera array. There is one ƒ/2.4 ultra-wide-angle lens with a 120-degree field of view and 2× optical zoom out, one ƒ/1.8 wide-angle lens, and one ƒ/2.0 telephoto lens with 2× optical zoom in. There is a burst mode, image stabilization, HDR, and a Portrait Mode supporting depth control and an advanced bokeh effect. iPhone 11 Pro also has an automatic Night Mode allowing the camera to take brighter pictures with reduced noise in low light environments. There is also a redesigned camera app that adds new features such as a scroll wheel for choosing between the different lenses and long-pressing the shutter button to take a video. Apple has also announced a new Deep Fusion feature which will take advantage of AI and machine learning for image processing.The iPhone 11 Pro supports 4K video up to 60 fps and 1080p slow motion at up to 240 fps. However, Apple limits the full range of zoom (0.5× -6×) while shooting in 4K @ 60fps to either 0.5× – 1.5×, 1×, to 2× depending which lens is selected upon recording. All other resolutions/frame rates support the full zoom set. The phone also features an audio zoom feature which focuses audio on the area that is being zoomed in on. All of the cameras support video although only the wide and telephoto come with optical image stabilization. Video can be captured with multiple cameras at the same time, through the multi camera recording feature.Both models also have a 12 MP TrueDepth front camera with a ƒ/2.2 aperture. The front camera also supports stabilized 4K video recording up to 60fps. Apple has added slow-motion video recording to the front camera in 1080p at up to 120 fps, a feature which Apple refers to as "slofies". Similar to previous iPhone models, the TrueDepth system is also used for Face ID and Animoji.
Software
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max was initially supplied with iOS 13. The newest iOS update that supports both phones as of September 2023, is iOS 17. The phones also come with Siri, Face ID (through the TrueDepth camera), Apple Pay, and they support Apple Card.
Reception
Upon release, the iPhone 11 Pro received generally positive reviews, with critics highlighting the improvements to the camera, display, and battery, although it was criticized for its similar design to the iPhone XS and the large camera bump, as well as the lack of rumored features such as bilateral wireless charging and USB-C. TechRadar critics praised the improved camera array, calling it "clearly the big upgrade", and also praised the faster A13 Bionic processor, and the display, while criticizing the design similarities compared to the iPhone XS including the display cut-out for the sensor housing, commonly referred to as "the notch," and also criticizing the cost. Pocket Lint also positively described the camera, the processor, display, and battery, camera design, and lack of bilateral wireless charging. The Verge and T3 positively described the general aspects of the phone, while stating that the 'pro' label may not be fully justified as the phone only helps Apple keep up with the competitors, not surpass them.
The device received an overall score of 117 from DXOMARK, ranking it as the second-best smartphone camera on the site tied with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. An 11-point improvement over its predecessor, it had a photo score of 124 and a video score of 102.
Environmental data
Carbon footprint
The iPhone 11 Pro has a carbon footprint of 80 kilograms (180 lb) CO2e emissions, which is 10 kilograms (22 lb) more than the preceding iPhone XS and 25 kilograms (55 lb) more than the iPhone 3G in 2008. 83% of the emissions are caused by the production of the device and primary resources while remaining emissions are caused by transportation and first use.
Repairability
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max continue the strategy of discouraging customers to seek third party repairs while rendering repairs with Apple more costly: repair with non-genuine Apple parts such as batteries or displays can trigger warning messages on the phone instigating the customer to visit a certified technician to replace the respective parts with genuine ones. While the website clearly states that the phone will function properly despite the warning, this information is not passed in the context of the warning. Even if batteries are properly functioning and at full capacity the customers are prompted by a message on the phone to replace the battery. At the same time battery replacement with original spare parts saw an increase in pricing: after initially discounting battery replacements to $29 following the Batterygate scandal, battery replacement prices for all flagship iPhone models was reverted to US$69.00.
See also
Comparison of smartphones
History of iPhone
List of iPhone models
Timeline of iPhone models
References
External links
iPhone 11 Pro – official site |
tianqi lithium | Tianqi Lithium Corp (Chinese: 天齐锂业; pinyin: Tiānqí Lǐ Yè; previously Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries, Inc.) is a Chinese mining and manufacturing company based in Sichuan.As of 2018, the company controls more than 46% of the production of lithium worldwide.
Production
World production of lithium via spodumene was around 80,000 metric tonnes per annum in 2018, primarily from the Greenbushes pegmatite of Western Australia and from some Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes, Western Australia, is reported to be the 2nd largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li2O (2012 figures).
Acquisitions
Tianqi has owned a 51% ownership stake in Talison Lithium, which operates the Greenbushes mine in Australia, since 2009. Tianqi announced in 2018 that it would invest US$600 million to construct a lithium processing plant in Kwinana, Western Australia.In 2018, Tianqi acquired a 24% stake in the Chilean mining company Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) for approximately $4.1 billion. Tianqi was to purchase 62.5 million SQM A shares for $65 each from Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien.Tianqi is currently in a legal dispute with MSP Engineering over the payment for building the lithium hydroxide plant in Kwinana Western Australia. MSP claim that Tianqi have failed to meet scheduled payments totalling over $39 million. A WA Supreme Court order handed down an order giving Tianqi seven days to pay MSP almost $39 million, something that Tianqi has refused to do, seeking a stay on the judgement. The matter is still before the courts.
Carbon footprint
Tianqi Lithium Corp reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 259 Kt.
See also
Lithium
Spodumene
Ganfeng Lithium
Sociedad Química y Minera
Talison Lithium
List of countries by lithium production
References
External links
Official website |
procter & gamble | The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer health, personal care and hygiene products; these products are organized into several segments including beauty; grooming; health care; fabric and home care; and baby, feminine, and family care. Before the sale of Pringles to Kellogg's, its product portfolio also included food, snacks, and beverages. P&G is incorporated in Ohio.In 2014, P&G recorded $83.1 billion in sales. On August 1, 2014, P&G announced it was streamlining the company, dropping and selling off around 100 brands from its product portfolio in order to focus on the remaining 65 brands, which produced 95% of the company's profits. A.G. Lafley, the company's chairman and CEO until October 2015, said the future P&G would be "a much simpler, much less complex company of leading brands that's easier to manage and operate".Jon Moeller is the current president and CEO of P&G.
History
Origins
Candlemaker William Procter, born in England, and soap maker James Gamble, born in Ireland, both emigrated to the US from the United Kingdom. They initially settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, and met when they married sisters Olivia and Elizabeth Norris. Alexander Norris, their father-in-law, persuaded them to become business partners, and in 1837, Procter & Gamble was created.
From 1858 to 1859, sales reached $1 million. By that point, about 80 employees worked for Procter & Gamble. During the American Civil War, the company won contracts to supply the Union Army with soap and candles. In addition to the increased profits experienced during the war, the military contracts introduced soldiers from all over the country to Procter & Gamble's products.
In the 1880s, Procter & Gamble began to market a new product, an inexpensive soap that floated in water. The company called the soap Ivory. William Arnett Procter, William Procter's grandson, began a profit-sharing program for the company's workforce in 1887. By giving the workers a stake in the company, he correctly assumed that they would be less likely to go on strike.
The company began to build factories in other locations in the United States because the demand for products had outgrown the capacity of the Cincinnati facilities. The company's leaders began to diversify its products as well, and in 1911 the company began producing Crisco, a shortening made of vegetable oils rather than animal fats.Beginning in the 1880s, P&G advertised its wares in full-page advertisements in many general-interest magazines. By 1921, it had become a major international corporation with a diversified line of soaps, toiletries, and food products; in that year, its annual advertising budget reached $1 million.
In the 1920s, P&G advertised its products on the new medium of radio and, from 1932 forward, was one of the biggest sponsors of daytime serials, which soon acquired the nickname of soap operas. In the television era, P&G sponsored and produced some twenty soap operas across six decades before the last of its shows ended in 2010.
International expansion
The company moved into other countries, both in terms of manufacturing and product sales, becoming an international corporation with its 1930 acquisition of the Thomas Hedley Co., based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. After this acquisition, Procter & Gamble had their UK Headquarters at 'Hedley House' in Newcastle upon Tyne, until quite recently, when they moved to The Heights, Brooklands. Numerous new products and brand names were introduced over time, and Procter & Gamble began branching out into new areas. The company introduced Tide laundry detergent in 1946 and Prell shampoo in 1947. In 1955, Procter & Gamble began selling the first toothpaste to contain fluoride, known as Crest. Branching out once again in 1957, the company purchased Charmin paper mills and began manufacturing toilet paper and other tissue paper products. Once again focusing on laundry, Procter & Gamble began making Downy fabric softener in 1960 and Bounce fabric softener sheets in 1972. From 1957 to 1968, Procter & Gamble owned Clorox, the leading American manufacturer of liquid bleach; however, the Federal Trade Commission challenged the acquisition, and the U.S. Supreme Court decided against P&G in April 1967.One of the most revolutionary products to come out on the market was the company's disposable Pampers diaper, first test-marketed in 1961, the same year Procter & Gamble came out with Head & Shoulders. Prior to this point, disposable diapers were not popular, although Johnson & Johnson had developed a product called Chux. Babies always wore cloth diapers, which were leaky and labor-intensive to wash. Pampers provided a convenient alternative, albeit at the environmental cost of more waste requiring landfilling. Amid the recent concerns parents have voiced on the ingredients in diapers, Pampers launched Pampers Pure collection in 2018, which is a "natural" diaper alternative.
Further developments
Procter & Gamble acquired a number of other companies that diversified its product line and significantly increased profits. These acquisitions included Folgers Coffee, Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals (the makers of Pepto-Bismol), Richardson-Vicks, Noxell (Noxzema), Shulton's Old Spice, Max Factor, the Iams Company, and Pantene, among others. In 1994, the company made headlines for big losses resulting from leveraged positions in interest rate derivatives, and subsequently sued Bankers Trust for fraud; this placed their management in the unusual position of testifying in court that they had entered into transactions that they were not capable of understanding. In 1996, P&G again made headlines when the Food and Drug Administration approved a new product developed by the company, Olestra. Also known by its brand name 'Olean', Olestra is a lower-calorie substitute for fat in cooking potato chips and other snacks.
In January 2005, P&G announced the acquisition of Gillette, forming the largest consumer goods company and placing Unilever into second place. This added brands such as Gillette razors, Duracell, Braun, and Oral-B to their stable. The acquisition was approved by the European Union and the Federal Trade Commission, with conditions to a spinoff of certain overlapping brands. P&G agreed to sell its SpinBrush battery-operated electric toothbrush business to Church & Dwight, and Gillette's Rembrandt toothpaste line to Johnson & Johnson. The deodorant brands Right Guard, Soft and Dri, and Dry Idea were sold to Dial Corporation. In 2001, Liquid Paper and Gillette's stationery division, Paper Mate, were sold to Newell Rubbermaid. The companies officially merged on October 1, 2005. In 2008, P&G branched into the record business with its sponsorship of Tag Records, as an endorsement for TAG Body Spray.P&G's dominance in many categories of consumer products makes its brand management decisions worthy of study. For example, P&G's corporate strategists must account for the likelihood of one of their products cannibalizing the sales of another.On August 25, 2009, the Ireland-based pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott announced they had bought P&G's prescription-drug business for $3.1 billion.P&G exited the food business in 2012 when it sold its Pringles snack food business to Kellogg's for $2.75 billion after the $2.35 billion deal with former suitor Diamond Foods fell short. The company had previously sold Jif peanut butter, Crisco shortening and oils, and Folgers coffee in separate transactions to fellow Ohio-based company Smucker's.
In April 2014, the company sold its Iams pet food business in all markets excluding Europe to Mars, Inc. for $2.9 billion. It sold the European Iams business to Spectrum Brands in December 2014.
Restructuring
In August 2014, P&G announced it was streamlining the company, dropping around 100 brands and concentrating on the remaining 65, which were producing 95% of the company's profits.In March 2015, the company divested its Vicks VapoSteam U.S. liquid inhalant business to Helen of Troy, part of a brand-restructuring operation. This deal was the first health-related divestiture under the brand-restructuring operation. The deal included a fully paid-up license to the Vicks VapoSteam trademarks and the U.S. license of P&G's Vicks VapoPad trademarks for scent pads. Most Vicks VapoSteam and VapoPads are used in Vicks humidifiers, vaporizers and other health care devices already marketed by Helen of Troy.Later that same year in July, the company announced the sale of 43 of its beauty brands to Coty, a beauty-product manufacturer, in a US$13 billion deal. It cited sluggish growth of its beauty division as the reason for the divestiture. The sale was completed on October 3, 2016.In February 2016, P&G completed the transfer of Duracell to Berkshire Hathaway through an exchange of shares.In December 2018, Procter & Gamble completed the acquisition of the consumer health division of Merck Group (known as EMD Serono in North America) for €3.4 billion ($4.2 billion) and renamed it as Procter & Gamble Health Limited in May 2019.In November 2018, P&G unveiled a simpler corporate structure with six business units that will be effective from July 2019.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2018, Procter & Gamble reported earnings of US$9.750 billion, with an annual revenue of US$66.832 billion, an increase of 2.7% over the previous fiscal cycle. Procter & Gamble's Shares traded at over $86 per share in 2017, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$221.5 billion in October 2018. Procter & Gamble ranked No. 42 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Carbon footprint
Procter & Gamble reported Total CO2e emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2020, at 2,619 Kt (-1,441 /-35.5% y-o-y). In September 2021, P&G set a new ambition to achieve net zero emissions across its operations and supply chain by 2040.
Operations
As of July 1, 2016, the company structure has been categorized into ten categories and six selling and market organizations.
Categories
Management and staff
Board of Directors
The board of directors of Procter & Gamble currently has 12 members.
Previous members of the board include:
W. James McNerney, Jr.
Nelson Peltz
Scott Cook
Frank BlakeIn May 2011, Fortune editor-at-large Patricia Sellers praised P&G's board diversity, as five of the company's 11 directors were female and had all been on Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women list.In March 2011, Rajat Gupta resigned from the board after a SEC accusation of Galleon Group insider trading.In May 2013, Robert A. McDonald announced his retirement and was replaced by A.G. Lafley, who returned as chairman, president, and CEO.Procter & Gamble is a member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a Washington, DC-based coalition of over 400 major companies and NGOs that advocates for a larger international affairs budget, which funds American diplomatic and development efforts abroad.Senior Executives
Executive Chairman of the Board – David S. Taylor
President & Chief Executive Officer – Jon R. Moeller
Chief Operating Officer – Shailesh G. Jejurikar
Employer recognition
Fortune magazine awarded P&G a top spot on its list of "Global Top Companies for Leaders", and ranked the company at 15th place of the "World's Most Admired Companies" list. Chief Executive magazine named P&G the best overall company for leadership development in its list of the "40 Best Companies for Leaders".
In October 2008, P&G was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc. and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, P&G was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.In October 2013, the company was named the fourth-most in-demand employer in the world according to analytic data sourced by LinkedIn.In August 2013, P&G was named the 14th-hardest company to interview for by Glassdoor. In November 2013, Glassdoor also named them as a top 25 company for career opportunities. In February 2014, Glassdoor placed P&G 34th on their annual Best Places to Work list.In November 2014, P&G came out publicly in support of same-sex marriage in a statement made by William Gipson, P&G's chief global diversity officer.In November 2015, P&G was named the Careers in Africa Employer of Choice 2015 following a survey of over 13,000 African professionals from across the globe. P&G was also recognized as the most desirable FMCG business to work for in Africa.In 2016 and 2017, P&G was recognized as one of Forbes World's Most Reputable Companies.
Brands
As of 2015, 21 of P&G's brands have more than a billion dollars in net annual sales. Most of these brands—including Bounty, Crest, Always, and Tide—are global products available on several continents. In 2005, Proctor & Gamble made a $57 billion deal to buy Gillette, which combined some of the world's top brands including, signature razors, Duracell batteries, Braun, and Oral-B brands. P&G's products are available in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
In 2018, P&G's fabric and home care division accounted for 32% of the company's total net sales, the highest of all its divisions. The division includes Downy, Gain, Tide, Febreze, and Dawn.According to Advertising Age, Procter & Gamble spent $4.3 billion advertising their various brands in the United States in 2015, making it the top advertiser in the country.Manufacturing operations are based in these countries:
Competitive innovation
In the 2021 review of WIPO's annual World Intellectual Property Indicators Procter & Gamble ranked ninth in the world, with 57 designs in industrial design registrations being published under the Hague System during 2020. This position is down on their previous sixth-place ranking for 65 industrial design registrations being published in 2019.
Radio and television production
Procter & Gamble produced and sponsored the first radio serial dramas in the 1930s. As the company was known for Ivory soap, the serials became known as "soap operas". With the rise of television in the 1950s and 1960s, most of the new serials were sponsored, produced and owned (20 series) by the company (including The Guiding Light, which had begun as a radio serial, and made the transition to television lasting 72 years). Though the last P&G-produced show, As the World Turns, left the air in 2010, The Young and the Restless, produced by Sony Pictures Television and broadcast on CBS, is still partially sponsored by Procter & Gamble; as of 2017, it is the only remaining daytime drama that is partially sponsored by Procter & Gamble.
These past serials were produced by Procter & Gamble:
Procter & Gamble also was the first company to produce and sponsor a prime-time serial, a 1965 spin-off of As the World Turns called Our Private World. In 1979, PGP produced Shirley, a prime-time NBC series starring Shirley Jones, which lasted 13 episodes. They also produced TBS' first original comedy series, Down to Earth, which ran from 1984 to 1987 (110 episodes were produced). They also distributed the syndicated comedy series Throb. In 1985, they produced a game-show pilot called The Buck Stops Here with Taft Entertainment Television in 1985, hosted by Jim Peck; it was not picked up. Procter & Gamble Productions originally co-produced Dawson's Creek with Columbia TriStar Television but withdrew before the series premiere due to early press reviews. They also produced the 1991 TV movie A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story, which was co-produced by The Landsburg Company, and they continued to produce the People's Choice Awards until the show was sold to E! channel in April 2017. In 2007, PGP teamed up with the now-defunct Cookie Jar Group to produce the Flash-animated children's series Will and Dewitt, which featured the character Dewitt, the mascot for the Pampers baby product line's former sub-brand, Kandoo.
With Walmart, PGP sponsored Family Movie Night on broadcast networks in 2010–2011 and Walden Family Theater on the Hallmark Channel in 2013.In 2013, PGP rebranded itself as Procter & Gamble Entertainment (PGE) with a new logo and an emphasis on multiple-platform entertainment production.
P&G funded a six-episode series, Activate, on National Geographic in 2019 focusing on extreme poverty, inequality and sustainability in conjunction with not-for-profit Global Citizen and production company Radical Media. The company agreed to a longform series deal with Stone Village Television in January 2020. In February 2020, P&G joined Imagine Documentaries' five project slate including Mars 2080, the project closest to production.
Sponsorships
In addition to its self-produced items through PGE, Procter & Gamble also supports many Spanish-language novellas through advertising on all networks: Azteca América, Estrella TV, Galavisión, Telemundo, UniMás and Univisión. P&G was one of the first mainstream advertisers on Spanish-language TV during the mid-1980s. By the late 1990s, P&G was established as the largest advertiser on Spanish-language media.In 2008, P&G expanded into music sponsorship when it joined Island Def Jam to create Tag Records, named after a body spray that P&G acquired from Gillette. In 2010, after the cancellation of As the World Turns, PGP announced they were phasing out soap opera production and expanding into more family-appropriate programming.Procter & Gamble also gave a $100,000 contract to the winners of Cycles 1 through 3 of Canada's Next Top Model, wherein Andrea Muizelaar, Rebecca Hardy, and Meaghan Waller won the prize.
Procter & Gamble has been a major sponsor of the Summer Olympics since 2012. It sponsored 150 athletes at the London games that year. They have also sponsored the Winter Olympics since 2014. It will do so at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France besides the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo/Milan, Italy. The company's sponsorship includes television ads in which Olympic athletes are portrayed as children to convey the sense that the mothers of these athletes still remember them as infants; other ads stress how Olympic mothers stood by their children through years of training all the way through to Olympic success. 2016's ad for the Rio Games notes upheavals as youths by an American gymnast, Chinese swimmer, Brazilian volleyballer, and German distance runner. The ads all make prominent use of the Ludovico Einaudi orchestral track "Divenire" and related such instrumentals.
The company has actively developed or sponsored numerous online communities, e.g. BeingGirl.com (launched in 2000) and Women.com. As of 2000, the company had 72 "highly stylized destination sites".
Controversies
Price fixing
In April 2011, P&G was fined €211.2 million by the European Commission for establishing a price-fixing cartel for washing powder in Europe along with Unilever, which was fined €104 million, and Henkel. Though the fine was set higher at first, it was discounted by 10% after P&G and Unilever admitted running the cartel. As the provider of the tip-off leading to investigations, Henkel was not fined.
Toxic shock syndrome and tampons
Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a disease caused by strains of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. Most people have these bacteria living in their bodies as harmless commensals in places such as the nose, skin, and vagina. The disease can strike anyone, not only women, but the disease is often associated with tampons.
In 1980, 814 menstrual-related TSS cases were reported; 38 deaths resulted from the disease. The majority of women in these cases were documented as using super-absorbent synthetic tampons, particularly the Rely tampon created by Procter & Gamble. Unlike other tampons made of cotton and rayon, Rely used carboxymethylcellulose and compressed beads of polyester for absorption.
In the summer of 1980, the Centers for Disease Control released a report explaining how these bacterial mechanisms were leading to TSS. They also stated that the Rely tampon was associated with TSS more than any other brand of tampon. In September 1980, Procter & Gamble voluntarily recalled its Rely brand of tampons from the market. Since the 1980s, reported cases of TSS have dramatically decreased.
Child labor and forced labor
According to a 2016 report by Amnesty International, palm oil provider Wilmar International, the world's biggest palm oil grower in 2016 and supplier of raw materials to Procter & Gamble, profited from 8 to 14-year-old child labor and forced labor. Some workers were extorted, threatened, or not paid for work. Some workers also suffered severe injuries from toxic banned chemicals.
Animal testing
Procter & Gamble has received criticism from animal advocacy group PETA for the practice of testing on animals.On June 30, 1999, Procter & Gamble announced that it would limit its animal testing practices to its food and drug products which represented less than 20% of its product portfolio. The company invested more than $275 million in the development of alternative testing methods.
Other products
In 2002, P&G was sued for its ads falsely suggesting to the consumers that the drug Prilosec could cure heartburn in a day. In December 2005, the Pharmaceutical division of P&G was involved in a dispute over research involving its osteoporosis drug Actonel. The case was discussed in the media.
Logo myth and Satanism accusations
P&G's former logo originated in 1851 as a crude cross that barge workers on the Ohio River painted on cases of P&G star candles to identify them. P&G later changed this symbol into a trademark that showed a man in the Moon overlooking 13 stars, said to commemorate the original Thirteen Colonies.The company received unwanted media publicity in the 1980s due to rumors, spread largely by Amway distributors, that the Moon-and-stars logo was a satanic symbol. The accusation was based on a particular passage in the Bible, specifically Revelation 12:1, which states: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars." P&G's logo consisted of a man's face on the Moon surrounded by 13 stars. Some claimed that the logo was a mockery of the heavenly symbol alluded to in the aforementioned verse, thus construing the logo to be satanic. Where the flowing beard meets the surrounding circle, three curls were said to be a mirror image of the number 666, or the reflected number of the beast. At the top and bottom, the hair curls in on itself and was said to be the two horns like those of a ram. The moon-and-stars logo was claimed to be discontinued in 1985 in a failed attempt to quash the rumors. In 1991, details of the logo were simplified to avoid the connection and remove aspects alleged to indicate Satanist affiliations. The company moved to a text-only logo in 1995, though in 2013 it unveiled a new logo with a hint of a crescent moon behind the text.These interpretations have been denied by company officials and no evidence linking the company to the Church of Satan or any other occult organization has ever been presented. The company unsuccessfully sued Amway from 1995 to 2003 over rumors forwarded through a company voice-mail system in 1995. In 2007, the company successfully sued individual Amway distributors for reviving and propagating the false rumors. The Church of Satan denies being supported by Procter & Gamble.
Reverse domain name hijacking
In March 2013, P&G was found by a World Intellectual Property Organization panel to have engaged in reverse domain hijacking in an attempt to obtain the domain name "swash.com" from Marchex in a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy proceeding. P&G originally stated it had generated more than $40 million in sales of its Swash laundry products over four years, a figure it later revised to $60,000. After losing the case P&G purchased the domain name from Marchex. In 2013 attorney John Berryhill suggested that P&G did not intend to use the swash.com domain to market its existing range, as it had said, but rather a new product described in a 2011 trademark application as "An appliance for domestic use in the nature of a garment steamer for the purpose of removing wrinkles and odors from clothing and linen". Berryhill's theory was shown to be accurate after swash.com went live in June 2014.
"The Talk"
In 2017, as part of the "My Black is Beautiful" platform, P&G released an advertisement called "The Talk". The advertisement shows African American mothers throughout the decades giving their children "the talk" about racism. The advertisement garnered controversy for several different reasons. Some people criticized the advertisement for not showing any fathers giving "the talk", while others accused it of being anti-white. One scene shows a mother warning her daughter about being pulled over by the police. The daughter responds by saying that she is a good driver so her mother doesn't need to worry about her getting a ticket. The mother then implies that she might experience police brutality by being racially profiled and killed. Several police officers and police groups accused that part of the advertisement of being anti-cop. "The Talk" was accused by Michelle Malkin of National Review of being "liberal advertising". Malkin also called the advertisement "Black Lives Matter propaganda" and accused it of pandering and using identity politics. Despite the criticism, the advertisement also received a lot of positive reception and praise with some calling it "powerful" and "thought-provoking". The advertisement has also won several awards including the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Grand Prix and the 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial during the 70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Gillette ad
On January 14, 2019, P&G subsidiary Gillette released a controversial advertisement called "The Best Men Can Be", ostensibly to address negative behavior among men, including bullying, sexism, sexual misconduct, and toxic masculinity. The ad was the subject of controversy and was received negatively by various online commentators, becoming one of the most disliked videos on YouTube.The ad led to calls for boycott of Gillette and Procter & Gamble. Later in the year, its Gillette shaving business took an $8 billion write-down in value, although the company and analysts pointed to accumulated currency fluctuations, the entrance of strong rivals and decline in the demand for shaving products since the division's previous valuation in 2005, rather than fallout from the ad.
Trade in Russia amid Ukraine war
The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine have put P&G on the list of international sponsors of the war. According to the NAPC, P&G has two factories operating in Russia (the Gillette razor manufacturing plant in Saint Petersburg and a toiletries manufacturing plant in Tula oblast), thus contributing to the Russian federal budget and financing Russian war crimes. It was named "an international sponsor of war" by the Ukrainian government after Russia obliged all large companies operating in the country "to contribute directly to its war effort". It was placed on the list alongside Bacardi and Unilever.
Corporate diversity
In January 2019, CEO David Taylor said in Switzerland: "The world would be a better place if my board of directors on down is represented by 50% of the women. We sell our products to more than 50% of the women." Also in January 2019, The Wall Street Journal noted the company's board of directors had more than twice as many men as it does women. As of mid-2020, the board of P&G consisted of an equal number of men and women.
CEO-to-worker pay ratio
For the first time in 2018, a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule mandated under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform requires publicly traded companies to disclose how their CEOs are compensated in comparison with their employees. In public filings, companies have to disclose their “Pay Ratios,” or the CEO's compensation divided by the median employee's. According to SEC filings, P&G paid its CEO $17,354,256 in 2017. In 2021, the median employee of Procter & Gamble was compensated $66,326 in 2017, and ratio between CEO pay to median worker pay was 309-to-1, compared to median of 141-to-1 across the S&P500 and the Russell 1000.
References
Further reading
Kominicki, John, "James Gamble's Candles and Soap Lit Up Profit: Do It Right: He Helped Put P&G on an Ethical Path to Top", Los Angeles: Investor's Business Daily, March 6, 2015, p. A3.
McGuigan, Lee, "Procter & Gamble, Mass Media, and the Making of American Life", Media, Culture, and Society 37 (September 2015), pp. 887–903. doi:10.1177/0163443715584100.
External links
Media related to Procter & Gamble at Wikimedia Commons
Official website
Business data for Procter & Gamble Co: |
carbon offsets and credits | A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. A carbon credit or offset credit is a transferrable financial instrument (i.e. a derivative of an underlying commodity) certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission reduction that can then be bought or sold. Both offsets and credits are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One carbon offset or credit represents the reduction or removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
Carbon credits are a component of national and international attempts to mitigate the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In these programs, greenhouse gas emissions are capped and then markets are used to allocate the emissions among the group of regulated sources. The goal is to allow market mechanisms to drive these sources towards lower GHG emissions. Since GHG reduction projects generate offset credits, this approach can be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners around the world. Within the voluntary market, demand for carbon offsets is generated by individuals, companies, organizations, and sub-national governments who purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions to meet carbon neutral, net-zero, or other GHG reduction goals. Certification programs that offer project developers guidelines and other requirements to adhere to in order to produce carbon offsets support this industry.
A variety of greenhouse gas reduction projects can be used to create offsets and credits. Forestry projects are becoming the fastest growing category. Renewable energy is another common type, and includes wind farms, biomass energy, biogas digesters, or hydroelectric dams. Other types include energy efficiency projects (such as efficient cookstoves), and the destruction of landfill methane. Some include methods that use negative emission technologies, such as biochar, carbonated building elements, and geologically stored carbon.
Offset and credit programs have been identified as way for countries to meet their NDC commitments and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement at a lower cost. However, there have been a number of news media stories in recent years criticizing these programs on the grounds that carbon reduction claims are often exaggerated or misleading. Organizations can take a variety of due diligence actions to identify good quality" offsets, ensure that offsetting provides the desired environmental benefits, and avoid reputational risk associated with poor quality offsets.
Definitions
A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. A carbon credit or offset credit is a transferrable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission reduction of one metric tonne of CO2, or an equivalent amount of other greenhouse gases (GHGs). Carbon offsets and credits, along with carbon taxes and subsidies, are all forms of carbon pricing. Historically, the concepts of offsets and credits have been intertwined. Both offsets and credits can move amongst the various markets they are traded in.There are a variety of labels applied to these one-tonne emission reductions, such as "Verified Emission Reduction" or "Certified Emission Reduction". These depend on the particular program that certifies a reduction project.The terminology continues to evolve. At COP27, negotiators agreed to define offsets and credits issued under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement as "mitigation contributions", as a means of discouraging carbon neutrality claims by buyers. Certification organizations such as the Gold Standard even have detailed guidance on what descriptive terms are appropriate for buyers of offsets and credits.
Origins and general features
The 1977 US Clean Air Act created one of the first tradable emission offset mechanisms. This allowed a permitted facility to increase its emissions if it paid another company to reduce, by a greater amount, its emissions of the same pollutant at one or more of its facilities. The 1990 amendments to that same law established the Acid Rain Trading Program. This introduced the concept of a cap and trade system, where limits on a pollutant would decrease over time. Within those overall limits, companies could buy and sell offsets created by other companies that invested in emission reduction projects. In 1997 the Clean Development Mechanism was created as part of the Kyoto Protocol. This program expanded the concept of carbon emissions trading to a global scale, and focused on the major greenhouse gases that cause climate change. These include: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.Carbon offsets and credits have several common features:
Vintage. The vintage is the year in which the carbon emissions reduction project generates the carbon offset credit. This is usually done once a third party verifies the project. This can be done by a validation-verification body, a designated operational entity, or other accredited third party reviewers. However, there is a practice called "Forward Crediting" employed by a limited number of programs, whereby credits may be issued for projected emission reductions that the project developer anticipates. This practice risks over-issuing credits if the project does not realize its estimated impact, and allows credit buyers to claim emission reductions in the present for activities that have not yet occurred.
Project type. A variety of projects can be used to reduce GHG emissions. These can include land-use (e.g. improved forestry management), methane capture, biomass sequestration, renewable energy, industrial energy efficiency, and more.
Co-benefits. Beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions, projects may provide benefits such as ecosystem services or economic opportunities for communities near the project site. These project benefits are termed "co-benefits". For example, projects that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions may improve water quality by reducing fertilizer usage that results in run-off and may contaminate water.
Certification regime. The certification regime describes the systems and procedures that are used to certify and register carbon offsets and credits. These vary in terms of governance and accounting practices, project eligibility, environmental integrity and sustainable development requirements, and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) procedures.
Carbon retirement. Offset credit holders must "retire" carbon offset credits in order to claim their associated GHG reductions towards a specific GHG reduction goal. In the voluntary market, carbon offset registries define the manner in which retirement happens. Once an offset credit is retired, it cannot be transferred or used (meaning it is effectively taken out of circulation). Voluntary purchasers can also offset their carbon emissions by purchasing carbon allowances from legally mandated cap-and-trade programs such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or the European Emissions Trading Scheme.
Programs and markets
There is a diverse range of sources of supply, sources of demand, and trading frameworks that drive offset and credit markets. As of 2022, 68 carbon pricing programs were in place or scheduled to be created globally. While some of these involve carbon taxes, many are carbon emission trading programs, or other types of market oriented program involving carbon offsets and credits. International programs include the Clean Development Mechanism, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and CORSIA. National programs include ETS systems such as the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) and the California Cap and Trade Program. Eligible credits in these programs may also include those issued under international or independent crediting systems. There are also standards and crediting mechanisms managed by independent, nongovernmental entities, such as Verra and Gold Standard.
Demand for offsets and credits derives from a range of compliance obligations established under international agreements and national laws, as well as voluntary commitments adopted by companies, governments, and other organizations. Voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) usually consist of private entities purchasing carbon offset credits in order to meet voluntary greenhouse gas reduction commitments. In some cases purchases of credits might also be done as a non-covered participant in an ETS, as an alternative to purchasing offsets in a voluntary market.Currently there are several exchanges trading in carbon credits and allowances covering both spot and futures markets. These include: Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CTX Global, the European Energy Exchange, Global Carbon Credit Exchange gCCEx, Intercontinental Exchange, MexiCO2, NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe, Xpansiv. Many companies now engage in emissions abatement, offsetting, and sequestration programs to generate credits that can be sold on one of these exchanges.
Compliance market credits are the large majority of the offset and credit market today. In 2021, trading on the VCM was 300 MtCO2e in 2021. By comparison, the compliance carbon market trading volume was 12 GtCO2e, and global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were 59 GtCO2e.
Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement Article 6 mechanisms
The original international compliance carbon markets were created as part of the Kyoto Protocol. That treaty provides for three mechanisms that enable countries or operators in developed countries to acquire offset credits The economic basis for these programs was that the marginal cost of reducing emissions would differ among countries. At the time of the original Kyoto targets, studies suggested that the flexibility mechanisms could reduce the overall cost of meeting the targets. The Kyoto Protocol was to expire in 2020, to be superseded by the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement determinations regarding the role of carbon offsets are still being determined through international negotiation specifying the "Article 6" language.Under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) a developed country can 'sponsor' a greenhouse gas reduction project in a developing country where the cost of greenhouse gas reduction project activities is usually much lower, but the atmospheric effect is globally equivalent. The developed country is given credits for meeting its emission reduction targets, while the developing country would receive the capital investment and clean technology or beneficial change in land use. Once approved, these units are termed Certified Emission Reductions, or CERs. Country specific Designated National Authorities approve projects under this program. Under Joint Implementation (JI) a developed country with relatively high costs of domestic greenhouse reduction would set up a project in another developed country. Offset credits under this program are designated as Emission Reduction Units. Nuclear energy projects are not eligible for credits under either of these programs. Under the International Emissions Trading (IET) program, countries can trade in the international carbon credit market to cover their shortfall in assigned amount units. Countries with surplus units can sell them to countries that are exceeding their emission targets under Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol. Current CDM projects will transfer to new arrangements under the Paris agreement.
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement continues to support offset and credit programs between countries. These are now carried out to help achieve emission reduction targets set out in each country's NDC. Under Article 6, countries will be able to transfer carbon credits earned from the reduction of GHG emissions to help other countries meet climate targets. Article 6.2 creates a program for trading GHG emission reductions via bilateral agreements between countries. Article 6.4 is expected to be similar to the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. It establishes a centralized program for trading GHG emission reductions between countries under the supervision of the UNFCCC. Emission reduction (ER) credits purchased under this program can be bought by countries, companies, or even individuals.Under Article 6.2 the credits (called internationally transferred mitigation outcomes, or ITMOs) can be transferred from host countries, where the reduction in GHG is achieved. There are a number of ways this can be done. Credits can go to credit-buying countries towards achieving their NDCs. They can also be transferred and used in market-based schemes such as CORSIA. To avoid double counting of emission reductions, corresponding adjustments (CAs) are required. If the receiving country uses ITMOs towards its NDC, the host country must ‘un-count' those reductions from its emissions budget by adding and reporting that higher total in its biennial reporting. Otherwise Article 6.2 provides countries a lot of flexibility in how they can create trading agreements.Projects under Article 6.4 will be overseen by a "Supervisory Board" which has the responsibility of approving methodologies, setting guidance, and implementing procedures. The preparation work for this is expected to last until the end of 2023. Emission reduction (ER) credits issued under Article 6.4 will be reduced by 2% in order to ensure that the program as a whole results in an overall Mitigation of Global Emissions (OMGE). An additional 5% reduction of Article 6.4 ERs is dedicated to a fund to finance adaptation. Administrative fees for program management are still to be determined. CDM projects are allowed to transition to the Article 6.4 program if they are approved by the country where the project is located, and if the project meets the new rules, with the exception of rules on methodologies. Projects can generally continue to use the same CDM methodologies through 2025. From 2026 on, they must meet all Article 6 requirements. Up to 2.8 billion credits could potentially become eligible for issuance under Article 6.4 if all CDM projects were to transition.Article 6 does not directly regulate the VCM, and thus in principle carbon offsets can be issued and purchased without reference to Article 6. Given the diversity of carbon offsets, a mult-tier system could emerge with different types of offsets and credits available for investors. Companies may be to able purchase ‘adjusted credits' that eliminate the risk of double counting, possibly with higher perceived value in pursuit of science-based targets and net-zero emissions. Other ‘non-adjusted' offsets and credits could be used to support claims for other environmental or social indicators, or for emission reductions that have a lower perceived value in terms of these goals. Uncertainty remains around Article 6's effects on future voluntary carbon markets and what investors could claim by purchasing various types of carbon credits.
Other international programs
The REDD+ program works to create financial value for carbon stored in forests by using market approaches to compensate landowners for not clearing or degrading their forests. REDD+ also promotes co-benefits from reducing deforestation, such as biodiversity. REDD+ largely addresses tropical regions in developing countries. The concept of REDD+ was introduced in its basic form at COP11 in 2005. It has evolved and grown into a broad policy initiative to address deforestation and forest degradation. In 2015, REDD+ was incorporated into Article 5 of the Paris Agreement. REDD+ initiatives typically incentivize and compensate developing countries or subnational entities for reducing their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. REDD+ consists of several stages, including (1) achieving REDD+ readiness; (2) formalizing an agreement for financing; (3) monitoring, reporting, and verifying results; and (4) receiving results-based payments. Over 50 countries have national REDD+ initiatives, mostly developing countries in or adjacent to the tropics. REDD+ is also being implemented at the subnational level through provincial and district governments and at the local level through private landowners. As of 2020, there were over 400 ongoing REDD+ projects globally, with Brazil and Colombia accounting for the largest amount of REDD+ project land area.The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is a global, market-based program to reduce emissions from international aviation. Its intent is to allow credits and offsets for emissions that cannot be reduced through the use of technological and operational improvements, or by the use of sustainable aviation fuels. To ensure the environmental integrity of these offsets, the program has developed a list of eligible offsets that can be used. Operating principles for the program are similar to those under existing trading mechanisms and carbon offset certification standards. CORSIA has applied to international aviation since January 2019, when all airlines were required to report their CO2 emissions on an annual basis. International flights have been subject to offsetting obligations under CORSIA since January 2021.
Emissions trading systems
Emissions trading has become an important element of regulatory programs to control pollution, including GHG emissions. GHG emission trading programs exist at the sub-national, national, and international level. Under these programs, emissions are capped, and sources have the flexibility to find and apply the lowest-cost methods for reducing pollution. A central authority or governmental body usually allocates or sells a limited number (a "cap") of permits that allow a discharge of a specific quantity of a specific pollutant over a set time period. Polluters are required to hold permits in amount equal to their emissions. Those that want to increase their emissions must buy permits from others willing to sell them. These programs have been applied to greenhouse gases because their warming effects are the same regardless of where they are emitted, the costs of reducing emissions vary widely by source, and the cap ensures that the environmental goal is attained.At the start of 2022 there were 25 operational emissions trading systems around the world, in jurisdictions representing 55% of global GDP. These systems cover 17% of global emissions. The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) is the second largest trading system in the world after the Chinese national carbon trading scheme, covering over 40% of European GHG emissions. California's cap-and-trade program operates along principles, and covers about 85% of statewide GHG emissions.
Voluntary carbon markets and certification programs
In voluntary carbon markets, companies or individuals use carbon offsets in order to meet self-defined goals for reducing emissions. Credits are issued under independent crediting standards, though some entities also purchase them under international or domestic crediting mechanisms. Within the overall market national and subnational programs have been increasing in popularity.Many different groups exist within the voluntary carbon market. Participants include developers, brokers, auditors, and buyers. Certification programs are a key component of this community. These groups establish accounting standards, project eligibility requirements, and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) procedures for credit and offset projects. They include the Verified Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard, the Climate Action Reserve, the American Carbon Registry, and Plan Vivo. Puro Standard, the first standard for engineered carbon removal, is verified by DNV GL. There are also some additional standards for the validation of co-benefits, including the CCBS, issued by Verra and the Social Carbon Standard, issued by the Ecologica Institute.
VERRA was developed in 2005, and is a widely used voluntary carbon standard. As of 2020 there had been over 1,500 certified VCS projects covering energy, transport, waste, forestry, and other sectors. In 2021 VERRA issued 300 MtCO2e worth of offset credits for 110 projects. Allowable projects under VERRA include energy, transport, waste, and forestry. There are also specific methodologies for REDD+ projects. VERRA is the program of choice for most of the forest credits generated for the voluntary market, and almost all REDD+ projects. Due to criticisms of this program, VERRA will be abandoning its current rules for forestry projects and replacing them with new rules beginning in 2025. General VERRA standards cover the types of projects allowed, allowable project start dates, project boundaries, a 10-year crediting period, as well as a requirement that the project boundaries cover all primary effects and significant secondary effects. Verra has additional criteria to avoid double counting, as well as requirements for additionality. Negative impacts on sustainable development in the local community are prohibited. It uses accounting principles that include relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy, transparency, and conservativeness.The Gold Standard was developed in 2003 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in consultation with an independent Standards Advisory Board. Projects are open to any non-government, community-based organization. Allowable project categories include: renewable energy supply, energy efficiency, afforestation/reforestation, and agriculture. The program's focus includes the promotion of Sustainable Developments Goals. Projects must meet at least three of those goals, in addition to reducing GHG emissions, projects must also make a net-positive contribution to the economic, environmental and social welfare of the local population. Program monitoring requirements help determine this.The VCM currently represents less than 1% of the reductions pledged in country NDCs by 2030, and an even smaller portion of the reductions needed to achieve the 1.5 °C Paris temperature goal pathway in 2030. The VCM is, however, experiencing significant growth. Between 2017 and 2021 both the issuance and retirement of VCM carbon offsets more than tripled. Some predictions call for global VCM demand to increase 15 fold between 2021 and 2030, and 100 times by 2050. Carbon removal projects such as forestry and carbon capture and storage are expected to have a larger share of this market in the future, compared to renewable energy projects. However, there is evidence that large companies are becoming more reluctant to use VCM offsets and credits because of a complex web of standards, despite an increased focus on net zero goals.
Types of offset projects
A variety of projects have been used to generate carbon offsets and credits. These include renewable energy, methane abatement, energy efficiency, reforestation and fuel switching (i.e. to carbon-neutral fuels and carbon-negative fuels). The CDM identifies over 200 types of projects suitable for generating carbon offsets and credits.Offset certification and carbon trading programs vary in the extent to which they consider these specific projects eligible for offsets or credits. For example, under the European Union Emission Trading System nuclear energy projects, afforestation or reforestation activities (LULUCF), and projects involving destruction of industrial gases (HFC-23 and N2O) are considered ineligible.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy projects can include hydroelectric, wind, photovoltaic solar, solar hot water, biomass power, and heat production projects, among others. Collectively these types of projects help societies move from fossil fuel-based electricity and heat production towards less carbon intensive forms of energy. However, they may not be accepted as offset projects because it is difficult or impossible to determine their additionality. They usually generate revenue, and involve subsidies or other complex financial arrangements. This can make them ineligible under many offset and credit programs.
Methane collection and combustion
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. It is most often emitted from landfills, livestock, and from coal mining. Methane projects can produce carbon offsets through the capture of methane for energy production. Examples include the combustion or containment of methane generated by farm animals by use of an anaerobic digester, in landfills, or from other industrial waste.
Energy efficiency
While carbon offsets that fund renewable energy projects help lower the carbon intensity of energy supply, energy conservation projects seek to reduce the overall demand for energy. Carbon offsets in this category fund projects of three main types.
Cogeneration plants generate both electricity and heat from the same power source, thus improving upon the energy efficiency of most power plants, which waste the energy generated as heat. Fuel efficiency projects replace a combustion device with one using less fuel per unit of energy provided. This can take the form of both optimized industrial processes (reducing per unit energy costs) and individual action (bicycling to work as opposed to driving).
Destruction of industrial pollutants
Industrial pollutants such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) have a GWP many thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide by volume. Because these pollutants are easily captured and destroyed at their source, they present a large and low-cost source of carbon offsets. As a category, HFCs, PFCs, and N2O reductions represent 71 percent of offsets issued under the CDM. Since many of these are now banned by an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, they are often no longer eligible for offsets or credits.
Land use, land-use change and forestry
Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) projects focus on natural carbon sinks such as forests and soil. There are a number of different types of LULUCF projects. Forestry-related projects focus on avoiding deforestation by protecting existing forests, restoring forests on land that was once forested, and creating forests on land that was previously unforested, typically for longer than a generation. Soil management projects attempt to preserve or increase the amount of carbon sequestered in soil.
Deforestation, particularly in Brazil, Indonesia, and parts of Africa, accounts for about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation can be avoided either by paying directly for forest preservation, or by using offset funds to provide substitutes for forest-based products. REDD (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) credits provide carbon offsets for the protection of forests, and provide a possible mechanism to allow funding from developed nations to assist in the protection of native forests in developing nations. Offset schemes using reforestation are available in developing countries, as well as an increasing number of developed countries including the US and the UK.Soil is one of the important aspects of agriculture and can affect the amount of yield in the crops. Modern agriculture has caused a decrease in the amount of carbon that the soil is able to hold. Farmers can promote sequestration of carbon in soils through practices such as the use of winter cover crops, reducing the intensity and frequency of tillage, and using compost and manure as soil amendments.
Assuring quality and determining value
Owing to their indirect nature, many types of offset are difficult to verify. The credibility of the various certification providers has been questioned in numerous reports by NGOs and stories in the media. Prices for offsets and credits vary widely. This may be a reflection of the uncertainty associated with these programs and practices. Recently, these issues have caused many companies to become more skeptical of purchasing offsets or credits.
Creating offsets and credits
To assess the quality of carbon offsets and credits it can be helpful to understand the typical process used to create them. Before any GHG reductions can be certified for use as carbon offsets, they must be shown to meet carbon offset quality criteria. This requires a methodology or protocol that is specific to the type of offset project involved. Most carbon offset programs have a library of approved methodologies covering a range of project types. The next steps involve project development, validation, and registration. An offset project is designed by project developers, financed by investors, validated by an independent verifier, and registered with a carbon offset program. Official "registration" indicates that the project has been approved by the program and is eligible to start generating carbon offset credits after it begins operation.A commonly used purchasing option is to contract directly with a project developer for delivery of carbon offset credits as they are issued. These contracts provide project developers with a level of certainty about the volume of offset credits they can sell. Buyers are able to lock in a price for offset credits that is typically lower than market prices. However, this may involve some risk for them in terms of the project actually producing offsets.Once a project is started, it is monitored and periodically verified to determine the quantity of emission reductions it has generated. The length of time between verifications can vary, but is typically one year. A carbon offset program approves verification reports, and then issues the appropriate number of carbon offset credits. These are then deposited into the project developer's account in a registry system administered by the offset program.
Criteria for assessing quality
Criteria for assessing the quality of offsets and credits usually cover the following areas:
Baseline and Measurement—What emissions would occur in the absence of a proposed project? And how are the emissions that occur after the project is performed going to be measured?
Additionality—Would the project occur anyway without the investment raised by selling carbon offset credits? There are two common reasons why a project may lack additionality: (a) if it is intrinsically financially worthwhile due to energy cost savings, and (b) if it had to be performed due to environmental laws or regulations.
Leakage—Does implementing the project cause higher emissions outside the project boundary?
Permanence—Are some benefits of the reductions reversible? (for example, trees may be harvested to burn the wood, and does growing trees for fuel wood decrease the need for fossil fuel?) If woodlands are increasing in area or density, then carbon is being sequestered. After roughly 50 years, forests begin to reach maturity, and remove carbon dioxide more quickly than a recently re-planted forest area.
Double counting—Is the project claimed as carbon offsetting by more than one organization?
Co-benefits—Are there other benefits in addition to the carbon emissions reduction, and to what degree?
Approaches for increasing integrity
In addition to the certification programs mentioned above, industry groups have been working since the 2000s to promote the quality of these projects. The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA), founded in 2008, continues to promote best practice across the voluntary carbon market. ICROA's membership consists of carbon offset providers based in the United States, European and Asia-Pacific markets who commit to the ICROA Code of Best Practice.Other groups are now advocating for new approaches for insuring the integrity of offsets and credits.The Oxford Offsetting Principles take the position that traditional carbon offsetting schemes are "unlikely to deliver the types of offsetting needed to ultimately reach net zero emissions." These princiiples focus instead on cutting emissions as a first priority. In terms of offsets, they advocate for shifting to carbon removal offset projects that involve long-term storage. The principles also support the development of net zero aligned offsetting. The Science Based Targets initiative's net-zero criteria also argue for the importance of moving beyond offsets based on reduced or avoided emissions to offsets based on carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere, such as CO2 Removal Certificates.Some initiatives are focused improving the quality of current carbon offset and credit projects. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has published a draft set of principles for determining a high integrity carbon credit, known as the Core Carbon Principles. Final guidelines for this program are expected in late 2023. Similarly, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Iniitiative, funded in part by the UK government, has developed a code of practice that was published in 2022.
Determining value
In 2022 voluntary carbon market (VCM) prices ranged from $8 to $30 per tonne of CO2e for the most common types of offset projects. A number of factors can affect these prices. The costs of developing a project are a significant factor. Those tied to projects that can sequester carbon (also called "Nature Based Solutions") have recently been selling at a premium compared to other projects, such as renewable energy or energy efficiency. Projects which have additional social and environmental benefits can command a higher price. This reflects both the value of the co-benefits as well as the perceived value of association with these projects. Credits from a reputable organization may command a higher price. Some credits located in developed countries may be priced higher, perhaps reflecting company preferences to back projects closer to their business sites. Conversely, carbon credits with older vintages tend to be valued lower on the market.Prices on the compliance market are generally higher and vary based on geography, with EU and UK ETS credits trading at higher prices than those in the US in 2022. Lower prices on the VCM are in part due to an excess of supply in relation to demand. Some types of offsets are able to be created at very low costs under present standards. Without this surplus, current VCM prices could be at least $10/tCO2e higher.Some pricing forecasts predict VCM prices could increases to as much as $47–$210 per tonne by 2050, with an even higher short term spike in certain scenarios. A major driver in future price models is the extent to which programs that support more permanent removals are able to drive future global climate policy. This could have the effect of limiting the supply of approvable offsets, and thereby raise prices.Demand for VCM offsets is expected to increase five to ten-fold over the next decade as more companies adopt Net Zero climate commitments. This could be beneficial both for markets and for progress on reducing GHG emissions. If carbon offset prices remain significantly below these forecast levels, companies could be open to criticisms of greenwashing, as some might claim credit for emission reduction projects that would have been undertaken anyway. At prices of $100/tCO2e, a variety of carbon removal technologies (reducing deforestation, forest restoration, CCS, BECCs and renewables in least developed countries) could deliver around 2 GtCO2e per year of annual emission reductions between now and 2050. In addition, as the cost of using offsets and credits rises, investments in reducing supply chain emissions will become more attractive.
Effectiveness
Offset and credit programs have been identified as way for countries to meet their NDC commitments and achieve the goals of the Paris agreement at a lower cost. They may also accelerate progress in closing the emissions gap identified in annual UNEP reports.These programs also produce important co-benefits. Common environmental co-benefits described for these projects include: better air quality, increased biodiversity, and water & soil protection. There are also social benefits, such as community employment opportunities, energy access, and gender equality. Typical economic co-benefits include job creation, education opportunities, and technology transfer. Some certification programs have tools and research products to help quantify these benefits.
Limitations
The ongoing use of offsets and credits faces a variety of criticisms. Some argue that they promote a "business-as-usual" mindset, where companies are able to use carbon offsetting as a way to avoid making larger changes that deal with reducing carbon emissions at its source. These projects are also seen as "Greenwashing". In 2023 a civil suit was brought against Delta Airlines based on its use of carbon credits to support claims of carbon neutrality. In 2016 the Öko-Institut found that 85% of CDM projects analyzed had a low likelihood of being truly additional and without over-estimated emission reductions. An additional challenge is that offsets and credits are being marketed in a global environment where carbon pricing and existing policies are still inadequate to meet Paris goals. However, there is evidence that companies that invest in offsets and credits tend to make more ambitious emissions cuts compared with companies that do not.
Oversight issues
Several certification standards exist, offering variations for measuring emissions baseline, reductions, additionality, and other key criteria. However, no single standard governs the industry, and some offset providers have been criticized on the grounds that carbon reduction claims are exaggerated or misleading. For example, carbon credits issued by the California Air Resources Board were found to use a formula that established fixed boundaries around forest regions, creating simplified, regional averages for the carbon stored in a wide mix of tree species. As a result, it is estimated that California's cap and trade program program has generated between 20 million and 39 million forestry credits that do not achieve real climate benefits. This amounts to nearly one in three credits issued through that program.Additionality determinations can be difficult, and may present risks for buyers of offsets or credits. Carbon projects that yield strong financial returns even in the absence of revenue from carbon credits; or that are compelled by regulations; or that represent common practice in an industry; are usually not considered additional. A full determination of additionality requires a careful investigation of proposed carbon offset projects.Because offsets provide a revenue stream for the reduction of some types of emissions, they can in some cases provide incentives to emit more, so that emitting entities can later get credit for reducing emissions from an artificially high baseline. Actions by regulatory agencies could address these situations. These could include specific standards for verifiability, uniqueness, and transparency.
Concerns with forestry projects
Forestry projects have been increasingly criticized in terms of their integrity as offset or credit programs. A number of news stories in 2021–2023 have criticized nature based carbon offsets, the REDD+ program, and certification organizations. In one case it was estimated that ~90% of rainforest offset credits of the Verified Carbon Standard are likely to be "phantom credits".Tree planting projects in particular have been problematic. Critics point to a number of concerns. Trees reach maturity over a course of many decades. It is difficult to guarantee the permanence of the forests, which may be susceptible to clearing, burning, or mismanagement. Some tree-planting projects introduce fast-growing invasive species that end up damaging native forests and reducing biodiversity. In response, some certification standards, such as the Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard require multiple species plantings. Tree planting in high latitude forests may have a net warming effect on the Earth's climate. This is because the absorption of sunlight by tree cover creates a warming effect that balances out their absorption of carbon dioxide. Tree-planting projects can also cause conflicts with local communities and indigenous people who are displaced or otherwise find their use of forest resources curtailed.
See also
Carbon dioxide removal
Carbon neutrality
Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation
Carbon sequestration
Carbon tax
Clean Development Mechanism
Gold Standard (carbon offset standard)
Ecosystem Marketplace
Climate change mitigation
Personal carbon trading
Perverse incentive
African carbon market
References
Other works cited
IPCC TAR WG3 (2001), Metz, B.; Davidson, O.; Swart, R.; Pan, J.; et al. (eds.), Climate Change 2001: Mitigation, Contribution of Working Group III to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-80769-2, archived from the original on 27 February 2017 (pb: 0-521-01502-2).
Broekhoff, Derik; Gillenwater, Michael; Colbert-Sangree, Tani; Cage, Patrick (2019). Securing Climate Benefit: A Guide to Using Carbon Offsets (PDF) (Report). Stockholm Environment Institute & Greenhouse Gas Management Institute. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2022. World Bank. 2022. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1895-0 (inactive 1 August 2023). hdl:10986/37455. Retrieved 24 March 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2023 (link)
External links
Carbon Management at Curlie
Definition: Carbon Offsets
Calculator: Carbon Offset |
kroger | The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger operates 2,719 grocery retail stores under its various banners and divisions in 35 states and the District of Columbia with store formats that include 134 multi-department stores, 2,273 combo stores, 191 marketplace stores, and 121 price-impact warehouse stores. Kroger operates 33 manufacturing plants, 1,642 supermarket fuel centers, 2,254 pharmacies, 225 The Little Clinic in-store medical clinics, and 127 jewelry stores (782 convenience stores were sold to EG Group in 2018). Kroger's headquarters are located in downtown Cincinnati.The Kroger Company is the United States' largest supermarket operator by revenue and fifth-largest general retailer. The company is one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States. Kroger is ranked #17 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.About two-thirds of Kroger's employees are represented by collective bargaining agreements, with most being represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
History
Beginning
In 1883, 23-year-old Bernard Kroger, the fifth of ten children of German immigrants, invested his life savings of $372 (equivalent to $11,683 in 2022) to open a grocery store at 66 Pearl Street in downtown Cincinnati. The son of a merchant, he ran his business with a simple motto: "Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself." He experimented with marketing products his company had produced so that his customers would not need to patronize separate stores and farms.
In 1884, Kroger opened his second store. By 1902, Kroger Grocery and Baking Company had been incorporated. By this time, the company had grown to forty stores and sold $1.75 million worth of merchandise each year. In addition, Kroger became the first grocery chain to have its own bakery.In 1916, Kroger company began using self-service shopping. Before this, all articles were kept behind counters. Customers would ask for them, then clerks would deliver them to customers.In 1929, it was rumored that Safeway would merge with Kroger. It took nearly a century before this rumor became reality, when Kroger announced in 2022 that it would acquire Safeway's parent company, Albertsons.
In the 1930s, Kroger Grocery and Baking Company became the first grocery chain to monitor product quality and to test foods offered to customers. It also became the first company with a store surrounded on all four sides by parking lots. In 1932, the company tested a pilot project after it opened a grocery store in Indianapolis. The facility, which was surrounded by a 75-car parking space, allowed the company to determine the close relationship between parking facilities and gross sales.
1950s
Beginning in 1955, Kroger began acquiring supermarket chains, expanding into new markets. In May, Kroger entered the Houston, Texas, market by acquiring the Houston-based 26-store chain Henke & Pillot. In June, Kroger acquired the Krambo Food Stores, Inc. of Appleton, Wisconsin. In July, it purchased Child's Food Stores, Inc. of Jacksonville, Texas, and operated 25 supermarkets in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.In January 1956, the company bought out Big Chain Stores, Inc., a chain of seven stores based in Shreveport, Louisiana, later combining it with the Childs group. All of these chains adopted the Kroger banner in 1966.
During all the acquisitions, in September 1957, Kroger sold off its Wichita, Kansas, store division, which consisted of 16 stores, to J. S. Dillon and Sons Stores Company, then headed by Ray S. Dillon, son of the company founder.
1960s
In October 1963, Kroger acquired the 56-store chain Market Basket, providing them with a foothold in the lucrative southern California market. Prior to this time Kroger had no stores west of Kansas. Kroger, however, failed to make significant headway, only managing a 5 percent market share and that, by 1982, it withdrew from the California market.Kroger opened stores in Florida under the SupeRx and Florida Choice banners from the 1960s until 1988, when the chain decided to exit the state and sold all of its stores; Kash n' Karry bought the largest share.
1970s
In the 1970s, Kroger became the first grocer in the United States to test an electronic scanner and the first to formalize consumer research.Although Kroger has long operated stores in the Huntsville-Decatur area of northern Alabama (as a southern extension of its Nashville, Tennessee, region), it has not operated in the state's largest market, Birmingham, since the early 1970s, when it exited as a result of intense competition from Winn-Dixie and local chains Bruno's Supermarkets and Western Supermarkets.
Kroger built an ultra-modern dairy plant (Crossroad Farms Dairy) in Indianapolis in 1972, which was then considered the largest dairy plant in the world.
Kroger exited the Chicago market in 1970 selling its distribution warehouse in Northlake, Il. and 24 stores to the Dominick's Finer Foods grocery chain.
Kroger exited the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in 1970, selling 16 stores to Quality Foods, who rebranded the stores to Piggly Wiggly.
Kroger exited Milwaukee in 1972, selling a few stores to Jewel. Kroger would later return in 2015 upon its acquisition of Roundy's.
Kroger entered the Charlotte market in 1977 and expanded rapidly throughout the 1980s when it bought some stores from BI-LO. However, most stores were in less desirable neighborhoods and did not fit in with Kroger's upscale image. Less than three months after BI-LO pulled out, that company decided to re-enter the Charlotte market, and in 1988, Kroger announced it was pulling out of the Charlotte market and put its stores up for sale. Ahold bought Kroger's remaining stores in the Charlotte area and converted them to BI-LO.
1980s
Kroger had a number of stores in the Western Pennsylvania region, encompassing Pittsburgh and surrounding areas from 1928 until 1984 when the U.S. began experiencing a severe economic recession. The recession had two significant and related effects on Kroger's operations in the region. One of them was that the highly cyclical manufacturing-based economy of the region declined in greater proportion than the rest of the U.S., which undercut demand for the higher-end products and services offered by Kroger. The second effect of the economic recession was to worsen labor-management relations, causing a protracted labor strike in 1983 and 1984. During the strike, Kroger withdrew all of its stores from the Western Pennsylvania market, including some recently opened "superstores" and "greenhouses", selling these stores to Wetterau (now part of SuperValu), who promptly flipped the stores to independent owners while continuing to supply them under the FoodLand and Shop 'n Save brands. Kroger's exit ceded the market to lower-cost, locally owned rivals, most notably Giant Eagle and the SuperValu-supplied grocers. (Kroger purchased Eagle Grocery company, whose founders went on to create Giant Eagle.) Kroger still maintains a presence in the nearby Morgantown, West Virginia, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Weirton, West Virginia/Steubenville, Ohio, areas where Giant Eagle has a much smaller presence and the SuperValu-supplied stores are virtually nonexistent, though in all of these cases, Walmart remains a major competitor and Aldi is the only other supermarket with any market overlap.
Kroger entered the competitive San Antonio, Texas, market in 1980 but pulled out in mid-1993. On June 15, 1993, the company announced the closure of its 15 area stores. From 1984 to 1986, Kroger exited the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, and St. Louis markets. The company cited that higher wages for union employees made it unable to compete.The chain closed several stores around Flint, Michigan, in 1981, which were converted by local businessman Al Kessel to a new chain called Kessel Food Markets. Kroger bought most of these stores back in 1999 and began reverting them. Several other Michigan stores were sold to another Flint-based chain, Hamady Brothers, in 1980. The Hamady acquisition was short-lived.In 1982, Kroger sold the 65-store Market Basket chain it had operated for several years in southern California. The stores were reverted to the Boys Markets branding, after acquiring the chain. Boys Markets was acquired by the Yucaipa Companies in 1989. When Yucaipa acquired Ralphs, the Boys brand disappeared.
In 1983, The Kroger Company acquired Dillon Companies grocery chain in Kansas along with its subsidiaries (King Soopers, City Market, Fry's and Gerbes) and the convenience store chain Kwik Shop. David Dillon, a fourth-generation descendant of J. S. Dillon, the founder of Dillon Companies, became the CEO of Kroger.
In northeastern Ohio, Kroger had a plant in Solon, Ohio until the mid-1980s. When that plant shut down, Kroger closed its northeastern Ohio stores in the Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown areas. Some of those former Kroger stores were taken over by stores like Acme Fresh Markets, Giant Eagle, and Heinens.
Kroger opened and had about 50 stores in St. Louis until it left the market in 1986, saying that its stores were unprofitable. Most of its stores were bought by National, Schnucks, and Shop 'n Save. Most of the remaining Kroger stores in eastern Missouri and west-central Illinois became a western extension of the Central Division (headquartered in Indianapolis).
Kroger also experienced a similar withdrawal from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1989. Many of these stores were sold to the local grocery chain Red Food, which was in turn bought by BI-LO in 1994. Today, Chattanooga is the only metropolitan market in Tennessee in which Kroger does not operate with the nearest location being Dalton, Georgia with 2 stores (Walnut Avenue and Cleveland Highway).
1990s
In the 1990s, Kroger acquired Great Scott (Detroit), Pay Less Food Markets, Owen's Market, JayC Food Stores, and Hilander Foods. Additionally, the Houston market was strengthened when Kroger bought several stores from AppleTree Markets, which were former Safeway stores in early 1994.
In 1998, Kroger merged with the then fifth-largest grocery company Fred Meyer, along with its subsidiaries, Ralphs, QFC, and Smith's.In the late 1990s, it acquired many stores from A&P as it exited many markets in the South.
Kroger also swapped all ten of its Greensboro, North Carolina-area stores in 1999 to Matthews, North Carolina-based Harris Teeter, for 11 of that company's stores in central and western Virginia. Kroger in turn would acquire Harris Teeter 15 years later.
2000s
Long the dominant grocer in western Virginia, Kroger entered the Richmond, Virginia, market in 2000, where it competes against market leaders Martin's (including former Ukrop's stores) and Food Lion. Kroger entered the market by purchasing Hannaford stores that either already existed or were being built in Richmond. Hannaford purchases also included the competitive Hampton Roads market, where it now competes with Farm Fresh, Harris Teeter (which is owned by Kroger), and Food Lion. The Hannaford locations in these markets were purchased from Delhaize by Kroger as a condition of Delhaize's 2000 acquisition of the Hannaford chain, which had previously competed against Food Lion, also owned by Delhaize. Walmart Supercenters are also major competitors in both markets, and the chain briefly competed against Winn-Dixie, which has now exited Virginia.
In 2001, Kroger acquired Baker's Supermarkets from Fleming Companies, Inc.Albertsons exited the San Antonio and Houston markets in early 2002, selling many of the Houston stores to Kroger.In 2004, Kroger bought most of the old Thriftway stores in Cincinnati, Ohio, when Winn-Dixie left the area. These stores were reopened as Kroger stores.In 2007, Kroger acquired Scott's Food & Pharmacy from SuperValu Inc., and in the same year, also
acquired 20 former Michigan Farmer Jack locations from A&P when A&P exited the Michigan Market.
In 2008, Kroger began a partnership with Murray's Cheese of New York City. Murray's Cheese counters within Kroger stores sell a variety of artisanal cheese from all parts of the world.
2010s
On July 9, 2013, Kroger announced that it would acquire the 212 stores of Charlotte-based Harris Teeter in a deal valued at $2.5 billion and that it would assume $100 million in the company's outstanding debt. Harris Teeter's stores are in eight Southern states, with a major portion of them in its headquarters state of North Carolina. Doing so, Kroger acquired Harris Teeter's click-and-collect program, which allows online ordering of groceries. Some industry experts saw this as a competitive move against online grocers such as AmazonFresh. The Harris Teeter acquisition marked Kroger's return to the Charlotte market after a 25-year absence. It also allowed Kroger to enter Asheville for the first time. Charlotte and Asheville had been the only large markets in North Carolina where Kroger had no presence.In 2013, Kroger announced that the spouses of the company's unionized workers would no longer be covered by the company's insurance plan. The company cited the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a prime reason for the move. The benefit cut affected roughly 11,000 workers in Indiana. The company announced in April 2013 that full-time employees would maintain their health insurance benefits.On March 3, 2015, Kroger announced it would enter Hawaii, having registered with the state as a new business in February 2015. Kroger was planning to expand to Hawaii in 2006 but withdrew after it had already submitted registration. Kroger, which is in the process of looking for locations to open its first store, will face competition from Honolulu-based rivals Foodland and Times; major retailers Safeway, Walmart, and Costco; Japanese-owned Don Quixote; and Department of Defense-owned DeCA Commissaries.On May 1, 2015, Kroger announced the acquisition of the seven-store Hiller's Market chain in Southeast Michigan, and that it would operate all but one of those stores under the Kroger banner.In June 2015, Kroger eliminated the Harris Teeter brand from the crowded Nashville, Tennessee, market, where its growth had been stunted by aggressive competition since it entered with six stores in the early 2000s. Kroger has traditionally had a market-leading presence in Nashville and initially promised to keep the five remaining Harris Teeter stores open when it acquired the chain, but the market "did not support Harris Teeter's future business plans". Two Harris Teeter stores were closed outright, and three closed temporarily while being converted to the Kroger brand (one of these would undergo a major remodeling and replace a neighboring Kroger store).On November 11, 2015, Kroger and Roundy's announced a definitive merger, bringing Roundy's chain's 166 primarily Wisconsin based chains under Kroger ownership. The merger is valued at $800 million, including debt. The acquisition, which brought Kroger back to Wisconsin after a 43-year absence, will retain the Roundy's, Pick 'n Save, Mariano's, Metro Market and Copps names, along with its Milwaukee operations. (Within a year-and-a-half, however, Kroger had rebranded all Copps locations to the Pick 'n Save banner.)
In April 2016, Kroger announced that it had made a "meaningful investment" in the Boulder, Colorado-based Lucky's Market, an organic foods supermarket chain that operated 17 stores in 13 states throughout the Midwest and Southeast United States.In February 2017, Kroger withstood large community protests after announcing the closing of two smaller-sized Louisville-area stores.
Despite high store volumes and high population densities, the Old Louisville (lease expiration) and Southland Terrace stores closed.
On February 7, 2017, it was announced that Kroger Co. had purchased Murray's Cheese.As of 14 February 2017, Kroger is no longer offering a discount to senior citizens 59 and up.On May 1, 2017, Kroger, along with the University of Kentucky and UK Athletics, sports and campus marketing partner JMI Sports, announced a 12-year, $1.85 million per year campus marketing agreement. Included in the agreement is the naming rights to Commonwealth Stadium, the university's football stadium, which will be renamed Kroger Field. This agreement makes the University of Kentucky the first school in the Southeastern Conference to enter into a corporate partnership for the naming rights to their football stadium.On May 10, 2017, Kroger opened its first convenience store in Blacklick, Ohio, labeled "Fresh Eats MKT". The new prototype stores will have about 12,000 square feet (1,100 square meters) of space, and will be very similar to the Walmart Neighborhood Market project, as these stores only sell food. These stores have a Starbucks, and a Kroger Pharmacy. On June 1, 2017, Kroger opened their second Fresh Eats. Kroger is also going to convert some Turkey Hill stores into the concept store. The CFO, Mike Schlotman, has called these stores a "small test." Local reaction to this new concept has been positive. The concept was discontinued in March 2020.In February 2018, Kroger announced that it will be selling its 762 convenience stores to EG Group, a British service station operator, for $2.15 billion. They operate under the Turkey Hill, Loaf 'N Jug, Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb and Quik Stop banners. Kroger will retain just over 20 convenience stores. Kroger's supermarket fuel centers are not included in the sale. The sale was closed on April 20, 2018.On April 10, 2018, Kroger announced plans to hire an estimated 11,000 new employees. An estimated 2,000 managerial positions will be filled by the new hires. With the addition of these new hires, the total number of people employed by the company is close to half a million.On May 17, 2018, Kroger announced a partnership with Ocado, a UK-based online supermarket. The partnership is designed to improve Kroger's ecommerce program, including online ordering, automated fulfillment, and home delivery via the construction of 20 new, automated fulfillment centers. As of November 2019, five locations have been identified for the new warehouses, and two are under construction. Kroger has taken advantage of its investment in online shopping capability to grow rapidly during the pandemic. In 2020, Kroger's online sales grew by 116%, to over $10B annually.On May 24, 2018, Kroger announced they were acquiring Home Chef for $200 million with an additional $500 million in incentives if certain targets are met by Home Chef.On June 13, 2018, Kroger Mid-Atlantic announced the Kroger branding will be leaving the Raleigh-Durham area by eliminating all 14 Kroger-branded stores, eight of which will transition to Harris Teeter (also owned by Kroger). One will become a Crunch Fitness and another will become a Food Lion. The fate for the remaining four stores is unclear.In July 2018, Kroger officials backed off a Net 90 payment plan to the produce industry.In October 2018, Kroger announced online wine delivery to 14 states in partnership with DRINKS. Customers can select assorted wines in 6-bottle or 12-bottle packs.On December 4, 2018, Kroger announced a deal to sell food inside drugstore Walgreens. Kroger Express will offer meal kits and other meal solutions.
In the light of increased self-checkout usage via kiosk or smartphone app in 2019, Kroger is gradually shifting towards creating more self-checkout smartphone apps and lanes than cashier lanes. The company has been investing millions of dollars, in replacing many cashier stations with automation by 2023. As many other supermarkets (such as Walmart and Target) are also shifting towards automation, and displacing cashiers in the near future.In March 2019, Kroger announced it was expanding its service with robotics company, Nuro to Houston, Texas with Nuro's autonomous Priuses.In August 2019, Kroger began charging customers between $0.50 and $3.50 for receiving cash back while making purchases with debit cards. The new fees were first test marketed in March at Kansas area Dillons stores, a Kroger-owned supermarket chain, before the new fees were rolled out to other Kroger-owned supermarket banners in the rest of the nation.In September 2019, Kroger announced a partnership with the Plant Based Food Association (PFBA) to test a plant-based meat retail concept in 60 stores in Denver, and parts of Indiana and Illinois.In November 2019, Kroger unveiled an updated logo for their stores and company, with the '"Fresh For Everyone" tagline and the "Krojis". The company also announced an expansion of its online wine delivery program into Arizona. In partnership with DRINKS, the service is now available in 19 states plus Washington D.C.In December 2019, Kroger was named the second-largest grocer in the nation with $110 billion in 2016 sales. The same month, USA Today listed Kroger—and its brands—as the top supermarket (based on Google searches, Yelp data, and 24/7 Tempo's research) in Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
2020s
According to a PBS NewsHour February 13, 2021 broadcast, during the pandemic, Kroger provided their essential workers with a hazard pay, which the company called "hero pay." The hero pay consisted of a raise of US$2 dollars an hour from the end of March 2020 until May 2020, when the hero pay ended. In January 2021, the Long Beach City Council in California passed an ordinance making it mandatory for some large grocery stores—like Kroger—to provide their essential workers with a hazard pay increase of US$4 dollars an hour "effective immediately for 120 days". The ordinance affected companies with "more than 300 workers nationwide and more than 15 employees per store".Seattle and Washington passed similar ordinances. In response, in early February, Kroger announced the closure and permanent termination of the entire operations of some of their stores—including a Ralphs and a Food4Less in Long Beach—"for economic reasons including the economic cost mandated by the Long Beach ordinance requiring an increase in employee wages, four dollars an hour". The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), with members whose jobs had been terminated, viewed the closures as a "warning to other cities considering hazard pay mandates".Andrea Zinder, president of the UFCW Local 324 that represents employees at the two stores—Ralphs and a Food4Less—said that compared to the same time period in 2019 both stores saw an increase of about 30% in sales. In 2020, during the pandemic, Kroger's earnings increased by 87.7%. Kroger's quarterly revenues as reported by November 20, 2020, were US$29.72 billion, and the corporation's per-share earnings and dividends grew at a rapid rate in 2020. Its dividend increase was about 14% annually.Starting in early 2020, Berkshire Hathaway began buying shares of Kroger, and by August 2021 became a top ten shareholder.In 2021, the company was reported to have been breached by a third-party hack which compromised the pharmacy records of Kroger owned Fred Meyer and QFC stores' customers.On August 2, 2021, Kroger announced that it had elected Elaine Chao, formerly Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and Secretary of Transportation under President Donald Trump, to its board of directors. The news was met with backlash from Kroger customers on Twitter, with calls for a boycott trending nationally due to her ties to the Trump administration and to her husband, Mitch McConnell.On September 23, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a Kroger location in Collierville, Tennessee. One person was killed and 13 others were injured before the gunman, identified as 29-year-old Uk Thang, committed suicide by gunshot. Thang was working at the store as a third-party vendor. In the aftermath of the shooting, Kroger offered counseling services for its employees and closed down the store until November 10.In September 2021, Kroger tweaked its logo to add the "Fresh Cart" symbol. The symbol is an abstract shopping cart with the basket represented as citrus slices.In October 2021, Kroger announced an expansion into South Florida with its online delivery service, Kroger Delivery. To do this, Kroger will build two new automated fulfilment centers assisted and facilitated by the UK-based technology company Ocado Group. Kroger Delivery is also set to launch in the Northeast of the US and expand its operations in California, to be followed by sites in Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and North Carolina. The company launched its online delivery services in Central Florida earlier in 2021.On April 5, 2022, Kroger launched Kroger Restaurant Supply in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, a new business distributing food and related supplies to restaurants, bakeries, and catering companies. For Kroger, this move into foodservice distribution represents an expansion beyond its core retail grocery operations.On October 14, 2022, Kroger announced a merger with Albertsons in a deal worth $24.6 billion, combining both companies into one entity but divesting some stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers to secure regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close in early 2024.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2020, Kroger reported earnings of US$1.907 billion, with an annual revenue of US$122.286 billion, an increase of 0.4% over the previous fiscal cycle. Kroger's shares traded at over $32 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$25.9 billion in April 2020.
Carbon footprint
Kroger reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 5,090 Kt (−659 /−11.5% y-o-y). Reported emissions have been declining since 2016.
Chains
Number of locations by banner
Baker's: 11 locations (NE)
City Market: 34 locations (CO, UT and WY)
Dillons: 63 locations (KS)
Food 4 Less: 101 locations (CA, IL and IN)
Foods Co.: 20 locations (CA)
Fred Meyer: 132 locations (AK, ID, OR and WA)
Fry's: 126 locations (AZ)
Gerbes: 6 locations (MO)
Harris Teeter: 258 locations (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC and VA)
JayC: 22 locations (IN)
King Soopers: 118 locations (CO and WY)
Kroger: 1,238 locations (AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, MO, OH, SC, TN, TX, VA and WV)
Mariano's: 44 locations (IL)
Metro Market: 21 locations (WI)
Pay Less: 9 locations (IN)
Pick 'n Save: 84 locations (WI)
QFC: 59 locations (OR and WA)
Ralphs: 185 locations (CA)
Ruler Foods: 48 locations (IL, IN, KY, MO, OH and TN)
Smith's: 141 locations (AZ, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT and WY)
Kroger Marketplace
Kroger Marketplace is a chain of big-box stores. The brand was introduced in 2004 in the Columbus, Ohio, area, which lost the Big Bear and Big Bear Plus chains in Penn Traffic's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Kroger Marketplace format is based on the Fry's Marketplace stores that the Arizona division of Kroger is currently operating. There are currently a total of 188 marketplaces.Similar to rival chains Meijer, Sears, Kmart, Target, Walmart, and Albertsons, and modeled after Kroger-owned Fred Meyer, these stores contain multiple departments. In addition to the grocery department, they usually contain a Fred Meyer Jewelers, Starbucks, Donatos Pizza, and an in-store bank, as well as sections for toys, appliances, home furnishings and bed and bath, something that Big Bear once had in their stores in the Columbus area.
In 2005, the company began renovating many Kroger Food & Drug stores in Ohio for an expanded and remodeled look, converting them to the Kroger Marketplace format. In February 2006, Kroger announced plans for two new Kroger Marketplace stores to open by the end of the summer in Cincinnati suburbs Lebanon and Liberty Township. The store in Liberty Township opened in July 2006. On October 5, 2006, a new Kroger Marketplace opened in Gahanna. With the Gahanna opening, the number of Kroger Marketplace stores is six, four in the Columbus area and two in the Cincinnati area. Two more stores were planned in 2007, one in Middletown (which opened in April 2007, after the old store was razed and made part of the current parking lot) and one in Englewood.In 2011, the Elder-Beerman in Centerville, Ohio was demolished, and a new marketplace has been built in its place. It has a fuel center and opened on December 8. This marketplace is the largest Kroger store ever built from ground up to date at 147,000 square feet (13,700 square meters).
Two more stores opened in the Cincinnati area, in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Hebron and Walton which were completed in November 2008. Three Kroger Marketplace stores in Kentucky opened in 2009, two in Lexington and one in Newport. Another Marketplace opened in Beavercreek, Ohio. A Mount Orab, Ohio, store opened in the spring of 2010. Kroger opened a new 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) store in North Augusta, South Carolina. In 2015, a 145,000 sq ft (13,500 m2) Marketplace was opened in the Cincinnati suburb of Oakley.
The first Kroger Marketplace store in Texas opened on October 9, 2009, in the Waterside Marketplace in Richmond, Texas. The second Kroger Marketplace store in Rosenberg, Texas, opened on December 4, 2009. The third opened in Frisco, Texas, in early 2010. The fourth, in Willis, Texas, opened on August 11, 2011. Other Kroger Marketplace stores in Texas are in Little Elm, Texas; Fort Worth's Alliance Town Center; Mansfield; Wylie, Texas; and Baytown, Texas.
The first Kroger Marketplace store in Tennessee opened in Farragut, Tennessee (a small suburb near Knoxville) at the end of 2008, and a second store in Thompson's Station, Tennessee, about 20 miles (32 km) south of Nashville, opened in early 2009. A third location opened in Gallatin, Tennessee, on March 11, 2010.
The first Kroger Marketplace in Arkansas opened in August 2010 on Chenal Parkway in Little Rock, Arkansas. Locations also opened in 2012 in Conway, Arkansas and 2014 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The first Kroger Marketplace in Virginia opened on Midlothian Turnpike in Richmond, Virginia, on the site of the former Cloverleaf Mall on December 6, 2012. Another Marketplace opened in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the site of a former Super Kmart, on July 31, 2013. The third location opened in December 2013 in the Staples Mill shopping Center in Henrico County. A fourth location opened on October 15, 2014, in Portsmouth, Virginia, at the site of the former I.C. Norcom High School.
The first Kroger Marketplace in Mississippi opened on September 16, 2016, in Hernando (a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee) to much fanfare. This store was formally a Kroger Food & Drug with twelve aisles, now rebuilt with sixty-four, in addition to having a Starbucks, ClickList, and expanded deli inside.
The first Kroger Marketplace in Indiana opened on September 29, 2011, on Dupont Road on Fort Wayne's northwest side. This store is a rebuilt Kroger Food & Drug. A second Kroger Marketplace opened on October 4, 2012, from a rebuilt Scott's Food and Pharmacy in the Village at Coventry on the southwest side of Fort Wayne. These two stores are part of a $100 million expansion project in the Fort Wayne area. In October 2016, it was announced that a Kroger Marketplace will open in La Porte, Indiana within the NewPorte Landing development. Construction of the new 123,000-square-foot (11,400-square-meter) store is expected to begin early in 2018.The first Kroger Marketplace in Michigan opened on June 14, 2013, at Sterns and Secor Roads in Lambertville (a small-sized suburb north of Toledo, Ohio). Formerly a conventional Kroger store, the square footage (square meterage) increased from 68,000 to 133,000 square feet (6,300 to 12,400 square meters). It carries toys, home essentials, apparel and shoes in addition to groceries. The state's second store opened in 2014 in Shelby Township on property that already contained a 2010-built Fuel Center, replacing a smaller Kroger store across Hayes Road in neighboring Macomb Township, which was soon converted into an Emagine Entertainment movie theater. Three further locations opened in 2016, one in White Lake on the site of what was once one of Kmart's "green" prototype stores and directly adjacent to the smaller Kroger store that this location replaced, a second Shelby Township location at 26 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue, and one at 12 Mile Road and Stephenson Highway in Royal Oak. A sixth location opened on Fort Street in Southgate on September 20, 2017. This store, which is a former Super Kmart, is the largest Kroger location in Michigan, with seventy aisles along with a small cafe section and dedicated ClickList parking spaces.
Manufacturing and distribution
Distribution and logistics
Food distribution and buying takes place under various subsidiaries and divisions. These include:
Kroger Group Cooperative, Inc.
Kroger Group, Inc.
Peytons
WESCO
Inter-American ProductsKroger operates its own fleet of trucks and trailers to distribute products to its various stores, in addition to contracts with various trucking companies. In June 2018, Kroger announced testing driverless cars for delivering groceries. For this, Kroger is partnering with autonomous car company Nuro.In addition to stocking a variety of regional brand products, The Kroger Company also employs one of the largest networks of private label manufacturing in the country. Thirty-three plants (either wholly owned or used with operating agreements) in seventeen states create about 40% of Kroger's private label products. Similar to most major supermarket retailers, Kroger uses a three-tiered private label marketing strategy. One private brand emphasizes no-frills products at the lowest possible price, another is intended to be comparable to leading national brands but a better value and the third is a premium (often organic) brand.
Manufacturing plants
Dairies
Kroger operates 18 dairy plants:
Bakeries
Kroger operates nine plants:
Grocery items
Kroger operates seven grocery plants:
Private label brands
Kroger offers a collection of its own branded products, referred to by the retailer as "Our Brands". The products are produced and sold in quality tiers, and account for over 30% of the retailer's unit sales.
Banner Brand
Banner Brand items are goods that bear the name of Kroger or its subsidiaries (i.e., Ralphs, King Soopers, etc.) or make reference to them (i.e., Big K), and are offered exclusively within Kroger-owned stores. These products are marketed to customers as budget-friendly, and account for over $13 billion in annual sales. Many of Kroger's health and beauty goods, one of the company's fastest-growing private label categories, are manufactured by third-party providers; these products include goods like ibuprofen and contact lens solution.
Private Selection
Products marked Private Selection are offered to compare with gourmet brands or regional brands that may be considered more upscale than the standard Kroger brand products.
Simple Truth
Simple Truth is Kroger's flagship natural and organic brand, and has grown quickly since its launch in 2012. The brand's launch marked the first time Kroger had delved into making its own gluten-free products, including flour mixes, bread, etc. The Simple Truth brand became the first Kroger offering to be introduced in China, on Alibaba's Tmall platform. Simple Truth reached $2 billion in annual sales in 2018.
Other private label brands
In addition to its core brands, Kroger's manufacturing creates a variety department-specific brands. These are featured especially in Fred Meyer stores, where more than half the goods sold are non-food, or in the smaller Fred Meyer-based Marketplace stores. The brands listed below may be found in various Kroger-owned stores.
Abound – natural pet food
Bakery Fresh Goodness – fresh-baked foods
Bloom Haus – floral arrangements
Comforts – baby products
Dip – fast fashion brand designed by Joe Mimran
Everyday Living – home goods
HD Designs – upscale home goods
HemisFares – imported foods
Home Chef – meal kit and food delivery company acquired in 2018
Luvsome – pet food
Murray's Cheese – artisanal cheese shop founded in Greenwich Village in 1940
OfficeWorks – stationery and office supplies
Pet Pride – pet food
Other operations
Pharmacy Group
Kroger previously owned and operated the SupeRx drug store chain. In 1985, Kroger outbid Rite Aid for the Hook's Drug Stores chain, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and combined it with SupeRx to become Hook's-SupeRx. In 1994, Kroger decided to exit the stand-alone drugstore business and sold its Hook's and SupeRx stores to Revco, which later was sold to CVS.Today, Kroger operates 2,252 pharmacies, most of which are located inside its supermarkets. The Kroger Pharmacies continue as a profitable portion of the business and have been expanding to now include pharmacies in City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Smith's Food and Drug, and Kroger Supermarkets.
Supermarket Petroleum Group
Since 1998, Kroger has added fuel centers in the parking lots of its supermarkets. More recently, the company has begun opening standalone fuel centers, often near stores whose parking lots could not accommodate a fuel center. As of Q2 2022, Kroger operated 1,629 supermarket fuel centers.In 2006, Kroger introduced a new common logo for all of its convenience store chains that is now also used at the fuel centers of all of its supermarket chains—a rhombus with a white, stylized image of the continental United States in the center bordered by four colored areas: dark blue representing the Pacific Ocean, red representing Canada, green representing the Atlantic Ocean, and yellow representing the Gulf of Mexico.
Kroger Personal Finance
Kroger Personal Finance was introduced in 2007 to offer branded Visa cards, mortgages, home equity loans, pet, renter's and home insurance, identity theft protection, and wireless services. In 2017, MasterCard became the network for Kroger's newly branded 1-2-3 REWARDS credit card issued by U.S. Bank. In 2019, Kroger banned the use of Visa credit cards (but not debit cards) at two of its subsidiary chains: Foods Co. Supermarkets and Smiths, citing rising costs from premium cards.
Kroger Wireless
Kroger Wireless, formerly known as i-wireless, is a national private label wireless service provider sold in over 2,200 retail locations within the Kroger family of stores across 31 states. Kroger Wireless service functions over the nationwide Sprint network. Customers can choose from "Unlimited" rate plans including unlimited talk/text and with data allotments up to and including unlimited data. Kroger Wireless allows customers to purchase phones at select Kroger store locations, via their website, or by bringing their eligible Sprint device for activation.
84.51°
84.51° is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroger engaged in data science and consumer insights, created in April 2015, as a result of Kroger purchasing the remaining half of its then-joint venture Dunnhumby USA from Tesco.
Controversies
In 2008, Greenpeace started ranking America's major supermarket chains on their seafood sustainability practices because, according to Greenpeace U.S. CEO Phil Radford, "three quarters of global fish stocks are suffering from overfishing, and 90% of top marine predators are already gone." Criteria included the number of threatened fish species supermarkets sold, their seafood purchasing policies, and ocean legislation policies they supported. In 2013, Kroger was noted for carrying 17 out of 22 Red
List species, four of which are in the top list of said species.In 2014, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a national gun control organization backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, began a campaign to pressure the Kroger chain to ban the open carry of firearms in all of its stores. The group decided to take action in response to demonstrations by open carry activists in Kroger stores in Ohio and Texas after conducting research that identified more than a dozen shootings on Kroger property since 2012. Kroger rebuffed their demand, stating, "If the local gun laws are to allow open carry, we'll certainly allow customers to do that based on what the local laws are. We don't believe it's up to us to legislate what the local gun control laws should be. It's up to the local legislators to decide to do that. So we follow local laws, we ask our customers to be respectful to the other people they are shopping with. And we really haven't had any issues inside of our stores as a result of that."In July 2021, a wrongful-death lawsuit was filed against Kroger by the family of worker Evan Seyfried. Seyfried committed suicide after allegedly enduring abuse at the Kroger location in Milford, Ohio, where he had worked for 19 years. According to the lawsuit, Seyfried was bullied for wearing a mask in the early days of the pandemic and taunted for his political views. Also on the receiving end of alleged workplace sabotage, one of Seyfried's co-workers called the company's ethics helpline and reported that she and Seyfried were being bullied. However, no action was taken.In December 2021, Kroger Co. announced elimination of some COVID-19 benefits for unvaccinated employees. The company told employees that it will no longer provide two weeks of paid emergency leave for unvaccinated employees who contract COVID-19, unless local jurisdictions require otherwise. Kroger will also add a $50 monthly surcharge to company health plans for unvaccinated managers and other nonunion employees.
A 2022 Economic Roundtable survey of 10,000 workers in Colorado, Southern California, Washington found that workers' wages have declined over the last several years while over the same period executive pay has increased. The survey found that over 75% of workers experience food insecurity, over 66% struggle to meet basic needs and 14% experience homelessness, while CEO Rodney McMullen made over $22 million in 2020, compared to $12 million for the year 2018. According to Peter Dreier, who participated in the project: "There are workers sleeping in RVs or couch surfing or living in parks somewhere. Americans go to their local supermarket every week and smile at the person cashing them out, not aware that the person they're talking to is going to sleep in a car after they clock out." About two-thirds of Kroger employees are part-time workers, whose schedules often change making it difficult to take a second job.
References
Further reading
Phillips, Charles F. (Winter 1936). "A History of the Kroger Grocery & Baking Company". National Marketing Review. Vol. 1, no. 3. pp. 204–215. JSTOR 4291319.
Videos
"Is Amazon Killing Kroger?". CNBC. February 21, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
External links
Media related to Kroger at Wikimedia Commons
Official website
Website for Kroger-branded stores
Business data for Kroger Co: |
uralkali | Uralkali (Russian: Уралка́лий, IPA: [ʊrɐɫ'kalʲɪj]) is a Russian potash fertilizer producer and exporter. It is traded on the Moscow Exchange using the symbol, URKA. The company's assets consist of five mines and seven ore-treatment mills situated in the towns of Berezniki and Solikamsk (Perm Krai, Russian Federation). Uralkali employs about 12,000 people (in the main production unit).
The company produces standard and granular potassium chloride (KCl), sodium chloride (NaCl in the form of halite), and carnalite. It supplies products (through its own trader Uralkali Trading) to over 60 countries, with the major markets including Brazil, India, China, Southeast Asia, Russia, USA, and Europe. In 2018 Uralkali produced 11.5 million tonnes of potash (KCl)Uralkali develops Verkhnekamskoye field of potassium and magnesium salts, world's second largest in terms of potash ore reserves. The company's total ore reserves total approximately 8.2 billion tonnes. Uralkali holds the development licences for the Ust-Yayvinsky and Polovodovsky blocks at the Verkhnekamskoye field, which contain ore reserves of 1.291 and 3.074 billion tonnes respectively. Uralkali also holds the development licence for the Romanovsky Block of the Verkhnekamskoye deposit with the estimated reserves of 385 million tonnes of sylvinite ore.
History
1934 - Start of construction.
1944 - Start of carnallite production.
1954 - Launch of the first mine group with the annual capacity of 266,000 tonnes.
1964 - Establishment of the Uralkali production association.
1968 – Start of construction of the second mine group.
1970 - Launch of the second mine group.
1974 - Launch of the third mine group.
1987 - Launch of the fourth mine group.
1993 - Start of privatization of the Uralkali production association and its transformation into OJSC Uralkali.
2001 – Construction completion of the Baltic Bulk Terminal.
2006 - Shutdown of the first mine group.
2007 - Uralkali places its global depositary receipts at the London Stock Exchange.
2011 - Merger of OJSC Uralkali and OJSC Silvinit.
2014 - Purchase of a license to develop the Romanovsky site of the Verkhnekamskoye deposit.
2015 - Delisting of Uralkali GDRs from the London Stock Exchange.
2021 - Uralkali becomes the title sponsor of the Haas F1 Team.
2022 - Haas F1 Team cuts ties with Uralkali.
Recent news
In December 2010, Uralkali announced plans to buy another Russian potash producer Silvinit; together they would form one of the world's largest potash producers. The merger was finalized in June 2011, with the combined Uralkali accounting for about 20% of the world's potash production.On 9 November 2012, Chengdong Investment Corp., a unit of the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation, bought bonds from the shareholders with maturation in 2014 which were exchangeable into a stake in Uralkali. Chengdong would be able to convert its investment into a 12.5 percent stake in Uralkali's ordinary shares. In September 2013, the bonds were converted and CIC thus acquired a 12.5% stake in the firm, rumoured to be worth around $2 billion.
In June 2012, Green Patrol, a Russian environmental non-governmental organization, listed Uralkali as one of the top 100 polluters in Russia, based on information gathered during the previous years. An expedition organised into the Perm Krai by Green Patrol in 2010 revealed that Uralkali's sinks contained at least 16 harmful elements (including zinc and ammonium), exceeding the maximum permissible levels by 1,850 times. Furthermore, according to Green Patrol's President Roman Pukalov, Uralkali failed to fully disclose a complete list of harmful elements that it routinely rejected into the local river Kama. Roman Pukalov described Kama water as "very polluted", and declared that small rivers around Berezniki had in fact turned into brine, something he had "never seen anywhere else".On 30 July 2013 Uralkali announced that it was pulling out of the Belarusian Potash Company export JV with Belaruskali, through which it exported potash from 2005 to July 2013, and said it would sell the fertilizer on its own. This move sent shares of potash companies tumbling on speculation that potash prices would plunge. This dispute arose over foreign sales and top executives at Uralkali were accused of a criminal scheme. On 26 August Belarus detained the company's CEO Vladislav Baumgertner after inviting him to Minsk for talks. In September 2013 he was moved from solitary confinement and put under house arrest. Uralkali insists that persecution of its employees by Belarusian officials is politically motivated. On 14 October Russia opened a criminal investigation into Vladislav Baumgertner as well, and investigators announced they will request his extradition from Belarus. In November 2013 Vladislav Baumgertner was extradited to Russia and later put under house arrest. In September 2014 he was released on bail.In December 2013 Suleiman Kerimov sold his shares (21.75%) to ONEXIM Group, while Dmitry Mazepin's Uralchem acquired 19.99%, both becoming key shareholders in Uralkali.In November 2015, Uralkali's board approved its latest share buyback program, a move that was expected to result in the delisting of the company's stock in London. Uralkali, which also trades in Moscow, said it will repurchase as much as 6.5 percent of its shares from the open market by the end of March 2016.On 5 October 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order asking the General Attorney of the Federation of Russia Yury Chaika to verify the compliance of Uralkali with the legislation governing planning works and mines filling. Results were to be presented on 1 December 2016, but as of end January 2017 the outcome of the investigation has not been published yet.
In 2021, it was announced that Uralkali would become the title sponsor of Haas F1 Team after Nikita Mazepin, son of Dmitry Mazepin, signed with the team for the 2021 season. Uralkali also sponsors Hitech GP's cars in the GB3 Championship.
In December 2021, Uralkali bought UPI Norte, Brazilian holding and shareholder of FertGrow S.A., local major distributor of fertilizers.In December 2021, Uralkali-Invest of Uralkali made a buyback of 3,4% of equity shares of Uralchem. By the beginning of 2022, the total of 22.36% of Uralkali voting shares is on the balance of Uralkali-Invest. Before in 2021, the investment division of Uralkali has also acquired 18,5% of equity capital of Uralchem from Dmitry Lobiak, Mazepin's business partner.In February 2022, as a consequence of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Haas removed the branding of its sponsor Uralkali from its cars and equipment, before eventually terminating Uralkali's sponsorship contract, as well as Mazepin's driver contract, which was based on the Uralkali deal, in March.
Owners and top management
By 2000, Dmitry Rybolovlev gained complete control over Uralkali, consolidating over 50% of the shares. By October 2006, he became chairman of the board of directors and in June 2010 owned approximately 65.5% of the company's shares. In early 2011, Rybolovlev disposed of his shares.
As of April 2011, the company was owned by the following Russian businessmen: Suleyman Kerimov (25%), Alexander Nesis (17.7%), Filaret Galchev (15%), and Alexander Mamut (3.5%), while all other shares were in free float.
At the end of December 2013, 21.75% of the company's shares were held by Mikhail Prokhorov's ONEXIM Group, 19.99% by Dmitry Mazepin's Uralchem, 12.5% by the Chinese Chengdong Investment Corporation, and the rest was in free float. On 23 December 2013, Dmitry Osipov, the former deputy board chairman of Uralchem, was appointed chief executive officer of the company.
As of 7 March 2018, the shareholding structure of PJSC Uralkali was as follows: 5.23% shares were in free float, 20% were owned by Rinsoco Trading Co. Limited (registered in Cyprus and controlled by Dmitry Lobyak), 20.1% belonged to Uralchem (controlled by Dmitry Mazepin), and 54.77% were quasi-treasury shares (on the balance of the subsidiary Uralkali-Technology).
Vitaly Lauk was appointed as CEO of Uralkali effective 4 December 2020. Since September 2017, Vitaly Lauk has been the Technical Director and member of the management board of the company.
Operations
Uralkali develops the Verkhnekamskoye potassium and magnesium salt deposit, one of the world's largest. A substantial part of natural potassium salt is processed into a commercial product, potassium chloride, which is used as a fertiliser applied either directly to the soil or as an ingredient of compound NPK fertilisers. In addition, potash is used in other industries such as chemical, petrochemical, food, and pharmaceutical.
Performance indicators
The company accounts for a significant share of global potassium chloride production with 80% of the company's products being exported overseas. The main buyers are Brazil, India, China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the US and the EU.
The company's production volume in 2020 was 11.3 million tonnes of KCl. As of late 2020, Uralkali employed about 12,700 people in the main production unit.
The company's net revenue for 2020 amounted to $2,151 million, while the 2020 EBITDA was $1,222 million.
Carbon footprint
Uralkali reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 1,704 Kt (-6.3 /-0.4% y-o-y).
References
External links
Media related to Uralkali at Wikimedia Commons
Official website |
nutrien | Nutrien is a Canadian fertilizer company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is the largest producer of potash and the third largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer in the world. It has over 2,000 retail locations across North America, South America, and Australia with more than 23,500 employees. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol NTR) and New York Stock Exchange (symbol NTR), with a market capitalization of $34 billion as of January 2018. It was formed through the merger of PotashCorp and Agrium, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.
History
Merger
PotashCorp and Agrium first proposed merging in September 2016. The merger was suggested in the context of low fertilizer prices, leading to the hope that a larger company will be better able to increase prices. The new company also hopes to reduce costs through consolidation; it estimates that it will be able to decrease costs by $500 million USD.The transaction was originally expected to close in mid-2017, but was delayed to January 2018 because of regulatory hurdles; final regulatory approval from the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was only received in December 2017. Based on the terms of the merger, former PotashCorp shareholders were given 52% of Nutrien, while Agrium shareholders were given 48%. Agrium CEO Charles Magro became CEO of the new company, while PotashCorp CEO Jochen Tilk became Executive Chair. Nutrien is based in Saskatoon, the former headquarters of PotashCorp, but it will maintain corporate offices in Calgary, the former headquarters of Agrium.
In May 2018, Nutrien announced it would sell to Tianqi Lithium a 24% stake in the Chilean mining company Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) for approximately $4.1 billion. Tianqi was to purchase 62.5 million SQM A shares for $65 each. Nutrien needed to satisfy the Chinese and Indian regulators because of concerns it would corner the potash market. The sale closed on 5 December 2018.In February 2019, Nutrien, through its Australian subsidiary Landmark Operations announced the proposed acquisition of Australian rural retail organization RuralCo. The acquisition was finalized on October 1, 2019, after which Ruralco was delisted from the ASX. After this acquisition, Nutrien now supplies 650 rural merchandise stores in Australia, or approximately 45% of all rural merchandise stores in Australia.In July 2022, Nutrien announced that it would acquire Brazilian retail fertilizer company Casa do Adubo, increasing its expansion in Latin America.
Competition
Nutrien's main competitors include other potash, phosphate and nitrogen producers, such as The Mosaic Company, Yara International ASA, CF Industries Holdings Inc and K+S AG.
Carbon footprint
Nutrien reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 13,160 Kt (-220 /-1.6% y-o-y).
References
External links
Official website |
carbon-neutral fuel | Carbon-neutral fuel is fuel which produces no net-greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint. In practice, this usually means fuels that are made using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock. Proposed carbon-neutral fuels can broadly be grouped into synthetic fuels, which are made by chemically hydrogenating carbon dioxide, and biofuels, which are produced using natural CO2-consuming processes like photosynthesis.The carbon dioxide used to make synthetic fuels may be directly captured from the air, recycled from power plant flue exhaust gas or derived from carbonic acid in seawater. Common examples of synthetic fuels include ammonia and methane, although more complex hydrocarbons such as gasoline and jet fuel have also been successfully synthesized artificially. In addition to being carbon neutral, such renewable fuels can alleviate the costs and dependency issues of imported fossil fuels without requiring either electrification of the vehicle fleet or conversion to hydrogen or other fuels, enabling continued compatible and affordable vehicles. In order to be truly carbon-neutral, any energy required for the process must be itself be carbon-neutral or emissions-free, like renewable energy or nuclear energy.If the combustion of carbon-neutral fuels is subject to carbon capture at the flue, they result in net-negative carbon dioxide emission and may thus constitute a form of greenhouse gas remediation. Negative emissions are widely considered an indispensable component of efforts to limit global warming, although negative emissions technologies are currently not economically viable for private sector companies. Carbon credits are likely to play an important role for carbon-negative fuels.
Production of synthetic hydrocarbons
Synthetic hydrocarbons can be produced in chemical reactions between carbon dioxide, which can be captured from power plants or the air, and hydrogen. The fuel, often referred to as electrofuel, stores the energy that was used in the production of the hydrogen.Hydrogen fuel is typically prepared by the electrolysis of water in a power to gas process. To minimize emissions, the electricity is produced using a low-emission energy source such as wind, solar, or nuclear power.Through the Sabatier reaction methane can then be produced which may then be stored to be burned later in power plants (as a synthetic natural gas), transported by pipeline, truck, or tanker ship, or be used in gas to liquids processes such as the Fischer–Tropsch process to make traditional fuels for transportation or heating.There are a few more fuels that can be created using hydrogen. Formic acid for example can be made by reacting the hydrogen with CO2. Formic acid combined with CO2 can form isobutanol.Methanol can be made from a chemical reaction of a carbon-dioxide molecule with three hydrogen molecules to produce methanol and water. The stored energy can be recovered by burning the methanol in a combustion engine, releasing carbon dioxide, water, and heat. Methane can be produced in a similar reaction. Special precautions against methane leaks are important since methane is nearly 100 times as potent as CO2, regarding the 20-year global warming potential. More energy can be used to combine methanol or methane into larger hydrocarbon fuel molecules.Researchers have also suggested using methanol to produce dimethyl ether. This fuel could be used as a substitute for diesel fuel due to its ability to self ignite under high pressure and temperature. It is already being used in some areas for heating and energy generation. It is nontoxic, but must be stored under pressure. Larger hydrocarbons and ethanol can also be produced from carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
All synthetic hydrocarbons are generally produced at temperatures of 200–300 °C, and at pressures of 20 to 50 bar. Catalysts are usually used to improve the efficiency of the reaction and create the desired type of hydrocarbon fuel. Such reactions are exothermic and use about 3 mol of hydrogen per mole of carbon dioxide involved. They also produce large amounts of water as a byproduct.
Sources of carbon for recycling
The most economical source of carbon for recycling into fuel is flue-gas emissions from fossil-fuel combustion where it can be obtained for about US$7.50 per ton. However, this is not carbon-neutral, since the carbon is of fossil origin, therefore moving carbon from the geosphere to the atmosphere. Since carbonic acid in seawater is in chemical equilibrium with atmospheric carbon dioxide, extraction of carbon from seawater has been studied. Researchers have estimated that carbon extraction from seawater would cost about $50 per ton. Carbon capture from ambient air is more costly, at between $94 and $232 per ton and is considered impractical for fuel synthesis or carbon sequestration. Direct air capture is less developed than other methods. Proposals for this method involve using a caustic chemical to react with carbon dioxide in the air to produce carbonates. These can then be broken down and hydrated to release pure CO2 gas and regenerate the caustic chemical. This process requires more energy than other methods because carbon dioxide is at much lower concentrations in the atmosphere than in other sources.Researchers have also suggested using biomass as a carbon source for fuel production. Adding hydrogen to the biomass would reduce its carbon to produce fuel. This method has the advantage of using plant matter to cheaply capture carbon dioxide. The plants also add some chemical energy to the fuel from biological molecules. This may be a more efficient use of biomass than conventional biofuel because it uses most of the carbon and chemical energy from the biomass instead of releasing as much energy and carbon. Its main disadvantage is, as with conventional ethanol production, it competes with food production.
Renewable and nuclear energy costs
Nighttime wind power is considered the most economical form of electrical power with which to synthesize fuel, because the load curve for electricity peaks sharply during the warmest hours of the day, but wind tends to blow slightly more at night than during the day. Therefore, the price of nighttime wind power is often much less expensive than any alternative. Off-peak wind power prices in high wind penetration areas of the U.S. averaged 1.64 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009, but only 0.71 cents/kWh during the least expensive six hours of the day. Typically, wholesale electricity costs 2 to 5 cents/kWh during the day. Commercial fuel synthesis companies suggest they can produce gasoline for less than petroleum fuels when oil costs more than $55 per barrel.In 2010, a team of process chemists led by Heather Willauer of the U.S. Navy, estimates that 100 megawatts of electricity can produce 160 cubic metres (41,000 US gal) of jet fuel per day and shipboard production from nuclear power would cost about $1,600 per cubic metre ($6/US gal). While that was about twice the petroleum fuel cost in 2010, it is expected to be much less than the market price in less than five years if recent trends continue. Moreover, since the delivery of fuel to a carrier battle group costs about $2,100 per cubic metre ($8/US gal), shipboard production is already much less expensive.Willauer said seawater is the "best option" for a source of synthetic jet fuel. By April 2014, Willauer's team had not yet made fuel to the standard required by military jets, but they were able in September 2013 to use the fuel to fly a radio-controlled model airplane powered by a common two-stroke internal combustion engine. Because the process requires a large input of electrical energy, a plausible first step of implementation would be for American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (the Nimitz-class and the Gerald R. Ford-class) to manufacture their own jet fuel. The U.S. Navy is expected to deploy the technology some time in the 2020s.
Demonstration projects and commercial development
A 250 kilowatt methane synthesis plant was constructed by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) at Baden-Württemberg and the Fraunhofer Society in Germany and began operating in 2010. It is being upgraded to 10 megawatts, scheduled for completion in autumn 2012.The George Olah carbon dioxide recycling plant operated by Carbon Recycling International in Grindavík, Iceland, has been producing 2 million liters of methanol transportation fuel per year from flue exhaust of the Svartsengi Power Station since 2011. It has the capacity to produce 5 million liters per year.Audi has constructed a carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Werlte, Germany. The plant is intended to produce transportation fuel to offset LNG used in their A3 Sportback g-tron automobiles, and can keep 2,800 metric tons of CO2 out of the environment per year at its initial capacity.Zero, a British-based company set up by former F1 engineer Paddy Lowe, has developed a process it terms 'petrosynthesis' to develop synthetic fuels from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water using renewable energy. In 2022 it began work on a demonstration production plant at Bicester Heritage near Oxford
Tesla has implemented a zero emissions vehicle in which it channels solar energy into battery packs. The Tesla battery packs are then used to charge their vehicles. In 2020, Tesla reused about 92% of raw metals in making their battery packs.Commercial developments are taking place in Columbia, South Carolina, Camarillo, California, and Darlington, England. A demonstration project in Berkeley, California, proposes synthesizing both fuels and food oils from recovered flue gases.
Greenhouse gas remediation
Carbon-neutral fuels can lead to greenhouse gas remediation because carbon dioxide gas would be reused to produce fuel instead of being released into the atmosphere. Capturing the carbon dioxide in flue gas emissions from power plants would eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions, although burning the fuel in vehicles would release that carbon because there is no economical way to capture those emissions. This approach would reduce net carbon dioxide emission by about 50% if it were used on all fossil fuel power plants. Most coal and natural gas power plants have been predicted to be economically retrofittable with carbon dioxide scrubbers for carbon capture to recycle flue exhaust or for carbon sequestration. Such recycling is expected to not only cost less than the excess economic impacts of climate change if it were not done, but also to pay for itself as global fuel demand growth and peak oil shortages increase the price of petroleum and fungible natural gas.Capturing CO2 directly from the air, known as direct air capture, or extracting carbonic acid from seawater would also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment, and create a closed cycle of carbon to eliminate new carbon dioxide emissions. Use of these methods would eliminate the need for fossil fuels entirely, assuming that enough renewable energy could be generated to produce the fuel. Using synthetic hydrocarbons to produce synthetic materials such as plastics could result in permanent sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere.
Technologies
Traditional fuels, methanol or ethanol
Some authorities have recommended producing methanol instead of traditional transportation fuels. It is a liquid at normal temperatures and can be toxic if ingested. Methanol has a higher octane rating than gasoline but a lower energy density, and can be mixed with other fuels or used on its own. It may also be used in the production of more complex hydrocarbons and polymers. Direct methanol fuel cells have been developed by Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to convert methanol and oxygen into electricity. It is possible to convert methanol into gasoline, jet fuel or other hydrocarbons, but that requires additional energy and more complex production facilities. Methanol is slightly more corrosive than traditional fuels, requiring automobile modifications on the order of US$100 each to use it.In 2016, a method using carbon spikes, copper nanoparticles and nitrogen that converts carbon dioxide to ethanol was developed.
Microalgae
Fuel made from microalgae could potentially have a low carbon footprint and is an active area of research, although no large-scale production system has been commercialized to date. Microalgae are aquatic unicellular organisms. Although they, unlike most plants, have extremely simple cell structures, they are still photoautotrophic, able to use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and fats via photosynthesis. These compounds can serve as raw materials for biofuels like bioethanol or biodiesel. Therefore, even though combusting microalgae-based fuel for energy would still produce emissions like any other fuel, it could be close to carbon-neutral if they, as a whole, consumed as much carbon dioxide as is emitted during combustion.
The advantages of microalgae are their higher CO2-fixation efficiency compared to most plants and their ability to thrive in a wide variety of aquatic habitats. Their main disadvantage is their high cost. It has been argued that their unique and highly variable chemical compositions may make it attractive for specific applications.Microalgae also can be used as livestock feed due to their proteins. Even more, some species of microalgae produce valuable compounds such as pigments and pharmaceuticals.
Production
Two main ways of cultivating microalgae are raceway pond systems and photo-bioreactors. Raceway pond systems are constructed by a closed loop oval channel that has a paddle wheel to circulate water and prevent sedimentation. The channel is open to the air and its depth is in the range of 0.25–0.4 m (0.82–1.31 ft). The pond needs to be kept shallow since self-shading and optical absorption can cause the limitation of light penetration through the solution of algae broth. PBRs's culture medium is constructed by closed transparent array of tubes. It has a central reservoir which circulated the microalgae broth. PBRs is an easier system to be controlled compare to the raceway pond system, yet it costs a larger overall production expenses.The carbon emissions from microalgae biomass produced in raceway ponds could be compared to the emissions from conventional biodiesel by having inputs of energy and nutrients as carbon-intensive. The corresponding emissions from microalgae biomass produced in PBRs could also be compared and might even exceed the emissions from conventional fossil diesel. The inefficiency is due to the amount of electricity used to pump the algae broth around the system. Using co-product to generate electricity is one strategy that might improve the overall carbon balance. Another thing that needs to be acknowledged is that environmental impacts can also come from water management, carbon dioxide handling, and nutrient supply, several aspects that could constrain system design and implementation options. But, in general, Raceway Pond systems demonstrate a more attractive energy balance than PBR systems.
Economy
Production cost of microalgae-biofuel through implementation of raceway pond systems is dominated by the operational cost which includes labour, raw materials, and utilities. In raceway pond system, during the cultivation process, electricity takes up the largest energy fraction of total operational energy requirements. It is used to circulate the microalgae cultures. It takes up an energy fraction ranging from 22% to 79%. In contrast, capital cost dominates the cost of production of microalgae-biofuel in PBRs. This system has a high installation cost though the operational cost is relatively lower than raceway pond systems.Microalgae-biofuel production costs a larger amount of money compared to fossil fuel production. The cost estimation of producing microalgae-biofuel is around $3.1 per litre ($11.57/US gal), which is considerably more expensive than conventional gasoline.
Environmental impact
The construction of large-scale microalgae cultivation facilities would inevitably result in negative environmental impacts related to land use change, such as the destruction of existing natural habitats. Microalgae can also under certain conditions emit greenhouse gases, like methane or nitrous oxide, or foul-smelling gases, like hydrogen sulfide, although this has not been widely studied to date. If poorly managed, toxins naturally produced by microalgae may leak into the surrounding soil or ground water.
Production
Water undergoes electrolysis at high temperatures to form hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. The energy to perform this is extracted from renewable sources such as wind power. Then, the hydrogen is reacted with compressed carbon dioxide captured by direct air capture. The reaction produces blue crude which consists of hydrocarbon. The blue crude is then refined to produce high efficiency E-diesel. This method is, however, still debatable because with the current production capability it can only produce 3,000 liters in a few months, 0.0002% of the daily production of fuel in the US. Furthermore, the thermodynamic and economic feasibility of this technology have been questioned. An article suggests that this technology does not create an alternative to fossil fuel but rather converting renewable energy into liquid fuel. The article also states that the energy return on energy invested using fossil diesel is 18 times higher than that for e-diesel.
History
Investigation of carbon-neutral fuels has been ongoing for decades. A 1965 report suggested synthesizing methanol from carbon dioxide in air using nuclear power for a mobile fuel depot. Shipboard production of synthetic fuel using nuclear power was studied in 1977 and 1995. A 1984 report studied the recovery of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel plants. A 1995 report compared converting vehicle fleets for the use of carbon-neutral methanol with the further synthesis of gasoline.
See also
References
Books and reports
Sustainable Synthetic Carbon Based Fuels for Transport. London: Royal Society. 2019. ISBN 978-1-78252-422-9. OCLC 1181251736.
Notes
Further reading
McDonald, Thomas M.; Lee, Woo Ram; Mason, Jarad A.; Wiers, Brian M.; Hong, Chang Seop; Long, Jeffrey R. (2012). "Capture of Carbon Dioxide from Air and Flue Gas in the Alkylamine-Appended Metal–Organic Framework mmen-Mg2(dobpdc)". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 134 (16): 7056–65. doi:10.1021/ja300034j. PMID 22475173. S2CID 207079044. — has 10 citing articles as of September 2012, many of which discuss efficiency and cost of air and flue recovery.
Kulkarni, Ambarish R.; Sholl, David S. (2012). "Analysis of Equilibrium-Based TSA Processes for Direct Capture of CO2 from Air". Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. 51 (25): 8631–45. doi:10.1021/ie300691c. — claims US$100/ton CO2 extraction from air, not counting capital expenses.
Holligan, Anna (2019-10-01). "Jet fuel from thin air: Aviation's hope or hype?". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
External links
Doty Windfuels (Columbia, South Carolina)
Cost Model for US Navy Zero Carbon Nuclear Synfuel Process Archived 2013-05-13 at the Wayback Machine spreadsheet by John Morgan (January 2013; source)
Interview with Kathy Lewis of the US Naval Research Laboratory |
kirkland lake gold | Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. was a Canadian gold mining company, based in Toronto, that owned and operated several gold mines in Canada and Australia.
History
The company was founded in 1988 as Goldpac Investments, and then operated as Brimstone Gold Corp. between 1994 and 1999, as a consulting and investment company in the gold mining industry. The company was renamed Foxpoint Resources Ltd. as it sought to acquire and develop its own gold mining property.In 2001, the Vancouver-based Foxpoint Resources purchased several mining properties from the Kinross Gold around Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The $5 million purchase included several former mines: Macassa Mine, Lakeshore Mine, Wright Hargreaves and Teck Hughes. The company renamed itself again as Kirkland Lake Gold and re-commissioned the underground Macassa Mine. As it continued new exploration, it was able to begin extracting gold from the mine in 2003.Kirkland Lake Gold focused on developing its Macassa mine until 2015 when it acquired St. Andrew Goldfields with its three mines (named the Holt Complex) about 100 km from Kirkland Lake, in an all-stock deal worth $178 million.In 2016, pressure from activist shareholders seeking more aggressive expansion led to changes in management to expand the company's holdings. Later that year, the company acquired Vancouver-based Newmarket Gold Inc., which owned the Cosmo mine in the Northern Territory and the Fosterville and Stawell Gold Mines in Victoria, Australia, for $1.01-billion in stock. Kirkland Lake Gold listed stocks on the Australian Securities Exchange effective November 30, 2017.On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Kirkland Lake Gold was promoted to the S&P/TSX 60 index effective September 23, 2019. Within a few months, the company acquired Detour Gold in a $4.9-billion purchase.In February 2022, Kirkland Lake Gold merged with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited in an all-stock deal with Kirkland's stocks being delisted.
Carbon footprint
See also
Largest gold companies
Abitibi gold belt
== References == |
evraz | EVRAZ plc (Russian: Евраз) is a UK-incorporated multinational steel manufacturing and mining company part-owned by Russian oligarchs. It has operations mainly in Russia as well as the USA, Canada, and Kazakhstan. As of 2015, the ultimate beneficial owners were Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich (31.03%), chairman Alexander Abramov (21.59%) and CEO Aleksandr Frolov (10.78%) with the remaining 36.6% shares owned by other shareholders.
History
The company was founded as a small metal-trading business in 1992. On 2 June 2005 Evraz Group floated some 8.3 percent of its shares in the form of GDR in London. The company was priced at $14.50 per GDR implying an equity value of $5.15 billion. An additional 6% stake was placed in January 2006, resulting in a total free-float of 14.3%.The company acquired Claymont Steel from H.I.G. Capital in 2008 for US$564.8 million. The mill was closed in December 2013.In 1998, Otari Arshba, who was a KGB officer and, later, was an FSB officer, became the director of public relations, and then he successively held the positions of vice president and senior vice president. Until March 2004, he was the chairman of the board of directors of the holding company according to a Gordonua.com article.
Sanctions
In the aftermath of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British government accused the company of "providing financial services or making available funds, economic resources, goods or technology that could contribute to destabilising Ukraine."After sanctions were applied to Abramovich, owner of 29% of the company, the Financial Conduct Authority suspended the trading of Evraz shares on the London Stock Exchange. The non-executive members of the board subsequently resigned.On 10 August 2022, Reuters reported that Evraz was seeking to sell its North American units.
Operations
Evraz sets aside its coal business by the end of the year 2021 on the premise of all needed approvals, according to the group's report of the 1st half of 2021. In the very beginning of 2021 EVRAZ announced expecting to spin off its coal division consolidated in Raspadskaya. In April 2021, the group's board of directors approved the demerger of its coal assets to be shared pro rata among Evraz shareholders. In January 2022, Evraz shareholders also approved the demerger of the group's coal business, consolidated at PJSC "Raspadskaya" after the final decision made by the board of directors of Evraz last December.The business structure is as follows:
Steel
Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Plant – NTMK – in Nizhny Tagil; major steel and vanadium slag producer
Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant – NKMK in Novokuznetsk; major steel producer; leading in railway steel (merged with EVRAZ ZSMK)
EVRAZ Consolidated West-Siberian Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ ZSMK) large steel producer in Siberia; merged with EVRAZ NKMK in 2011
EVRAZ North America leading steel manufacturer built on the pedigree of successful steel companies – formerly known as Oregon Steel Mills, Rocky Mountain Steel and IPSCO. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Ill., and its six manufacturing facilities are located in Portland, Oregon; Regina, Saskatchewan; Pueblo, Colorado; Calgary, Camrose and Red Deer, Alberta.
Ore
Evrazruda mining and enrichment facilities in Kemerovo Oblast
In the Kemerovo Oblast: Tashtagol Mine, Kaz Mine, Sheregesh Mine, Gurev Mine, Abagur Sinter and Enrichment Plant
Kachkanarsky Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise – Vanady – KGOK pit mining in Sverdlovsk region;
Sukha Balka Mines, Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.
Coal
Yuzhkuzbassugol coking coal mining in the Kuzbass Region
Raspadskaya/ coking coal company with three mines and one open pit in Mezhdurechensk, Kemerovo region, EVRAZ owns 82% of Raspadskaya
Vanadium
EVRAZ Vanady Tula
EVRAZ Nikom
EVRAZ East Metals AG
Sales and logistics
Metallenergofinance MEF, supplying electricity and heat for Evraz facilities
Nakhodka Commercial Sea Port in the Russian Far East, handling most of Evraz' exports
Trading House EvrazHolding/TH EvrazHolding working in domestic sales
Trading House EvrazResource/TH EvrazResource working in domestic sales
Corporate structure
The company's interests in the majority of its subsidiaries are held indirectly through its ownership of Mastercroft. In June 2006, Evraz Group announced a transaction that resulted in the transfer to Greenleas International Holdings of a 50% interest in Lanebrook Ltd., an entity controlled by the principal shareholders of Evraz Group. As of April 2015 Lanebrook Ltd. held 63.70% of the company's shares, with the ultimate beneficial owners being Roman Abramovich (31.03%), chairman Alexander Abramov (21.59%) and CEO Aleksandr Frolov (10.78%).
Carbon footprint
Evraz reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 43,620 Kt (+280/+0.6% y-o-y).
See also
List of steel producers
References
External links
Media related to Evraz at Wikimedia Commons
Official website |
the mosaic company | The Mosaic Company is a Fortune 500 company based in Tampa, Florida which mines phosphate, potash, and collects urea for fertilizer, through various international distribution networks, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It is the largest U.S. producer of potash and phosphate fertilizer.
Overview
The Mosaic Company was formed in October 2004 by a merger between IMC Global, a fertilizer company formed in 1909, and Cargill's crop nutrition division.
It is a combined producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash with a customer base which includes wholesalers, retail dealers and individual growers worldwide. Its headquarters are in Tampa, Florida and it employs approximately 13,000 people in eight countries.
Products
Potash
Mosaic has approximately 10.4 million tonnes of operational potash capacity. Mosaic currently owns potash mines or surface mills at; Belle Plaine, Colonsay, Esterhazy K1, Esterhazy K2, Esterhazy K3 and Carlsbad, with another potash mine recently purchased in Brazil during the Vale Fertilizantes acquisition. Colonsay mine and mill has been indefinitely idled and is currently in care and maintenance mode. Esterhazy K3, currently in development, consists of an underground mine and service/production shafts separate from the K1 and K2 underground mine that is beginning to supply the K1 and K2 surface facilities with ore. Esterhazy K3 does not have surface milling and storage facilities, instead it is intended to replace the ore currently mined from the K1 and K2 mine. This shift in production will decrease brine management costs of the K1 and K2 mine, which stood at $108.0 million for 2020.
Mosaic is a member of Canpotex, an export association of Canadian potash producers through which they sell their Canadian potash outside the U.S. and Canada.
Potash mines are located in:
Carlsbad, New Mexico (32.412°N 103.939°W / 32.412; -103.939)
Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan (50.429°N 105.199°W / 50.429; -105.199)
Colonsay, Saskatchewan (51.928°N 105.766°W / 51.928; -105.766)
Esterhazy, Saskatchewan K1 (50.729°N 101.929°W / 50.729; -101.929)
Esterhazy, Saskatchewan K2 (50.660°N 101.846°W / 50.660; -101.846)
Esterhazy, Saskatchewan K3 (50.644°N 101.993°W / 50.644; -101.993)
Phosphate
Mosaic has approximately 16.8 million tonnes of operational capacity for finished concentrated phosphates. Mosaic is the largest producer of finished phosphate products with an annual capacity greater than the next two largest producers combined. It has a global distribution network made up of plants, port facilities, warehouses and sales offices. In 2013 Mosaic produced 7.6 million tons of concentrated phosphate crop nutrients and over 15 million tons of phosphate rock production. In October, 2013, Mosaic reached an agreement to purchase the phosphate operations of CF Industries for 1.4 billion dollars, which eliminates the need for Mosaic to spend an additional billion dollars to build a new processing facility in Hardee County, Florida to process the rock from their mines in that area.Phosphate mines are located in the Bone Valley Formation of the Peace River watershed in Central Florida:
Fort Meade (27.648°N 81.757°W / 27.648; -81.757)
South Pasture (27.586°N 81.942°W / 27.586; -81.942)
Four Corners (27.715°N 82.141°W / 27.715; -82.141)
Wingate Creek (27.506°N 82.130°W / 27.506; -82.130)
Fort Lonesome (27.715°N 82.150°W / 27.715; -82.150)(Closed)Mosaic owns a 25% stake of the Ma'aden Wa'ad Al Shamal Phosphate Company joint venture in Saudi Arabia.
With the completion of the Vale Fertilizantes acquisition in January, 2018, an additional 5 Brazilian phosphate rock mines, 4 chemical plants and an additional 40% economic interest in the Miski Mayo mine were purchased.
Carbon footprint
The Mosaic Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 4,920 Kt (+340/+7.4% y-o-y). There is little evidence of a consistent declining trend as yet.
Timeline
2018
January: Mosaic completes acquisition of Vale Fertilizantes.2016
September: Mosaic is responsible for a massive sinkhole that opened up on one of the gypsum stacks near Mulberry Florida contaminating the aquifer with radioactive water.2015
August: Joc O'Rourke succeeds Jim Prokopanko as Mosaic's president and CEO.2014
December: Mosaic acquires Archer Daniels Midland Company's (ADM) fertilizer distribution business in Brazil and Paraguay.
July: Cargill acquired Mosaic's Hersey, Michigan salt plant.2013
November: Mosaic closed the potash operations at their Hersey, Michigan facility.2011
May: Mosaic and Cargill complete the transaction to split off and distribute Cargill's stake in Mosaic.
January: Mosaic and Cargill agree to split off and orderly distribute Cargill's stake in Mosaic.2007
January: Jim Prokopanko succeeds Fritz Corrigan as president and CEO of Mosaic.2006
July: Jim Prokopanko named Mosaic Chief Operating Officer.2004
October: The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
June: Mosaic announced as the chosen name for the newly formed company.
January: The crop nutrition business of Cargill, Inc. and IMC Global enter into a definitive agreement to form a new crop nutrition company.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for The Mosaic Company: |
allegheny technologies | ATI Inc. (previously Allegheny Technologies Incorporated) is an American producer of specialty materials headquartered in Dallas, Texas. ATI produces metals including titanium and titanium alloys, nickel-based alloys and superalloys, stainless and specialty steels, zirconium, hafnium, and niobium, tungsten materials, forgings and castings.ATI's key markets are aerospace and defense particularly commercial jet engines (over 50% of sales), oil & gas, chemical process industry, electrical energy, and medical.The company's plants in Western Pennsylvania include facilities in Harrison Township (Allegheny Ludlum's Brackenridge Works), Vandergrift, and Washington. The company also has plants in: Illinois; Indiana; Ohio; Kentucky; California; South Carolina; Oregon; Alabama; Texas; Connecticut; Massachusetts; North Carolina; Wisconsin; New York; Shanghai, China; and several facilities in Europe.Its titanium sponge plants are located in Albany, Oregon and Rowley, Utah. In total, ATI was said to have capacity for 40 million pounds per annum.
History
In 1939, the merger of Allegheny Steel of Pittsburgh and Ludlum Steel of Watervliet, New York created Allegheny Ludlum Corporation; prior to the merger, the companies had manufactured steel for the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building in New York City. Allegheny Steel had produced stainless steel brightwork for the Model A Ford starting in 1930Through the 1970s, Allegheny Ludlum periodically cooperated with Ford to build several one-off promotional cars with stainless steel bodies. Three such cars are on display in the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.In 1978, the company acquired Wilkinson Sword and Scripto.Scripto was sold to the Tokai Corporation of Japan in 1984.In 1986, the company suffered a $198 million operating loss and chairman Robert Buckley, stepped down amid accusations of mismanagement. In 1987, Wilkinson Sword was sold to Swedish Match for $230 million.In 1987, Allegheny Ludlum became a public company via an initial public offering under chief executive Dick SimmonsIn 1993, the company acquired Jessop Steel.In 1996, it merged with Teledyne to form Allegheny Technologies. The company then spun off several subsidiaries as independent public companies such as Teledyne Technologies and Water Pik Technologies in 1999, to concentrate on its core business of metal and alloy production.In 1998, the company acquired certain assets of Lukens Washington Steel when it was sold to Bethlehem Steel.In 2004, the company acquired J&L Specialty Steel.In 2005, the company sold its World Minerals subsidiary to French company Imerys.In 2010, the company acquired Ladish for $778 million.Allegheny Technologies debuted its ATI 425 Titanium Alloy on June 14, 2010, at the land and air-land defense and security exhibition Eurosatory in Paris, France.In March 2021, about 1,300 workers at nine facilities in the northern United States, all members of the United Steelworkers, went on strike over proposed changes to their health care plans. The strike ended in July with the company rejecting its proposed changes.
In June 2022, the company was officially renamed from Allegheny Technologies Incorporated to ATI. Alongside this, the company's domain was changed from ATImetals.com to ATImaterials.com.
Products
The company organizes its products into two segments:
High Performance Materials & Components, which includes titanium-based alloys, nickel-based alloys and superalloys, zirconium and hafnium.
Advanced Alloys & Solutions, which includes zirconium-, hafnium-, and niobium-based alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, nickel-based alloys, specialty alloys, duplex alloys in sheet, strip, and plate form, grain-oriented electrical steel.
Environmental record
Allegheny Ludlum's Natrona, Pennsylvania and Brackenridge, Pennsylvania plants contributed to the waste at the ALSCO Park Lindane Dump, an EPA Superfund site. These plants also released chromium into the air, which adversely affected air quality at schools in the Highlands School District.In 2005, Allegheny Ludlum agreed to pay a $2,375,000 penalty to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1995, which alleged that the company had unlawfully discharged oil and other pollutants, such as chromium, zinc, copper, and nickel, into the Allegheny River and Kiskiminetas River in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
Carbon footprint
ATI reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 407 Kt (-146 /-26.4% y-o-y).
References
External links
Business data for ATI Inc.: |
aviation biofuel | An aviation biofuel or bio-jet fuel or bio-aviation fuel (BAF) is a biofuel used to power aircraft and is said to be a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers it a key element to reducing the carbon footprint within the environmental impact of aviation. Aviation biofuel could help decarbonize medium- and long-haul air travel generating most emissions, and could extend the life of older aircraft types by lowering their carbon footprint.
Biofuels are biomass-derived fuels from plants or waste; depending on which type of biomass is used, they could lower CO2 emissions by 20–98% compared to conventional jet fuel.
The first test flight using blended biofuel was in 2008,
and in 2011 blended fuels with 50% biofuels were allowed in commercial flights.
In 2019, the IATA was aiming for a 2% penetration by 2025.
Aviation biofuel can be produced from plant sources such as Jatropha, algae, tallows, waste oils, palm oil, Babassu, and Camelina (bio-SPK); from solid biomass using pyrolysis processed with a Fischer–Tropsch process (FT-SPK); with an alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) process from waste fermentation; or from synthetic biology through a solar reactor.
Small piston engines can be modified to burn ethanol.
Sustainable biofuels do not compete with food crops, prime agricultural land, natural forest or fresh water. They are an alternative to electrofuels. Sustainable aviation fuel is certified as being sustainable by a third-party organisation.
Environmental impact
Plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, meaning plant-based biofuels emit only the same amount of greenhouse gases as previously absorbed. Biofuel production, processing and transport however emit greenhouse gases, reducing the emissions savings.
Biofuels with most emission savings are those derived from photosynthetic algae (98% savings, technology not yet mature) and from non-food crops and forest residues (91–95% savings).Jatropha oil, a non-food oil used as a biofuel, should lower CO2 emissions by 50–80% compared to Jet-A1. Jatropha, used for biodiesel, can thrive on marginal land where most plants would produce low crop yields.
A life cycle assessment by the Yale School of Forestry on jatropha, one source of potential biofuels, estimated that using it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85% if former agro-pastoral land is used, or increase emissions by up to 60% if natural woodland is converted to use.Palm oil cultivation is constrained by scarce land resources and its expansion to forestland causes deforestation and biodiversity loss, and direct and indirect emissions due to land-use change. Neste Corporation's renewable products include a refining residue of food-grade palm oil, the oily waste skimmed from the palm oil mill's wastewater. Other Neste sources are UCO (used cooking oil) from deep fryers and animal fats. Neste's sustainable aviation fuel is used by Lufthansa; Air France and KLM announced 2030 SAF targets and announced multi-year purchase contracts totalling over 2.4 million tonnes of SAF from Neste, TotalEnergies and DG Fuels.Aviation fuel from wet waste-derived feedstock ("VFA-SAF") provides an additional environmental benefit. Wet waste consists of waste from landfills, sludge from wastewater treatment plants, agricultural waste, greases and fats. Wet waste can be converted to volatile fatty acids (VFA's), which then can be catalytically upgraded to SAF. Wet waste is a low-cost and plentiful feedstock, with the potential to replace 20% of US fossil jet fuel consumption. This eliminates the need to grow crops specifically for fuel, which is in itself energy intensive and increases total CO2 emissions throughout its life cycle. As of 2023, 90% of biofuel is made from oilseed and sugarcane which are grown for this purpose only. Wet waste-derived feedstocks for SAF divert waste from landfills, this action alone has the potential to eliminate 17% of the U.S.'s total methane emissions across all sectors. VFA-SAF's carbon footprint is 165% lower than fossil aviation fuel. This technology is in its infancy; although several start-ups are working to make this a viable solution. Alder Renewables, BioVeritas, and ChainCraft are a few organizations committed to this.
NASA has determined that 50% aviation biofuel mixture can cut particulate emissions caused by air traffic by 50–70%. Biofuels do not contain sulfur compounds and thus do not emit sulfur dioxide.
Timeline
The first flight using blended biofuel took place in 2008. Virgin Atlantic flew the first flight by a commercial airline to be powered partly by biofuel, while commercial biofuel flights were likely to use feedstocks such as algae.
By then, airlines representing more than 15% of the industry formed the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, with support from NGOs such as Natural Resources Defense Council and The Roundtable For Sustainable Biofuels. They pledged to develop sustainable biofuels for aviation. That year, Boeing was co-chair of the Algal Biomass Organization, joined by air carriers and biofuel technology developer UOP LLC (Honeywell).In 2009, the IATA committed to achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2020, and to halve carbon emissions by 2050.In 2010, Boeing targeted of 1% of global aviation fuels by 2015.
By June 2011, the revised Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuel Containing Synthesized Hydrocarbons (ASTM D7566) allowed commercial airlines to blend up to 50% biofuels with conventional jet fuel.
The safety and performance of jet fuel used in passenger flights is certified by ASTM International.
Biofuels were approved for commercial use after a multi-year technical review from aircraft makers, engine manufacturers and oil companies.
Since then, some airlines have experimented with using biofuels on commercial flights. As of July 2020, there have been published seven annexes to D7566, including as much types of biofuels: Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK, 2009), Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (HEFA-SPK, 2011), Hydroprocessed Fermented Sugars to Synthetic Isoparaffins (HFS-SIP, 2014), Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene with Aromatics (FT-SPK/A, 2015), Alcohol to Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (ATJ-SPK, 2016), Catalytic Hydrothermolysis Synthesized Kerosene (CH-SK, or CHJ; 2020).In December 2011, the FAA awarded US$7.7 million to eight companies to develop drop-in sustainable fuels, especially from alcohols, sugars, biomass, and organic matter such as pyrolysis oils, within its CAAFI and CLEEN programs.From 2014, Solena planned to turn annually 500,000 tonnes of waste from the City of London that would normally go to landfill into biofuel to be used in the British Airways fleet, but filed for bankruptcy in 2015.By 2015, cultivation of fatty acid methyl esters and alkenones from the algae, Isochrysis, was under research as a possible jet biofuel feedstock.By 2016, Thomas Brueck of Munich TU was forecasting that algaculture could provide 3–5% of jetfuel needs by 2050.In Fall 2016, to achieve its emissions reductions goals, the ICAO planned multiple measures including the development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels.Dozens of companies received hundreds of millions in venture capital from 2005 to 2012 to extract fuel oil from algae, some promising competitively priced fuel by 2012 and a production of 1 billion US gal (3.8 million m3) by 2012-2014.
By 2017, nor were achieved and most companies had disappeared or changed their business plans to focus on cosmetics supplements, nutraceuticals, pet food additives, animal feed, pigments and speciality oils.In 2019, 0.1% of fuel was SAF: the International Air Transport Association (IATA) supports the adoption of Sustainable Aviation fuel, aiming in 2019 for a 2% penetration by 2025: 7 million m3 (1.8 billion US gal).
By then, more than 150,000 flights have used biofuels and five airports have regular biofuel distribution: Bergen, Brisbane, Los Angeles, Oslo and Stockholm, with others offering occasional supply.
That year, Virgin Australia had fueled more than 700 flights and flown more than one million kilometers, domestic and international, using Gevo's alcohol-to-jet fuel.
Gevo is committed to going after the entire gallon of sustainable aviation fuel, potentially leading to a negative carbon footprint. Virgin Atlantic was working to regularly use fuel derived from the waste gases of steel mills, with LanzaTech.British Airways wanted to convert household waste into jet fuel with Velocys.United Airlines committed to 900 million US gal (3,400,000 m3) of sustainable aviation fuel for 10 years from Fulcrum BioEnergy (to be compared to its 4.1 billion US gal (16,000,000 m3) fuel consumption in 2018), after its $30 million investment in 2015, and will develop up to five biofuel factories near its hubs.From 2020, Qantas will start using a 50/50 blend of SG Preston's biofuel on its Los Angeles-Australia flights, also providing fuel derived from non-food plant oils to JetBlue Airways during 10 years. At its sites in Singapore, Rotterdam and Porvoo, Finland's Neste is expecting to improve its renewable fuel production capacity from 2.7 to 3.0 million t (6.0 to 6.6 billion lb) a year by 2020, and is increasing its Singapore capacity by 1.3 million t (2.9 billion lb) to reach 4.5 million t (9.9 billion lb) in 2022 by investing €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion).By 2020, International Airlines Group had invested $400 million to convert waste into sustainable aviation fuel with Velocys.In early 2021, Boeing's CEO Dave Calhoun said drop-in sustainable aviation fuels are "the only answer between now and 2050" to reduce carbon emissions. In May 2021, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) set a goal for the aviation industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 with SAF as the key component.In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act introduced the Fueling Aviation's Sustainable Transition (FAST) Grant Program. The program provides $244.5 million in grants for SAF-related "production, transportation, blending, and storage." In November, 2022, sustainable aviation fuels were a hot topic at COP26, the UN's Climate Change Conference.
Production
Jet fuel is a mixture of various hydrocarbons. The range of their sizes (molecular weights or carbon numbers) is restricted by the requirements for the product, for example, freezing point or smoke point. Jet fuels are sometimes classified as kerosene or naphtha-type. Kerosene-type fuels include Jet A, Jet A-1, JP-5 and JP-8. Naphtha-type jet fuels, sometimes referred to as "wide-cut" jet fuel, include Jet B and JP-4.
"Drop-in" biofuels are biofuels that are completely interchangeable with conventional fuels. Deriving "drop-in" jet fuel from bio-based sources is ASTM approved via two routes. ASTM has also found it safe to blend in 50% SPK into regular jet fuels. Only tests have been done so far with blending in synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) in considerably higher concentrations.
HEFA-SPK
Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosine (HEFA-SPK) is a specific type of hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel. As of 2020 this was the only mature technology. HEFA-SPK fuel is considered to be a leading alternative replacement for conventional jet fuel by the CAA. HEFA-SPK was approved by Altair Engineering for use in 2011. HEFA-SPK is produced by the deoxygenation and hydroprocessing of the feedstock fatty acids of algae, jatropha, and camelina.Bio-SPK
This fuel uses oil that is extracted from plant sources such as jatropha, algae, tallows, waste oils, babassu, and Camelina to produce synthetic paraffinic kerosene (bio-SPK) by cracking and hydroprocessing. Using algae to make jet fuel remains an emerging technology. Companies working on algae jet fuel include Solazyme, Honeywell UOP, Solena, Sapphire Energy, Imperium Renewables, and Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation. Universities working on algae jet fuel are Arizona State University and Cranfield University. Major investors for algae based SPK research are Boeing, Honeywell/UOP, Air New Zealand, Continental Airlines, Japan Airlines, and General Electric.FT-SPK
Another route involves processing solid biomass using pyrolysis to produce oil or gasification to produce a syngas that is processed into FT SPK (Fischer–Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene).ATJ-SPK
Alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathway takes alcohols such as ethanol or butanol and de-oxygenates and processes them into jet fuels. Companies such as LanzaTech have created ATJ-SPK from CO2 in flue gases. The ethanol is produced from CO in the flue gases using microbes such as Clostridium autoethanogenum. In 2016 LanzaTech demonstrated its technology at Pilot scale in NZ –using Industrial waste gases from the steel industry as a feedstock for its microbial fermentation. Gevo developed technology to retrofit existing ethanol plants to produce isobutanol. Alcohol-to-Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (ATJ-SPK) is a proven pathway to deliver a bio-based, low-carbon option to travelers.Future production routes
Systems that use synthetic biology to create hydro-carbons are under development.The SUN-to-LIQUID project is examining Fischer-Tropsch hydro-carbon fuels (solar kerosine) through the use of a solar reactor.
Alder Fuels raw material is waste from forestry and agriculture. This is mainly structural polymers cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. They are processed via pyrolysis. The result is condensed into greencrude, a hydrocarbon-rich liquid, which is turned into fuel in refineries.Piston engines
Small piston engines can be modified to burn ethanol. Swift Fuel, a biofuel alternative to avgas, was approved as a test fuel by ASTM International in December 2009.Technical challenges
Nitrile-based rubber materials expand in the presence of aromatic compounds found in conventional petroleum fuel. Pure biofuels that aren't mixed with petroleum and don't contain paraffin-based additives may cause rubber seals and hoses to shrink. Synthetic rubber substitutes that are not adversely affected by biofuels, such as Viton, for seals and hoses are available. The United States Air Force found harmful bacteria and fungi in their biofueled aircraft, and use pasteurization to disinfect them.
Economics
The International Energy Agency forecast SAF production should grow from 18 to 75 billion litres between 2025 and 2040, representing a share of aviation fuel getting from 5% to 19%.
By 2019, fossil jet fuel production cost was $0.3-0.6 per L given a $50–100 crude oil barrel, while aviation biofuel production cost was $0.7-1.6, needing a $110–260 crude oil barrel to break-even.As of 2020 aviation biofuel is more expensive than fossil jet kerosene, considering aviation taxation and subsidies at that time.As of a 2021 techno-economic analysis, VFA-SAF can have a break-even cost of $2.50/gallon. This number was generated considering the government credits and incentives at the time, such as California's LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) credits and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard incentives.
Sustainable aviation fuels
Sustainable biofuels do not use food crops, prime agricultural land or fresh water. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is certified by a third-party such as the Roundtable For Sustainable Biofuels.Sustainable fuels can be created with renewable energy without biomaterial. Carbon can be sourced from CO2 to make kerosene, etc. Hydrogen can be combusted or used in a fuel cell, although storage and transport remain challenging.
As of 2022, some 450,000 flights had used sustainable fuels as part of the fuel mix, although such fuels were ~3x more expensive than the traditional fossil kerosene.
Certification
A sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sustainability certification verifies that the product has satisfied criteria focused on environmental, social and economic "triple-bottom-line" considerations. Under many emission regulation schemes, such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EUTS), a certified SAF product may be exempted from carbon compliance liability costs. This marginally improves SAF's economic competitiveness over fossil-based fuel. However, commercialisation and regulatory hurdles remain to achieve price parity and to enable widespread uptake.The first reputable body to launch a sustainable biofuel certification system was the European-based Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) NGO. Leading airlines and other signatories to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG) pledged to support RSB as the preferred certification provider.
Criteria
EU RED II Recast (2018)
Greenhouse gas emissions from sustainable fuels must be lower than those from the fuels they replace: at least 50% for production built prior to 5 October 2015, 60% after that date and 65% after 2021. Raw materials cannot be sourced from land with high biodiversity or high carbon stocks (i.e. primary and protected forests, biodiversity-rich grasslands, wetlands and peatlands). Other sustainability issues are set out in the Governance Regulation and may be covered on a voluntary basis.ICAO 'CORSIA'
GHG Reduction - Criterion 1: lifecycle reductions of at least 10% compared to fossil fuel. Carbon Stock - Criterion 1: not produced from biomass obtained from land whose uses changed after 1 January 2008 from primeval forests, wetlands or peatlands, as all these lands have high carbon stocks. Criterion 2: For land use changes after 1 January 2008, (using IPCC land categories), if emissions from direct land use change (DLUC) exceed the default value of the induced land use change (ILUC), the value of the DLUC replaces the default (ILUC) value.
Global impact
As emissions trading schemes and other carbon compliance regimes emerge, certain biofuels are likely to be exempted ("zero rated") by governments from carbon compliance due to their closed-loop nature, if they can prove their wider sustainability credentials. For example, in the EUTS, SAFUG's proposal was accepted that only fuels certified as sustainable by the RSB or similar body would be zero rated. SAFUG was formed by a group of interested airlines in 2008 under the auspices of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Member airlines represent more than 15% of the industry, and signed a pledge to work towards SAF.In addition to SAF certification, the integrity of aviation biofuel producers and their product can be assessed by means such as Richard Branson's Carbon War Room, or the Renewable Jet Fuels initiative. The latter works with companies such as LanzaTech, SG Biofuels, AltAir, Solazyme, and Sapphire.Along with her co-authors, Candelaria Bergero of the University of California's Earth System Science Department stated that "main challenges to scaling up such sustainable fuel production include technology costs and process efficiencies", and widespread production would undermine food security and land use.
Certified processes
See also
Biodiesel
Fossil fuel phase-out
List of emerging technologies
Vegetable oil fuel
References
Further reading
Adam Klauber (Rocky Mountain Institute); Isaac Toussie (Rocky Mountain Institute); Steve Csonka (Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative); Barbara Bramble (National Wildlife Federation) (Oct 23, 2017). "Opinion: Biofuels Sustainable, Essential To Aviation's Future". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
"Sustainable Aviation Fuel" (PDF). Gevo. December 2019. Alcohol-to-Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene Is a Proven Pathway to Deliver a Bio-Based, Low-Carbon Option to Travelers
McKinsey & Company (Nov 2020). Clean Skies for Tomorrow (PDF) (Report). World Economic Forum. Sustainable Aviation Fuels as a Pathway to Net-Zero Aviation
External links
"Sustainable Sky Institute". non-profit think tank/do tank focussed on [...] the market transformation of the world's air transport system towards a [...] sustainable long-term future
"Aviation industry reducing its environmental footprint". Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders. Air Transport Action Group.
"Nordic Initiative for Sustainable Aviation". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-27. Nordic association working to promote and develop a more sustainable aviation industry, with a specific focus on alternative sustainable fuels
"Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels". The RSB is supporting the development of a sustainable bioeconomy
"International Journal of Sustainable Aviation". Inderscience Publishers.
"Biofuels for aviation". European Commission. 5 September 2023.
Geoff Hunt (22 April 2021). "Why industry needs global standards for sustainable fuel use". Flightglobal. |
hyundai steel | Hyundai Steel Co., Ltd, or HSC (formerly known as HYU, and Crab Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.) is a steel making company headquartered in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, and a member of the Hyundai Motor Group. It manufactures a wide variety of products ranging from H-beams, rail and reinforcing bars, to hot coil, cold-rolled steel, and stainless cold-rolled sheet.Established in 1953, Hyundai Steel is the oldest steel-making company in South Korea and the second largest blast furnace steelmaker at the Dangjin steel complex with a 5,450m2 blast furnace, among the first in South Korea.Hyundai Steel is the world's second-largest EAF steel producer after Nucor, U.S.A. and operates six factories in Incheon, plus sites in Dangjin (3 blast furnaces, Hot coil, CR & plate mill), Pohang (EAF), Suncheon (CR mill), Ulsan (pipemill) and in China's Chungdo province.In 2004, Hyundai Steel purchased the facilities of the defunct Hanbo Steel, restoring its long product and cold-rolling facilities. A third blast furnace was added in 2013, amid fears of oversupply in the market, taking the site's annual production capacity to 12 million tons. The total annual capacity of the company (including two EAF plants in Incheon, the Pohang ex-Gangwon industrial plant, Incheon long products, Suncheon cold rolling mill and ex-Hyundai pipe plant at Ulsan) totals 24 million tons per annum.
In 2015, Hyundai Steel acquired its sister company Hyundai Hysco, increasing annual production capability to 30 million tons. The merged company has eleven coil centres in eight countries.In addition to Hyundai Steel, the Hyundai-Kia Motor group includes steel companies such as Hyundai Special Steel and BNG Steel Co., Ltd. (formerly Sammi Steel Co., Ltd. Stainless CR). Hyundai Steel uses the EAF in Incheon & Pohang mill (ex-Gangwon) and Dangjin complex with an in-house iron ore port to manufacture crude steel. BNG is a stainless steel cold rolling mill.
Major competitors
Hyundai Steel's major competitors include:
Carbon footprint
Hyundai Steel reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2019 at 22,245 Kt (-53 /-0.2% y-o-y). There is little evidence of a consistent declining trend as yet.
See also
List of steel producers
Hyundai Motor Group
Economy of South Korea
Hyundai Steel Red Angels WFC
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Hyundai Steel: |
lockheed martin | The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. area. As of January 2022, Lockheed Martin employs approximately 115,000 employees worldwide, including about 60,000 engineers and scientists.Lockheed Martin is one of the largest companies in the aerospace, military support, security, and technologies industry. It is the world's largest defense contractor by revenue for fiscal year 2014. In 2013, 78% of Lockheed Martin's revenues came from military sales; it topped the list of US federal government contractors and received nearly 10% of the funds paid out by the Pentagon. In 2009, US government contracts accounted for $38.4 billion (85%), foreign government contracts for $5.8 billion (13%), and commercial and other contracts for $900 million (2%).Half of the corporation's annual sales are to the U.S. Department of Defense. Lockheed Martin is also a contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).Lockheed Martin operates in four business segments: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control (MFC), Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS), and Space. The company has received the Collier Trophy six times, including in 2001 for being part of developing the X-35/F-35B LiftFan Propulsion System and most recently in 2018 for the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS). Lockheed Martin is currently developing the F-35 Lightning II and leads the international supply chain, leads the team for the development and implementation of technology solutions for the new USAF Space Fence (AFSSS replacement), and is the primary contractor for the development of the Orion command module. The company also invests in healthcare systems, renewable energy systems, intelligent energy distribution, and compact nuclear fusion.
History
1990s
Merger talks between Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta began in March 1994, with the companies announcing their $10 billion planned merger on August 30, 1994. The headquarters for the combined companies would be at Martin Marietta headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland. The deal was finalized on March 15, 1995, when the two companies' shareholders approved the merger. The segments of the two companies not retained by the new company formed the basis for L-3 Communications, a mid-size defense contractor in its own right. Lockheed Martin also later spun off the materials company Martin Marietta Materials.
The company's executives received large bonuses directly from the government as a result of the merger. Norman R. Augustine, who was at the time CEO of Martin Marietta, received an $8.2 million bonus.Both companies contributed important products to the new portfolio. Lockheed products included the Trident missile, P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance airplanes, F-117 Nighthawk, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, C-130 Hercules, A-4AR Fightinghawk and the DSCS-3 satellite. Martin Marietta products included Titan rockets, Sandia National Laboratories (management contract acquired in 1993), Space Shuttle External Tank, Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers, the Transfer Orbit Stage (under subcontract to Orbital Sciences Corporation) and various satellite models.
On April 22, 1996, Lockheed Martin completed the acquisition of Loral Corporation's defense electronics and system integration businesses for $9.1 billion, the deal having been announced in January. The remainder of Loral became Loral Space & Communications. Lockheed Martin abandoned plans for an $8.3 billion merger with Northrop Grumman on July 16, 1998, due to government concerns over the potential strength of the new group; Lockheed/Northrop would have had control of 25% of the Department of Defense's procurement budget.For the Mars Climate Orbiter, Lockheed Martin incorrectly provided NASA with software using measurements in US Customary force units when metric units were expected; this resulted in the loss of the Orbiter at a cost of $125 million. The development of the spacecraft cost $193 million.In addition to their military products, in the 1990s Lockheed Martin developed the texture mapping chip for the Sega Model 2 arcade system board and the entire graphics system for the Sega Model 3, which were used to power some of the most popular arcade games of the time.
2000s
In May 2001, Lockheed Martin sold Lockheed Martin Control Systems to BAE Systems. On November 27, 2000, Lockheed completed the sale of its Aerospace Electronic Systems business to BAE Systems for $1.67 billion, a deal announced in July 2000. This group encompassed Sanders Associates, Fairchild Systems, and Lockheed Martin Space Electronics & Communications. In 2001, Lockheed Martin won the contract to build the F-35 Lightning II; this was the largest fighter aircraft procurement project since the F-16, with an initial order of 3,000 aircraft. In 2001, Lockheed Martin settled a nine–year investigation conducted by NASA's Office of Inspector General with the assistance of the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The company paid the United States government $7.1 million based on allegations that its predecessor, Lockheed Engineering Science Corporation, submitted false lease costs claims to NASA.On May 12, 2006, The Washington Post reported that when Robert Stevens took control of Lockheed Martin in 2004, he faced the dilemma that within 10 years, 100,000 of the about 130,000 Lockheed Martin employees – more than three-quarters – would be retiring. On August 31, 2006, Lockheed Martin won a $3.9 billion contract from NASA to design and build the CEV capsule, later named Orion for the Ares I rocket in the Constellation Program. In 2009, NASA reduced the capsule crew requirements from the initial six seats to four for transport to the International Space Station.In August 2007, Lockheed Martin acquired 3Dsolve, a Cary, North Carolina, company that created simulations and training modules for the military and corporate clients. Renamed Lockheed Martin 3D Learning Systems, the company remained in Cary with 3D's founder Richard Boyd as director. The name was eventually shortened to Lockheed Martin 3D Solutions.On August 13, 2008, Lockheed Martin acquired the government business unit of Nantero, Inc., a company that had developed methods and processes for incorporating carbon nanotubes in next-generation electronic devices. In 2009, Lockheed Martin bought Unitech.
2010s
On November 18, 2010, Lockheed Martin announced that it would be closing its Eagan, Minnesota, location by 2013 to reduce costs and optimize capacity at its locations nationwide. In January 2011, Lockheed Martin agreed to pay the U.S. Government $2 million to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims on a U.S. government contract for that amount. The allegations came from a contract with the Naval Oceanographic Office Major Shared Resource Center in Mississippi.On May 25, 2011, Lockheed Martin bought the first Quantum Computing System from D-Wave Systems. Lockheed Martin and D-Wave will collaborate to realize the benefits of a computing platform based upon a quantum annealing processor, as applied to some of Lockheed Martin's most challenging computation problems. Lockheed Martin established a multi-year contract that includes one system, maintenance, and services, and represents a potentially important milestone for both companies.On May 28, 2011, it was reported that a cyberattack using previously stolen EMC files had broken through to sensitive materials at the contractor. It is unclear if the Lockheed incident is the specific prompt whereby on June 1, 2011, the new United States military strategy, makes explicit that a cyberattack is casus belli for a traditional act of war.On July 10, 2012, Lockheed Martin announced it was cutting its workforce by 740 workers to reduce costs and remain competitive as necessary for future growth. On November 27, 2012, Lockheed Martin announced that Marillyn Hewson would become the corporation's chief executive officer on January 1, 2013.On January 7, 2013, Lockheed Martin Canada announced that it would be acquiring the engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul assets from Aveos Fleet Performance in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On July 3, 2013, Lockheed Martin announced that it was partnering with DreamHammer to use the company's software for integrated command and control of its unmanned aerial vehicles. Lockheed Martin teamed up with Bell Helicopter to propose the V-280 Valor tiltrotor for the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. In September 2013, Lockheed Martin acquired the Scotland-based tech firm, Amor Group, saying the deal would aid its plans to expand internationally and into non-defense markets. On November 14, 2013, Lockheed announced they would be closing their Akron, Ohio facility laying off 500 employees and transferring other employees to other locations.
In March 2014, Lockheed Martin acquired Beontra AG, a provider of integrated planning and demand forecasting tools for airport, planning to expand their business in commercial airport information technology solutions. Also, in March 2014, Lockheed Martin announced its acquisition of Industrial Defender Inc. On June 2, 2014, Lockheed Martin received a Pentagon contract to build a space fence that would track debris, keeping it from damaging satellites and spacecraft.On July 20, 2015, Lockheed Martin announced plans to purchase Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies Corporation at a cost of $7.1 billion. The Pentagon has criticized the acquisition as causing a reduction in competition. In November 2015, the acquisition received final approval from the Chinese government, with a total cost of $9 billion. Dan Schulz was named the president of Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky company. Lockheed Martin has shown sketches for a twin-engine, blended wing body strategic airlifter similar in size to the C-5. On March 31, 2015, the US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth $362 million for the construction of Freedom-class ship LCS 21 and $79 million for advance procurement for LCS 23. The Freedom-class ships are built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. In December 2015, Lockheed won an $867 million seven-year contract to train Australia's next generation of military pilots. The deal also has the option to extend this contract across 26 years, which would greatly increase the deal's value.In August 2016, Canadian Forces Maritime tested an integrated submarine combat system developed by Lockheed Martin. The test marked Canada's first use of the combat system with the MK 48 heavyweight torpedo, variant 7AT. The same month, a deal to merge Leidos with the entirety of Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business came to a close.In May 2017, during a visit to Saudi Arabia by President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia signed business deals worth tens of billions of dollars with U.S. companies, including Lockheed Martin. (See: 2017 United States–Saudi Arabia arms deal)
On August 13, 2018, Lockheed Martin announced that the company had secured a $480 million contract from the United States Air Force to develop a hypersonic weapon prototype. A hypersonic missile can travel at one mile a second. This is the second contract for hypersonic weapons that Martin has secured; The first was from the Air Force as well and for $928 million which was announced in April 2018.On November 29, 2018, Lockheed Martin was awarded a Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract by NASA, which makes it eligible to bid on delivering science and technology payloads to the Moon for NASA, worth $2.6 billion. Lockheed Martin plans to formally propose a lander called McCandless Lunar Lander, named after the late astronaut and former Lockheed Martin employee Bruce McCandless II, who in 1984 performed the first free-flying spacewalk without a lifeline to the orbiting shuttle, using a jetpack built by the company. This lander would be based on the successful design of the Phoenix and InSight Mars landers.On April 11, 2019, at 6:35 pm EDT, an Arabsat-6A satellite was successfully launched from (LC-39A). This satellite is one of two, the other being SaudiGeoSat-1/HellasSat-4 and they are the "most advanced commercial communications satellites ever built by" Lockheed Martin.On September 23, 2019, Lockheed Martin and NASA signed a $4.6-billion contract to build six or more Orion capsules for NASA's Artemis program to send astronauts to the Moon.
2020s
In January 2020, the Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin with a $138 million contract related with the AEGIS Combat System Engineering Agent (CSEA). The LMT Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) unit of the company is to develop, integrate, test, and deliver the AEGIS Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 20 integrated combat system. Martin will work on the AEGIS in New Jersey. The project is expected to be completed by December 2020.In January 2020, the Pentagon found at least 800 software defects in Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets owned by the US Armed Forces during an annual review. The 2018 and 2019 reviews revealed a large number of defects as well.In February 2020, Lockheed Martin acquired Vector Launch Inc's satellite software technology GalacticSky for $4.25 million after a bankruptcy court received no bids by the February 21 deadline.On March 16, 2020, Lockheed Martin announced that James D. Taiclet would replace Marillyn Hewson as CEO, effective June 15. In January of 2021, Taiclet became chairman of the company as well.On December 20, 2020, it was announced that Lockheed Martin would acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings for $4.4 billion. The acquisition was expected to close in first quarter of 2022. On February 13, 2022, Lockheed abandoned the deal following regulatory disapproval.In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, major arms manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, reported a sharp increase in interim sales and profits.In May 2023, Lockheed formed a new microelectronics subsidiary ForwardEdge ASIC to design custom application-specific integrated circuits for its customers.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2020, Lockheed Martin reported earnings of $6.833 billion, with an annual revenue of $65.398 billion, an increase of 9.3% over the previous year. Backlog was 144.0 billion at the end of 2019, up from 130.5 billion at the end of the 2018. Firm orders were $94.5 billion at the end of 2019. Its shares traded at over $389 per share. Its market capitalization was valued at US$109.83 billion at the end of 2019. Lockheed Martin ranked No. 60 in the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue (down from No. 59 in 2018).
Carbon footprint
Lockheed Martin Corporation reported Total CO₂e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 919 Kt (-49 /-5.1% y-o-y).
Government contracts
Lockheed Martin received $36 billion in government contracts in 2008 alone; more than any company in history. It does work for more than two dozen government agencies from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. It is involved in surveillance and information processing for the CIA, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the National Security Agency (NSA), The Pentagon, the Census Bureau, and the Postal Service.In October 2013, Lockheed announced it expected to finalize a $2.2 billion contract with the United States Air Force for two advanced military communications satellites.Lockheed Martin has already begun to help the military transition to renewable energy sources with solar photovoltaic powered microgrids and as the military aims to reach 25% renewable energy by 2025 in order to improve national security.
Corruption investigations
On March 3, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said that Lockheed Martin had agreed to settle allegations that the defense contractor had sold overpriced perishable tools used on many contracts. The DOJ said the allegations were based specifically on the subsidiary Tools & Metals Inc's inflation of costs between 1998 and 2005, which Lockheed Martin then passed on to the U.S. government under its contracts. Further, in March 2006, Todd B. Loftis, a former TMI president, was sentenced to 87 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $20 million following his guilty plea.On February 20, 2013, Lockheed Martin Corp complied with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, agreeing to pay a $19.5 million lawsuit to conclude a securities fraud class-action legal battle that had accused the company of deceiving shareholders in regards to expectations for the company's information technology division.On December 20, 2014, Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems agreed to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit paying $27.5 million to finalize allegations that it had knowingly overbilled taxpayers for work performed by company staff who did not hold the relevant essential qualifications for the contract.
Organization
Business areas
Aeronautics Business Area, including Skunk Works
Missiles and Fire Control Business Area "MFC"
Rotary and Mission Systems Business Area "RMS", including Sikorsky (RMS was formerly called Mission Systems and Sensors and then Mission Systems & Training)
Space Business Area
International operations
Lockheed Martin UK
Lockheed Martin Canada
Lockheed Martin Australia
Enterprise operations
Corporate Headquarters Operations
Internal Corporate Functions: Ethics, Finance, HR, Legal, etc.
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories
Wholly owned corporate subsidiaries
ForwardEdge ASIC
Lockheed Martin Finance Corporation
LMC Properties
Joint ventures
International Launch Services (with Khrunichev, RSC Energia)
Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (with Alenia Aeronautica), now folded
MEADS International (with EADS and MBDA)
Space Imaging (46%, remainder public)
United Launch Alliance (with Boeing)
Javelin Joint Venture (with Raytheon)
Longbow LLC (with Northrop Grumman)
United Space Alliance (with Boeing)
Kelly Aviation Center (with GE and Rolls-Royce)
Protector USV – an unmanned surface vehicle (with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and BAE Systems)
Defense Support Services (DS2) with Day & Zimmermann
Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (with Indian company Tata Advanced Systems Limited)
Advanced Military Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Center (AMMROC) (with Mubadala Development Company)
Divested
Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE) Holding, Inc
SIM Industries (to CAE)
Corporate governance
Board of directors
The board of directors consists of 14 members. As of February 2016, members include:
Daniel Akerson (since 2014)
David Burritt (since 2008)
Bruce Carlson (since 2015)
Joseph F. Dunford (since 2020)
James Ellis (since 2004)
Thomas Falk (since 2010)
Ilene S. Gordon (since 2016)
Vicki A. Hollub (since 2018)
Jeh Johnson (since 2018)
Debra L. Reed-Klages (since 2019)
James D. Taiclet (since 2018)
Chief executive officer
Daniel Tellep (1995–1996)
Norman Augustine (1996–1997)
Vance Coffman (1997–2004)
Robert J. Stevens (2004–2012)
Marillyn Hewson (2013–2020)
James D. Taiclet (2020–present)
Chairman of the board
Robert J. Stevens (2005–2013)
Marillyn Hewson (2014–2021)
James D. Taiclet (2021-present)
Ownership
As of March 2020, Lockheed Martin shares are mainly held by institutional investors (State Street Corporation, Vanguard group, BlackRock, Capital Group Companies, and others).
Criticism
Lockheed Martin is listed as the largest U.S. government contractor and ranks first for the number of incidents, and fifth for the size of settlements on the 'contractor misconduct' database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. Since 1995, the company has agreed to pay $676.8 million to settle 88 instances of misconduct.In 2013, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan criticized the company's F-35 fighter program. The general said: "I want them both to start behaving like they want to be around for 40 years ... I want them to take on some of the risk of this program. I want them to invest in cost reductions. I want them to do the things that will build a better relationship. I'm not getting all that love yet." The criticism came in the wake of previous criticism from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates regarding the same program.
Lobbying
According to the magazine Politico, Lockheed Martin has "a political network that is already the envy of its competitors", and its contracts enjoy wide bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress thanks to it having "perfected the strategy of spreading jobs on weapons programs in key states and congressional districts". The company's 2010 lobbying expenditure by the third quarter was $9.9 million (2009 total: $13.7 million).Through its political action committee (PAC), the company provides low levels of financial support to candidates who advocate national defense and relevant business issues. It was the largest contributor to the House Armed Services Committee chairman, Republican Buck McKeon of California with over $50,000 donated in the election cycle as of January 2011. It also was the top donor to Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee before his death in 2012.Lockheed Martin Employees Political Action Committee is one of the 50 largest in the country, according to FEC data. With contributions from 3,000 employees, it donates $500,000 a year to about 260 House and Senate candidates.
Management
Senior management consists of the CEO, CFO, and Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) of four business areas. The EVPs are responsible for managing major programs.
On March 16, 2020, Lockheed announced that CEO Marillyn Hewson would become executive chair and be succeeded as CEO by James Taiclet on June 15; Taiclet was at the time the head of American Tower, and had previously been the president of Honeywell Aerospace and before that a VP at United Technologies. Lockheed also announced that it would create the chief operating officer role, to which current EVP Frank A. St John would be promoted.Employees in each program are organized into four tiers: Tier1 –Program Manager/VP, Tier2-Functional Teams (Finance, Chief Engineer, Quality, Operations, etc.), Tier3-Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) (Weapon System Development, Weapon System Integration, etc.), and Tier4-detailed product development. Floor or touch workers belong to component assembly teams. Lockheed Martin manages and maintains its relationship with these touch workers through its supervisors and unions.Lockheed Martin manages employees through its Full Spectrum Leadership and LM21 programs. The LM21 program relies on Six Sigma principles, which are techniques to improve efficiency. Senior management constructs leadership councils and assigns managers to facilitate Kaizen events, which target specific processes for improvement. A manager facilitates teams and processes stakeholders and suppliers to streamline process implementation.Tier2 Functional Leads and Tier3 IPT Leads report to Tier1. IPT leads are responsible for entire systems or products defined by the contract's Statement of Work.To control quality, Lockheed Martin trains and builds IPT teams. and ensures that work is executed correctly through a Technical Performance Measure (TPM) system which emphasizes its Lean and 6 Sigma processes. Middle management uses commitment mechanisms that parallel high commitment and human relations theory.Floor employees assemble aircraft using Flow-to-takt lean manufacturing process which uses properties from both division of labor and scientific management. By separating tasks based on parts, Lockheed Martin utilizes the division of labor theory, specialization on a specific area creates efficiency.
Double Helix methodology
The "Double Helix methodology" is a systems development methodology used by Lockheed Martin. It combines experimentation, technology, and a warfighter's concept of operations to create new tactics and weapons.
See also
Defense contractor – table of comparable companies
Lockheed Martin Maintenance Trophy
Top 100 US Federal Contractors
Lockheed Martin shooting
References
Further reading
William D. Hartung. Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. Nation Books, 2010. ISBN 9781568584201.
"A Security Analyst Wins Big in Court". Time magazine
"Lockheed Wins Contract to Build NASA's New Spaceship". Washington Post
"Jury Slaps Defense Giant for Neglecting National Security". ABC News
"NASA: Mars Surveyor Was Doomed By Humans". CBS News
"Lockheed Fined Over Secrets Breach". BBC News
"Coast Guard Failed to Properly Oversee Contracts, Officials Say". Washington Post
Ceremonial event planned for final F-22 Raptor
External links
Official website
Business data for Lockheed Martin:
Lockheed Martin Corporation recipient profile on USAspending.gov
FAS, history and key dates
Prepar3D(R): Visual flight simulation software development kit for computers
Lockheed Martin at SourceWatch
"Patents owned by Lockheed Martin". US Patent & Trademark Office. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2005. |
dasani | Dasani () is an American brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola Company, launched in 1999. It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world. The product is filtered and bottled.
Marketing
United States
Coca-Cola uses water from local municipal water supplies, filters it using the process of reverse osmosis, and adds trace amounts of minerals, including magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt), potassium chloride and sodium chloride (table salt).
Coca-Cola announced that they would be distributing Dasani water in new packaging comprising 30 percent plant-derived plastics. Unlike other plant-based packaging, the bottles are compatible with standard recycling plants and represent up to a 25-percent reduction in carbon emissions compared to standard water bottles, though this still represents an energy consumption two thousand times that of tap water.
Canada
Dasani was launched in all provinces of Canada except Quebec in 2000, a year after launching in the United States. The brand was made available in Quebec shortly afterwards, in April 2001.
There are six common Dasani bottle sizes sold in Canada: 355 mL (12 US fl oz), 500mL, 591 mL (20 US fl oz), 710 mL (24 US fl oz), 1 L, and 1.5 L. Bottles are sold individually and in packs of 6, 12, and 24.
The first Dasani bottling plant in Canada was Calgary, Alberta. A second plant was later opened in Brampton, Ontario. The Calgary and Brampton plants produce Coca-Cola's plain-water (Dasani) and sugar-water (soft drinks) products. The company's administrative and marketing activities continue to be based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dasani has <35 ppm of total dissolved mineral salts.
Latin America
Dasani was introduced to the Brazilian market in mid-2003, renamed as Aquarius. It was introduced to the Chilean market in 2005, including releases in regular, lemon and tangerine flavors. It was released in Colombia in late 2005 with their three regular flavors. In 2005, Dasani was introduced in the Argentinian market with the flavours peach, lemon, citrus and regular. It was also released under the name Ciel Dasani in Mexico in four flavours: lemon-cucumber, papaya-carrot, grapefruit and mandarin-green tea, but it was discontinued in 2006. It was also released in Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Honduras.
United Kingdom
Dasani was launched in the UK on 10 February 2004. The product launch was labelled "a disaster", a "fiasco", and a "PR catastrophe".Prior to the launch, an article in The Grocer trade magazine had stated that the source of the Dasani brand water was treated tap water from Sidcup, a suburban area on the outskirts of London. By early March 2004, the mainstream press had picked up the story and it became widely reported that Sidcup tap water, after being processed, was being sold under the Dasani brand name in the UK. Although Coca-Cola never stated that the water was being sourced from a spring or other natural sources, they marketed it as being especially "pure". This led the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to request Hillingdon trading standards officers to launch an investigation into whether the claim was accurate.Richard May, Chief Publicity Officer of Dasani, was said to be disappointed that the water had not been more successful.
On 18 March 2004, UK authorities found a batch was contaminated with levels of bromate, a suspected human carcinogen, in a concentration above the legal limit for sale, although the FSA announced there was "no immediate risk to public health" from the contamination. Coca-Cola immediately recalled half a million bottles and withdrew the "Dasani" brand from the UK market.The launch, and later contamination scandal, drew comparisons in the press with a 1992 episode of popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses, "Mother Nature's Son" in which lead character Del Boy (David Jason) hatches a scheme selling tap water bottled in his council flat in Peckham—nine miles from Sidcup. As a result, Coca-Cola cancelled plans to expand the brand to continental Europe.In line with the 2012 Summer Olympics and being the official drink sponsor, Coca-Cola decided not to reintroduce the Dasani brand to the UK market, and purchased the Morpeth, Northumberland-based Abbey Well bottler in 2008, branded under the Schweppes brand name (to which Coca-Cola holds the UK rights) to provide a locally sourced water brand for the event. To meet Olympic branding regulations, Abbey Well water was labeled as "Still Water" for on-camera appearances during the Games.
Water sources and purification process
Sources
Dasani is largely sourced from municipal supplies and then filtered in bottled water plants before being bottled. Places Dasani sources its water from include: California, Minnesota, Arizona, Colorado, and Michigan. Dasani also bottles internationally, in locations such as Kent in the United Kingdom and Malaysia.
Filtration and purification process
This filtration process consists of a multi-barrier treatment system reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration to remove impurities. Coca-Cola claims that this process provides a consistent taste, though the content within the bottles may vary across the world, depending on their source, despite frequent testing to ensure they meet FDA standards for purified water. Some states allow bottled water plants to meet Safe Drinking Water Act standards instead, so not even all Dasani bottles may be held to the same standard.
Environmental issues
Dasani sources water from municipal pool water in California locations, even during drought years. Coca-Cola is not required to report how much water it processes and bottles at these plants. Bottled water is an exception to the rule about how much water can be taken out of the Great Lakes Basin. Bottled water takes extra energy to produce from filtration, production of bottles, and transportation costs.
Sustainability
Aluminum bottles and cans
In the summer of 2019, Coke announced that Dasani would become available in aluminum cans. This new line began in the Northeast US in September, and should spread through the rest of the US in 2020. This will not entirely replace their production of plastic bottles. Whether this is environmentally beneficial can be argued: aluminum is more often and more efficiently recycled, but producing one aluminum can produce 1,300g carbon dioxide emissions, which is much more than the 330g it takes to produce one plastic bottle of the same size. Less power is needed to transport and refrigerate canned beverages, which reduces the carbon footprints of cans. Additionally, although 69% of aluminum cans are recycled worldwide, this percentage is significantly lower for plastic.
PureFill
In 2019, Coke announced Dasani Purefill, a program in which customers can refill their bottles with filtered water for free. Adding flavors or carbonation will cost extra. This is predicted to reduce the number of bottles used.
PlantBottle
Coke released a Dasani bottle composed of both plants and recycled plastic, which they say will reduce their plastic bottle production by 1 billion plastic bottles over the next 5 years. This PlantBottle is still recyclable, just like PET plastic. The composition of this bottle will be up to 50% recycled plastic, up to 30% plants, and new plastic. This makes Coca-Cola the largest bioplastic user in the world. Coca-Cola plans to eventually switch to 100% bio-plastic bottles.
Carbon footprint
Having multiple bottling water facilities across the world reduces energy used for transportation. Cans have a larger carbon footprint than plastic bottles, so this switch to aluminum cans may overall increase Dasani's carbon footprint.
"How2Recycle" Labels
In 2020, Dasani will premier new labels for their bottles with instructions on recycling, referred to as "How2Recycle" labels. The "How2Recycle" label was invented by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and GreenBlue, and can already be found on other products.
Health issues and water contaminants
Dasani water has been found to contain microplastics. Microplastics may be linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, reproductive problems, and attention deficit disorder and many more disorders/diseases.
Public litter issues
Grand Canyon
Plastic bottles account for 30% of the waste in the Grand Canyon, where Dasani water is the water sold by the parks. The National Park Service considered banning plastic bottles in the park. The Grand Canyon officially banned bottled water in 2012.
References and footnotes
See also
Deep River Rock – a brand of tap water, produced by Coca-Cola, sold throughout Ireland
External links
Official website – United States
Official website – Canada
"Coke Announces Dasani Water". Beverage Digest. February 1999. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2006. |
first quantum minerals | First Quantum Minerals is a Canadian-based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining. Its main product is copper, which accounts for 80% of revenues as of 2016.First Quantum's common shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada (symbol "FM"). Until 2016, First Quantum also maintained a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (symbol "FQM"), in the United Kingdom.
History
First Quantum was founded in 1983 under the name Xenium Resources. It changed its name to Zeal Capital in 1989, First Quantum Ventures in 1993, and First Quantum Minerals in 1996. Its first significant operation was the Bwana Mkubwa mine in Zambia, acquired in 1996.In 2000, First Quantum acquired a partial interest in Mopani Copper Mines, a Zambian copper company. In 2001, it opened the Lonshi Copper Mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Also in 2001, the company acquired the Kansanshi mine in Zambia.
In 2006 First Quantum acquired London-based Adastra Minerals for £140,000,000 in cash and stock. In 2008, First Quantum acquired Toronto-based Scandinavian Minerals Ltd developing the Kevitsa mine in Lapland, northern Finland. In December 2009, First Quantum acquired the Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine in Western Australia for US$340 million from BHP Billiton. In October 2010, First Quantum announced plans to acquire Antares Minerals for $450 million. In November 2010, First Quantum sold its stake in Equinox Minerals. In April 2013, First Quantum successfully completed a hostile takeover of Inmet Mining for CAD$5.1 billion. In June 2013, it was announced that FQM would have to lay off 500 workers at the Sentinel mine in Zambia as it could not sustain their upkeep while waiting for the lifting of a protection order on its operations from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency.In 2016, it sold the Kevista mine to Boliden AB for US$712 million. In March 2017 First Quantum announced it had launched a $1.6 billion offering of Senior Notes due 2023 and 2025. In December 2017, First Quantum was announced as "the major mining company that will complete the Pebble Limited Partnership" by Ron Thiessen, president and CEO of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., which is currently the sole owner of the Pebble Partnership.In 2016, First Quantum was ranked as being among the 13th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in the Arctic.In December 2019, Chinese state company Jiangxi Copper agreed to buy a subsidiary of First Quantum's largest shareholder, Pangaea Investment Management Ltd, which holds 17.6 percent of First Quantum, causing shares to spike up to five percent.In January 2022, negotiations between the Government of Panama and FQM started to define a new contract concerning the Cobre Panama mine. First Quantum's subsidiary Minera Panamá S. A. made proposals to the Government of Panamá including yearly payments of US$375 million in tax and royalty revenue. These payments were offered under the condition that metal prices and profitability of this mine would not drop significantly. However, the Government of Panamá halted discussions in December 2022 and announced plans to order the suspension of operations at this mine.
In February 2023, the Cobre Panama mine suspended ore processing operations after copper concentrate loading operations at Port Rincón were haltet due to a resolution issued by the Panamá Maritime Authority. Ship loading and ore processing resumed on March 8, 2023. The congress of Panamá approved the revised contract concerning the Cobre Panama mine as Bill 1100 in October 2023, which was signed by the President of Panamá as Law 406. Protests led to a moratorium on metallic mining throughout the country, "for an indefinite term", excluding already approved concessions, through Bill 1110, which was approved with 59 votes by the National Assembly (AN), on November 3, 2023. However, the constitutionality of the already approved new concession between the Government of Panana and Minera Panamá S. A. was questioned, leading to more uncertainty. These concessions have led to massive protests in many places of the country that are still ongoing (as of November 4th, 2023), with the protesters accusing the government of corruption and accepting bribes in order to give overly favorable conditions to the company.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Kolwezi tailings project was a major project to extract copper and cobalt from the tailings of older mining operations around Kolwezi. It was expected to produce around 70,000 tonnes per year of copper metal and up to 14,000 tonnes per year of cobalt hydroxide.
In August 2009, the DRC government revoked First Quantum's license due to a dispute over renegotiating the contract. First Quantum ceased operations in September 2009, putting 700 people out of work. First Quantum had spent $750 million on acquiring and developing the property. First Quantum took out an action against the DRC government in the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration.The Frontier Mine is an open pit copper mine located near Sakania.
First Quantum obtained exploration licenses in January 2001 and July 2002. Production began in 2007, and in 2010 the mine yielded 322,700 tonnes of copper. The Lonshi Mine is an open pit copper mine that produces high-grade oxide ore that was transported to Zambia for processing at the Bwana Mkubwa SX/EW plant 35 kilometres (22 mi) away. The mine was closed after the governor of Katanga Province, Moses Katumbi, banned the export of ore to Zambia, insisting that it should be refined in Katanga. In May 2010, a Congolese court ruled that FQM's Lonshi and Frontier copper mines had been awarded illegally and that they should revert to state-owned Sodimico. According to FQM, the ruling was due to FQM's decision to contest the expropriation of its Kolwezi tailings project, which was later sold to the Kazakh mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation.
Operations
First Quantum currently operates mines and development projects in Africa, Australia, Finland, Spain, Turkey and Latin America. In 2022 First Quantum produced 775,859 tonnes of copper, 21,529 tonnes contained tonnes of nickel, 283,226 ounces of gold. Copper was responsible for 86% of revenues, gold 5% and nickel 6%. As of December 2022, First Quantum operates seven mines.
Operating Mines
Kansanshi mine, near Solwezi in Zambia. Main product copper, by-product gold. Open-pit mine, opened in 2005
Guelb Mohgrein Mine, near Akjoujt, Mauritania. Main product copper, by-product gold. Open pit mine, opened 2006
Sentinel Mine, a copper mine in north-west Zambia opened to commercial production in 2016
Çayeli mine, a copper/zinc mine in eastern Turkey. This mine was acquired through the take-over of Inmet Mining Corporation, and started production in 1994
Las Cruces mine, a copper mine in Sevilla Province, Spain, acquired through the take-over of Inmet Mining Corporation
Pyhäsalmi mine, a copper/zinc mine in central Finland, acquired through the take-over of Inmet Mining Corporation
Cobre mine, Panama, a copper mine in Panama acquired through Inmet Mining Corporation, which started commercial production in 2019.
Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine, a nickel mine in Western Australia, opened in December 2011, mothballed in 2017. Brought into production again in 2020.
Other Investments/Projects
Partial interest in Mopani Copper Mines, Zambia
Fishtie copper project in Central Province, Zambia. At the end of September 2012, First Quantum Minerals announced that it had entered into a joint venture with a Zambian-based mining company called Mimosa Resources. The purpose of the venture is to develop the Fishtie copper project in the Mkushi District near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Taca Taca, a copper project in the Puna de Atacama region in Salta Province, Argentina, acquired through the purchase of Lumina Copper in 2014
A copper project in Panama, Cocle and Colon, which has led to multiple protests in the country in 2023
Haquira mine, a copper deposit in the Apurímac Region in southern Peru acquired through the purchase of Antares Minerals in 2010
Pebble Mine, in Lake and Peninsula Borough near Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska, United States, the most significant undeveloped copper and gold resource in the world. Pending an option agreement to purchase 50% interest in the PLP
Former/Mothballed Mines
Bwana Mkubwa in Copperbelt Province, Zambia, a copper SX/EW plant and mine. This mine was closed in 2010.
Kevitsa mine, Sodankylä, Finland. Main products are nickel and copper, by product PGE elements. Open pit mine opened in August 2012, and sold in June 2016 to Boliden AB.
Troilus Gold-Copper Mine, closed in 2008 by Inmet, located in northern Quebec, Canada
Winston Lake zinc-copper mine, near Winston Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. This mine was closed in 1998 by Inmet.
Sturgeon Lake copper-zinc mine, closed, located near Sturgeon Lake, Kenora District, northwestern Ontario.
Carbon footprint
First Quantum Minerals reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2019 at 3,539 Kt (+1,706/+93% year-over-year).
References
External links
First Quantum Minerals - official site
SEDAR profile |
lowe's | Lowe's Companies, Inc. () is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of Oct. 28, 2022, Lowe's and its related businesses operated 2,181 home improvement and hardware stores in North America.Lowe's is the second-largest hardware chain in the United States (previously the largest in the U.S. until surpassed by The Home Depot in 1989) behind rival The Home Depot and ahead of Menards. It is also the second-largest hardware chain in the world, also behind The Home Depot but ahead of European retailers Leroy Merlin, B&Q, and OBI.The company previously operated in Australia through the Masters Home Improvement joint venture until 2016, in Mexico until 2019, and in Canada until selling its operations (which will be consolidated under the Rona brand) to Sycamore Partners in 2023.
History
The first Lowe's store, North Wilkesboro Hardware, opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1921 by Lucius Smith Lowe. After Lowe died in 1940, the business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth Buchan, who sold the company to her brother, James Lowe, that same year. James took on his brother-in-law Carl Buchan as a partner in 1943.
Buchan anticipated the dramatic increase in construction after World War II, and under his management, the store focused on hardware and building materials. Before then, the product mix had also included notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. The company bought a second location in Sparta, North Carolina, in 1949.In 1952, Buchan became the sole owner of Lowe's and the company was incorporated as Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware. In 1954, Jim Lowe started the Lowes Foods grocery store chain.In 1960, Buchan died of a heart attack at age 44. His five-man executive team, which included Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961 under the name Lowe's Companies Inc. By 1962, Lowe's operated 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million. Lowe's began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979.Lowe's has since grown nationally, as it was aided by the purchase of the Renton, Washington–based Eagle Hardware & Garden company in 1999. The first store outside the United States was in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. According to its website, Lowe's has operated/serviced more than 2,355 locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico alone, although the Mexican stores were closed in the late 2010s.Lowe's formerly operated in Mexico with 14 locations: 8 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, 1 in Saltillo, Coahuila, 1 in Hermosillo, Sonora, 1 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, 1 in Culiacán, Sinaloa, 1 in Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes and 1 in León, Guanajuato. Lowe's Mexico closed all its stores on April 10, 2019.In 2023, Lowe's sold its Canadian retail business, based in Boucherville, Quebec, to Sycamore Partners for $400 million in cash. They will all be consolidated into Rona stores.
Finances
In 2020, for the May–July yearly quarter, the company reported sales of $27.3 billion; in 2019, for the same period, the firm had reported sales of $21 billion. The digital sales for the same period also were up to 135%. The sales surges were a result of consumers switching their buying habits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seventy five percent of the company's revenue comes from do it yourself consumers.
Historical data
For the fiscal year 2019 (2/1/2019-1/31/2020), Lowe's reported earnings of US$4.281 billion, with an annual revenue of US$72.148 billion, an increase of 1.17% over the previous fiscal cycle. Lowe's shares traded at over $116 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$90.32 billion in January 2020. Lowe's ranked No. 42 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. Lowes announced a $10 billion stock buyback at the end of 2018 to begin in 2019, while trimming jobs.For the fiscal year 2018, Lowe's reported earnings of US$2.314 billion, with an annual revenue of US$71.309 billion, an increase of 3.92% over the previous fiscal cycle. Lowe's shares traded at over $96 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$75.8 billion in October 2018. Lowe's ranked No. 40 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Headquarters
In 1998, Lowe's purchased the Wilkes Mall in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to serve as the company's headquarters. In 2002, Lowe's acquired full control over the 440,000 square feet (41,000 m2) building after the 10 remaining mall tenants vacated the property. A year later, Lowe's constructed and relocated the corporate headquarters to a new, 350-acre campus in Mooresville, North Carolina. The new facility contains a five-story and two seven-story buildings. The building has a central atrium and two office wings; the atrium houses a food court, a five-story spiral staircase, and meeting, and reception rooms. A 7-acre (2.8 ha) lake flows underneath the headquarters building.Lowe's maintained its former headquarters in Wilkesboro, where it employed over 2,400 people until 2019. In 2011, Lowe's invested $10 million in improvements and renovations in the property, including a full-service food court, coffee shop, health center, as well as gating the entire property with an addition of a guardhouse. All positions have since been relocated and the former Wilkes corporate office is vacant, although still owned by Lowe's.
In addition to Wilkesboro, Lowe's formerly operated a customer contact center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, both of which quietly closed in 2023. Currently, there are customer contact centers in Indianapolis, Indiana and India.
On June 27, 2019, Lowe's announced the construction of a $153 million, 23-story tower in Charlotte's fast-growing South End neighborhood, which will be completed by 2020 and eventually house 2000 employees, 400 of which will move from the headquarters. The new tower will house a "global technology hub" for Lowe's. The state of North Carolina is providing $54 million in incentives provided Lowe's meets certain goals.
Environmental record
Lowe's won eight consecutive Energy Star awards from 2003 to 2010, including four Energy Star Partner of the Year awards for educating consumers about the benefits of energy efficiency. On March 1, 2010, Lowe's also became the first winner of the Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award in Retail, to recognize its contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by promoting energy-efficient products and educating consumers and employees on the value of the Energy Star program. In 2000, Lowe's released a policy promising that all wood products sold would not be sourced from rainforests. However, according to a 2006 report released by the Environmental Investigation Agency, wood used in flooring by Armstrong Flooring that Lowe's was selling had been coming from the forests of Indonesia’s remote Papua Province, where some logging was estimated to be illegal. According to the Telepak report, which was the sole basis of the EIA allegations, Armstrong commissioned an independent audit of Kreasi's merbau supplies over the last 18 month which found documentation relating to the source of the company's merbau logs in Papua, and based on this, Armstrong decided to continue to trade in merbau supplied by Kreasi. The cited report dates to 2006 and Lowe's continues to claim its wood products come from known sources; is legally harvested and traded, and more.On April 17, 2014, Lowe's paid a $500,000 penalty for violations of the federal Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule, which require renovation contractors, such as window and carpet installers to manage the risk of lead dust when renovating customer homes. As of 2022, this is the largest RRP violation to ever occur. In the words of the EPA, "“This settlement will ensure that not only children in southern Illinois, but children throughout the United States will be better protected from the known hazards associated with lead exposure".
On March 6, 2020, Lowe's paid a $1,600,000 fine for violating California's air quality regulations. This includes violations in NOx emissions from ovens and asbestos from demolition/renovation activities.
Carbon footprint
Lowe's reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 1,971 Kt (-138 /-6.5% y-o-y). Lowe's plans to reduce emissions 40% by 2025 from a 2016 base year.
Labor relations
In August 2022, the company announced that it was awarding $55 million in bonus income to front-line workers, and that it was offering staff discounts on common household and cleaning items in light of recent inflationary pressures.
Advertising and sponsorships
In January 2019, Lowes became the official home improvement sponsor of the National Football League.
Racing sponsorships
Lowe's purchased naming rights to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1998, and the speedway changed names to Lowe's Motor Speedway. After the ten-year naming rights expired, Lowe's extended naming rights by one year. After the one-year extension expired, Lowe's discontinued naming rights, and as of the 2010 racing season the racetrack returned to its original name.
The corporation was the primary sponsor for 7-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and it was a part-time sponsor of the former No. 5 Nationwide Series car; both teams are owned by Hendrick Motorsports. Prior to the current sponsorship deal with Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe's was the sponsor of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing driven by Mike Skinner and Robby Gordon from 1997 to 2001. Prior to the RCR deal, Lowe's was the primary sponsor of the No. 11 Ford driven by Brett Bodine for Junior Johnson & Associates and later his own team, Brett Bodine Racing (after Bodine bought the No. 11 from Johnson). One of the company's earliest forays into racing sponsorship was in 1979, when it sponsored the No. 2 Buick of the Rod Osterlund team in what was then known the Winston Cup Series, for the Talladega 500. The car was driven in that race by David Pearson, subbing for injured rookie Dale Earnhardt. Lowe's would continue with sporadic car sponsorship throughout the next two decades until the aforementioned Bodine sponsorship in 1995. On March 14, 2018, Lowe's announced it would end sponsorship of the No. 48 car after the 2018 season thereby ending all involvement in Motorsports.Lowe's also sponsored Fernandez Racing in the American Le Mans Series and previously sponsored the team in the Rolex Sports Car Series; in that series, Lowe's sponsored the No. 99 Gainsco Stallings Racing Pontiac in events where Johnson was driving.
In 2006, Lowe's contracted designer Marianne Cusato to develop and offer affordable house plans for the hurricane-affected Gulf region. Lowe's is the exclusive retailer for both the plans and building materials for the Lowe's Katrina Cottage. They offer easy construction and affordability, as well as the possibility of expansion. Moreover, they meet all international building codes and exceed hurricane codes. Lowe's discontinued the Katrina Cottage line in 2011.
Lowe's has a wide variety of television and radio commercials. A significant number of different racing-inspired commercials can be seen and are often played outside of television race coverage. Before 2010, when he was replaced by Ben Yannette, Gene Hackman's voice could be heard on many commercial advertisements for Lowe's.
All-American Muslim advertising controversy
Lowe's withdrew its advertising from the TLC reality television show All-American Muslim in December 2011. A spokesperson for Lowe's said that "we understand the program raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show".Lowe's faced a backlash from several quarters, including Muslim-American and Arab-American organizations. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee called upon members to contact Lowe's to urge it to reverse its position. The Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations met to consider possible actions, including boycotts and protests. Several celebrities also called for a boycott. California State Senator Ted Lieu called Lowe's decision "naked religious bigotry" and said he would consider legislative action if Lowe's did not apologize to Muslim-Americans and reinstate the ads. Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League expressed similar views. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, criticized Lowe's decision to "uphold the beliefs of a fringe hate group and not the creed of the First Amendment". Representative John Conyers of Michigan called on Lowe's to apologize. Michigan state representative Rashida Tlaib contacted the company's corporate headquarters, reporting that Lowe's declined to change its decision.
Associated brands
Kobalt tools
allen+roth
Canada
Lowe's opened its first three stores in Canada on December 10, 2007, in Hamilton, Brampton and Brantford. On February 1, 2008, they opened three more stores in Toronto, East Gwillimbury, and a second store in Brampton as well as a new location in Maple (Vaughan). Lowe's also expanded into western Canada, starting with three new stores in Calgary, Alberta. One of the three locations opened in late September 2010. The other two opened in early 2011. There are now stores in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. To date (2018) Lowe's has 62 locations in Canada. Each store represents an average investment of $20.5 million (US$20.4 million).In February 2013, Lowe's Canada hired former Walmart Canada and Loblaw Companies executive Sylvain Prud'homme as CEO.On May 11, 2015, Lowe's Canada announced that it would acquire the leases of 13 former Target Canada stores, as well as an Ontario distribution centre, for $151 million.In 2012, Lowe's attempted to buy Rona, Inc., a Quebec-based hardware chain. However, the deal was met with objections from RONA shareholders (particularly the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec) and operators of its franchised locations over concerns that the company could centralize its supply operations in the United States, and was eventually called off. On February 3, 2016, Rona announced that it had accepted an offer to be acquired by Lowe's for CDN$3.2 billion, pending regulatory and shareholder approval. The division would remain under the leadership of Sylvain Prud'homme but would be operated out of Rona's headquarters in Boucherville. Lowe's maintained Rona's retail banners, "key" executives, and the "vast majority of its current employees" post-acquisition.In February 2020, Lowe's closed 34 lower performance stores, 26 that were under the Rona brand, 6 Lowe's stores, and 2 Réno-Dépôt stores.In November 2022, Lowe's agreed to sell its Canadian operations to the private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $400 million. with the Lowe's stores expected to be rebranded under the Rona brand in the future. The sale was completed on February 3, 2023. In July 2023, Rona announced that it would begin to replace Lowe's with the new banner Rona+, beginning with 10 locations in Ontario.
Australia
Trading as Masters Home Improvement, the first store opened in Braybrook, Victoria, to tradesmen on August 31, 2011, and later to the general public. Masters was a joint venture between Lowe's and Woolworths to compete against the Wesfarmers owned Bunnings Warehouse, which operates in the large bigbox format similar to Lowe's and Home Depot.
On 18 January 2016, Woolworths announced that it intended to "either sell or wind up" all its home improvement areas, including the Masters hardware chain. Chairman Gordon Cairns said that it would take years to become profitable and that the ongoing losses could not be sustained. The windup involved Woolworths buying back a 33.3 per cent interest in the venture, held by the Lowe's subsidiary WDR Delaware Corporation. As of 28 August 2016, all stores were due to cease trading on, or before, December 11, 2016.
Lawsuits
Lowe's was involved in a small cluster of class action lawsuits that revolved around the employee payment system. The cases focused on a pay practice known as "variable rate overtime". Variable-rate overtime has the effect of paying a decreasing overtime rate the more hours a person works in a week. The suits alleged that salaried managers who worked 40 to 50 hours per week were improperly compensated for that time. The variable rate overtime ended in the first quarter of 2006.The first case was filed in October 2002 by employees of the Lowe's store in Shawnee, Kansas. In September 2005, the cases were certified as a class action. Four similar briefs were filed in New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The lawsuits for New York, Indiana, and Kansas resulted in an out-of-court settlement on September 22, 2006. The lawsuit in Pennsylvania became a class-action lawsuit in June 2004, with 550 employees. The case in Ohio was filed by ten former Lowe's employees in August 2004.Lowe's faced multiple lawsuits from its Loss Prevention Managers citing that they were classified as exempt employees and therefore denied overtime pay. The managers asserted that they were forced to work a minimum of 48 hours per week which saved Lowe's and its investors millions of dollars every year. Lawsuits have been settled for $2.95 million in California and $6.2 million in Texas.In 2014, Lowe's faced a class-action lawsuit from former and current Human Resource Managers. Similarly to the lawsuit regarding its Loss Prevention Managers, the lawsuit stated that the HR Managers were improperly, and illegally, classified as exempt employees and were, therefore, denied overtime even though they were required to work 48-hour weeks.
See also
United States portal
Companies portal
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Lowe's: |
china steel | There is an unrelated raw material processing company named Sinosteel based in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China).China Steel Corporation (CSC; Chinese: 中國鋼鐵股份有限公司; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gāngtiě Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is the largest integrated steel maker in Taiwan. Its main steel mill is located in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung. The corporation and its sister companies are administrated under the CSC Group. According to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), China Steel is the 23rd largest steel producer in the world in 2016.
History
China Steel was planned and organized in 1960s and the corporation was officially established on December 3, 1971. Its adoption of the continuous casting production process, which was later computerized, obtained for the company international competitiveness. On November 1, 1974, CSC began the first stage of construction. Its head office was located in Taipei between 1971 and 1975, but translocated to Kaohsiung since September 15, 1975.
The first blast furnace was launched on June 27, 1977. A few months later, the first stage of the building plan of the steel mill was accomplished. The second and the third stage were subsequently accomplished in 1982 and 1988, respectively. Presently, the company has a total of four blast furnaces.
CSC was started as a non-governmental company. It once transformed into a state-owned company on July 1, 1977 and subsequently re-privatized on April 12, 1995. Although CSC is a de jure non-governmental company at present, the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) still owns a large portion of its stocks, thus the chairman of the company is appointed by the government.
Carbon footprint
China Steel reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 19,579 Kt (-1,954 /-9.1% y-o-y).
See also
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, China Steel 22.5% shareholding since 2017
List of companies of Taiwan
Ten Major Construction Projects
References
External links
China Steel Corporation
History of China Steel Corporation |
honeywell | Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance materials and technologies (PMT), and safety and productivity solutions (SPS).Honeywell is a Fortune 500 company, ranked 115th in 2023. In 2022, the corporation had a global workforce of approximately 97,000 employees, down from 113,000 in 2019. The current chairman is Darius Adamczyk and the chief executive officer (CEO) is Vimal Kapur.The corporation's current name, Honeywell International Inc., is a product of the merger of Honeywell Inc. and AlliedSignal in 1999. The corporation headquarters were consolidated with AlliedSignal's headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey; however, the combined company chose the name "Honeywell" because of the considerable brand recognition. Honeywell was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index from 1999 to 2008. Prior to 1999, its corporate predecessors were included dating back to 1925, including early entrants in the computing and thermostat industries.In 2020, Honeywell rejoined the Dow Jones Industrial Average index and the following year moved its stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq.
History
The Butz Thermo-Electric Regulator Company was founded in 1885 when the Swiss-born Albert Butz invented the damper-flapper, a thermostat used to control coal furnaces, bringing automated heating system regulation into homes. The following year he founded the Butz Thermo-Electric Regulator Company. In 1888, after a falling out with his investors, Butz left the company and transferred the patents to the legal firm Paul, Sanford, and Merwin, who renamed the company the Consolidated Temperature Controlling Company. As the years passed, CTCC struggled with debt, and the company underwent several name changes. After it was renamed the Electric Heat Regulator Company in 1893, W.R. Sweatt, a stockholder in the company, was sold "an extensive list of patents" and named secretary-treasurer.: 22 By 1900, Sweatt had bought out the remaining shares of the company from the other stockholders.
1906 Honeywell Heating Specialty Company founded
In 1906, Mark Honeywell founded the Honeywell Heating Specialty Company in Wabash, Indiana, to manufacture and market his invention, the mercury seal generator.
1922–1934 Mergers and acquisitions
As Honeywell's company grew (thanks in part to the acquisition of Jewell Manufacturing Company in 1922 to better automate his heating system) it began to clash with the Electric Heat Regulator Company now-renamed Minneapolis Heat Regulator Company. This led to the merging of both companies into the publicly-held Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company in 1927. Honeywell was named the company's first president, alongside W.R. Sweatt as its first chairman.The combined assets were valued at over $3.5 million, with less than $1 million in liabilities just months before Black Monday.: 49 In 1931, Minneapolis-Honeywell began a period of expansion and acquisition when they purchased Time-O-Stat Controls Company, giving the company access to a greater number of patents to be used in their controls systems.
W.R. Sweatt and his son Harold provided 75 years of uninterrupted leadership for the company. W.R. Sweatt survived rough spots and turned an innovative idea – thermostatic heating control – into a thriving business.
1934–1941 International growth
Harold, who took over in 1934, led Honeywell through a period of growth and global expansion that set the stage for Honeywell to become a global technology leader. The merger into the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company proved to be a saving grace for the corporation.
1934 marked Minneapolis-Honeywell's first foray into the international market, when they acquired the Brown Instrument Company and inherited their relationship with the Yamatake Company of Tokyo, a Japan-based distributor.: 51 Later that same year, Minneapolis-Honeywell would also start distributorships across Canada, as well as one in the Netherlands, their first European office. This expansion into international markets continued in 1936, with their first distributorship in London, as well as their first foreign assembly facility being established in Canada. By 1937, ten years after the merger, Minneapolis-Honeywell had over 3,000 employees, with $16 million in annual revenue.
World War II
With the outbreak of World War II, Minneapolis-Honeywell was approached by the US military for engineering and manufacturing projects. In 1941, Minneapolis-Honeywell developed a superior tank periscope, camera stabilizers, and the C-1 autopilot.
The C-1 revolutionized precision bombing and was ultimately used on the two B-29 bombers that dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. The success of these projects led Minneapolis-Honeywell to open an Aero division in Chicago on October 5, 1942.: 73 This division was responsible for the development of the formation stick to control autopilots, more accurate fuel quantity indicators for aircraft, and the turbo supercharger.: 79 In 1950, Minneapolis-Honeywell's Aero division was contracted for the controls on the first US nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus.: 88 The following year, the company acquired Intervox Company for their sonar, ultrasonic, and telemetry technologies. Honeywell also helped develop and manufacture the RUR-5 ASROC for the US Navy.
1950–1970s
In 1953, in cooperation with the USAF Wright-Air Development Center, Honeywell developed an automated control unit that could control an aircraft through various stages of a flight, from taxiing to takeoff to the point where the aircraft neared its destination and the pilot took over for landing. Called the Automatic Master Sequence Selector, the onboard control operated similarly to a player piano to relay instructions to the aircraft's autopilot at certain way points during the flight, significantly reducing the pilot's workload. Technologically, this effort had parallels to contemporary efforts in missile guidance and numerical control. Honeywell also developed the Wagtail missile with the USAF.
From the 1950s until the mid-1970s, Honeywell was the United States' importer of Japanese company Asahi Optical's Pentax cameras and photographic equipment.: 153 These products were labeled "Heiland Pentax" and "Honeywell Pentax" in the U.S. In 1953, Honeywell introduced their most famous product, the T-86 Round thermostat.: 110 In 1961, James H. Binger became Honeywell's president and in 1965 its chairman. On becoming chairman of Honeywell, Binger revamped the company sales approach, placing emphasis on profits rather than on volume. He also stepped up the company's international expansion – it had six plants producing 12% of the company's revenue. He also officially changed the company's corporate name from "Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co." to "Honeywell", to better represent their colloquial name. Throughout the 1960s, Honeywell continued to acquire other businesses, including Security Burglar Alarm Company in 1969.: 130 In the 1970s, after one member of a group called FREE on the Minneapolis campus (U of M) of the University of Minnesota asked five major companies with local offices to explain their attitudes toward gay men and women, three responded quickly, insisting that they did not discriminate against gay people in their hiring policies. Only Honeywell objected to hiring gay people. Later in the decade, when faced with a denial of access to students, Honeywell "quietly [reversed] its hiring policy".As well, the beginning of the 1970s saw Honeywell focus on process controls, with the company merging their computer operations with GE's information systems in 1970, and later acquiring GE's process control business.: 122 With the acquisition, Honeywell took over responsibility for GE's ongoing Multics operating system project. The design and features of Multics greatly influenced the Unix operating system. Multics also influenced many of the features of Honeywell/GE's GECOS and GCOS8 General Comprehensive Operating System operating systems. Honeywell, Groupe Bull, and Control Data Corporation formed a joint venture in Magnetic Peripherals Inc. which became a major player in the hard disk drive market. It was the worldwide leader in 14-inch disk drive technology in the OEM marketplace in the 1970s and early 1980s especially with its SMD (Storage Module Drive) and CMD (Cartridge Module Drive). In the second half of the 1970s, Honeywell started to look to international markets again, acquiring the French Compagnie Internationale pour l’Informatique in 1976.: 124 Eight years later, Honeywell formed Honeywell High Tech Trading to lease their foreign marketing and distribution to other companies abroad, in order to establish a better position in those markets.: 147 Under Binger's stewardship from 1961 to 1978 he expanded the company into such fields as defense, aerospace, and computing.
During and after the Vietnam Era, Honeywell's defense division produced a number of products, including cluster bombs, missile guidance systems, napalm, and land mines. Minnesota-Honeywell Corporation completed flight tests on an inertia guidance sub-system for the X-20 project at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, utilizing an NF-101B Voodoo by August 1963. The X-20 project was canceled in December 1963. The Honeywell project, founded in 1968, organized protests against the company to persuade it to abandon weapons productionIn 1980, Honeywell bought Incoterm Corporation to compete in both the airline reservations system networks and bank teller markets.
Honeywell Information Systems
On April 12, 1955, Minneapolis-Honeywell started a joint venture with Raytheon called Datamatic to enter the computer market and compete with IBM.: 118 Two years later, in 1957, their first computer, the DATAmatic 1000, was sold and installed. In 1960, just five years after embarking on this venture with Raytheon, Minneapolis-Honeywell bought Raytheon's interest in Datamatic and turned it into the Electronic Data Processing division, later Honeywell Information Systems (HIS) of Minneapolis-Honeywell.: 118 Honeywell also purchased minicomputer pioneer Computer Control Corporation (3C's) in 1966, renaming it as Honeywell's Computer Control Division. Through most of the 1960s, Honeywell was one of the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" of computing. IBM was "Snow White", while the dwarfs were the seven significantly smaller computer companies: Burroughs, Control Data Corporation, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and UNIVAC. Later, when their number had been reduced to five, they were known as "The BUNCH", after their initials: Burroughs, UNIVAC, NCR, Control Data Corporation, and Honeywell.In 1970, Honeywell acquired GE's computer business, rebadging General Electric's 600-series mainframes to Honeywell 6000 series computers, supporting GCOS, Multics, and CP-6, while forming Honeywell Information Systems. In 1973, they shipped a high speed non-impact printer called the Honeywell Page Printing System. In 1975, it purchased Xerox Data Systems, whose Sigma computers had a small but loyal customer base. Some of Honeywell's systems were minicomputers, such as their Series 60 Model 6 and Model 62 and their Honeywell 200; the latter was an attempt to penetrate the IBM 1401 market.
In 1987, HIS merged with Groupe Bull, a global joint venture with Compagnie des Machines Bull of France and NEC Corporation of Japan to become Honeywell Bull. In 1988 Honeywell Bull was consolidated into Groupe Bull and in 1989 renamed to Bull, a Worldwide Information Systems Company. By 1991, Honeywell was no longer involved in the computer business.
1985–1999 integrations
Aerospace and defense
1986 marked a new direction for Honeywell, beginning with the acquisition of the Sperry Aerospace Group from the Unisys Corporation. In 1990, Honeywell spun off their Defense and Marine Systems business into Alliant Techsystems, as well as their Test Instruments division and Signal Analysis Center to streamline the company's focus. Honeywell continues to supply aerospace products including electronic guidance systems, cockpit instrumentation, lighting, and primary propulsion and secondary power turbine engines. In 1996, Honeywell acquired Duracraft and began marketing its products in the home comfort sector.Honeywell is in the consortium that runs the Pantex Plant that assembles all of the nuclear bombs in the United States arsenal. Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, successor to the defense products of AlliedSignal, operates the Kansas City Plant which produces and assembles 85 percent of the non-nuclear components of the bombs.
Home and building controls
Honeywell also began the SmartHouse project to combine heating, cooling, security, lighting, and appliances into one easily controlled system. They continued the trend in 1987 by releasing new security systems, and fire and radon detectors. Five years later, in another streamlining effort, Honeywell combined their Residential Controls, Commercial Systems, and Protections Services divisions into Home and Building Control, which then acquired the Enviracare air cleaner business.: 183 By 1995, Honeywell had condensed into three divisions: Space and Aviation Control, Home and Building Control, and Industrial Control.
Industrial control
Honeywell dissolved its partnership with Yamatake Company and consolidated its Process Control Products Division, Process Management System Division, and Micro Switch Division into one Industrial Control Group. It has further acquired Measurex System and Leeds & Northrup to strengthen its portfolio.
1999–2002 merger, takeovers
AlliedSignal and Pittway
On June 7, 1999, Honeywell was acquired by AlliedSignal, who elected to retain the Honeywell name for its brand recognition. The former Honeywell moved their headquarters of 114 years to AlliedSignal's in Morristown, New Jersey. While "technically, the deal looks more like an acquisition than a merger...from a strategic standpoint, it is a merger of equals." AlliedSignal's 1998 revenue was reported at $15.1 billion to Honeywell's $8.4 billion, but together the companies share huge business interests in aerospace, chemical products, automotive parts, and building controls.
The corporate headquarters were consolidated to AlliedSignal's headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey, rather than Honeywell's former headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When Honeywell closed its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, over one thousand employees lost their jobs. A few moved to Morristown or other company locations, but the majority were forced to find new jobs or retire. Soon after the merger, the company's stock fell significantly, and did not return to its pre-merger level until 2007.
In 2000, the new Honeywell acquired Pittway for $2.2 billion to gain a greater share of the fire-protection and security systems market, and merged it into their Home and Building Control division, taking on Pittway's $167 million in debt. Analyst David Jarrett commented that "while Honeywell offered a hefty premium, it's still getting Pittway for a bargain" at $45.50 per share, despite closing at $29 the week before. Pittway's Ademco products complemented Honeywell's existing unified controls systems.
General Electric Company
In October 2000, Honeywell (then valued at over $21 billion) accepted a takeover bid from then-CEO Jack Welch of General Electric. The American Department of Justice cleared the merger, while "GE teams swooped down on Honeywell" and "GE executives took over budget planning and employee reviews." However, on July 3, 2001, the European Commission's competition commissioner, Mario Monti blocked the move. This decision was taken on the grounds that with GE's dominance of the large jet engine market (led by the General Electric CF34 turbofan engine), its leasing services (GECAS), and Honeywell's portfolio of regional jet engines and avionics, the new company would be able to "bundle" products and stifle competition through the creation of a horizontal monopoly. US regulators disagreed, finding that the merger would improve competition and reduce prices; United States Assistant Attorney General Charles James called the EU's decision "antithetical to the goals of antitrust law enforcement." This led to a drop in morale and general tumult throughout Honeywell, and in turn, the then-CEO Michael Bonsignore was fired as Honeywell looked to turn their business around.
2002–2014 acquisitions and further expansion
In January 2002, Knorr-Bremse – who had been operating in a joint venture with Honeywell International Inc. – assumed full ownership of its ventures in Europe, Brazil, and the USA. Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems became a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse AG. Although declining in influence, Honeywell maintains a presence in emerging industries, such as Northern Alberta's oil sands. Honeywell's Plant integrator is currently deployed in some of the most important plant-sites in the Oil Sands (Syncrude, Suncor, and others). In February that year, Honeywell's board appointed their next CEO and chairman, David M. Cote. Cote was instrumental in uniting the company cultures of Honeywell, AlliedSignal, and Pittway. Since 2002, Honeywell has made more than 80 acquisitions and 60 divestures, while adding $12 billion in new sales and increasing its labor force to 131,000 as a result of these acquisitions. Under his tenure, Honeywell's stock has nearly tripled from $35.23 in April 2002 to $99.39 as of January 2015.Honeywell made a £1.2bn ($2.3bn) bid for Novar plc in December 2004. The acquisition was finalized on March 31, 2005. In October 2005, Honeywell bought out Dow's 50% stake in UOP for $825 million, giving them complete control over the joint venture in petrochemical and refining technology. In May 2010, Honeywell outbid UK-based Cinven and acquired the French company Sperian Protection for $1.4 billion, which was then incorporated into its automation and controls safety unit.
2015–present
In 2015, the headquarters were moved to Morris Plains, New Jersey. The 475,000-square-foot building on 40 acres in Morris Plains featured state-of-the-art technology and greater energy efficiency than Honeywell's Morristown campus, which was underutilized, outdated and costly, according to Cote.
On December 29, 2015, Honeywell completed the acquisition of Elster for US$5.1B (announced on July 28, 2015) entering the space of gas, electricity, and water meters with a specific focus on smart meters and hoped to be a growth driver for Honeywell in 2016 and beyond. The deal also complements the HON Combustion business with the addition of Elster with strong brands such as Kromschroeder and Eclipse. Honeywell International Inc. then acquired the 30% stake in UOP Russell LLC it didn't own already for roughly $240 million in January 2016. In February, Honeywell entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Xtralis, a leading global provider of aspirating smoke detection along with advanced perimeter security technologies and video analytics software, for $480 million from funds advised by Pacific Equity Partners and Blum Capital Partners. The deal was completed on April 1, 2016. In May 2016, Honeywell International Inc. settled its patent dispute regarding Google subsidiary Nest Labs, whose thermostats Honeywell claimed infringed on several of its patents. Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Honeywell said they reached a "patent cross-license" agreement that "fully resolves" the long-standing dispute. Honeywell sued Nest Labs in 2012. In 2017, Honeywell opened a new software center in Atlanta, Georgia.David Cote stepped down as CEO on April 1, 2017, and was succeeded by Darius Adamczyk, who had been promoted to president and chief operating officer (COO) the previous year. Cote served as executive chairman through April 2018. On October 10, 2017, Honeywell announced plans to spinoff its Homes, ADI Global Distribution, and Transportation Systems businesses into two separate, publicly traded companies by the end of 2018.In 2018, Honeywell spun off both Honeywell Turbo Technologies (now Garrett Advancing Motion) and its consumer products business (Resideo); both companies are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. For the fiscal year 2019, Honeywell reported net income of US$6.230 billion, with an annual revenue of US$36.709 billion, an decrease of 19.11% over the previous fiscal cycle. Honeywell's shares traded at over $158 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$113.25 billion in September 2020.Honeywell relocated its corporate headquarters in October 2019 to Charlotte, North Carolina. On July 1, 2019, Honeywell moved employees into a temporary headquarters building in Charlotte before their new building was complete.Honeywell Forge launched as an analytics platform software for industrial and commercial applications such as aircraft, building, industrial, worker and cyber-security. In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University National Robotics Engineering Center, the Honeywell Robotics was created in Pittsburgh to focus on supply chain transformation. The Honeywell robotic unloader grabs packages in tractor-trailers then places them on conveyor belts for handlers to sort. GoDirect Trade launched as an online marketplace for surplus aircraft parts such as engines, electronics, and APU parts. In March 2020, Honeywell announced that its quantum computer is based on trapped ions, its expected quantum volume is at least 64; which Honeywell's CEO called the world's most powerful quantum computer. Honeywell announced the spinoff of its quantum division into a separate company named "Quantinuum" in November 2021.In March 2023, Honeywell announced Vimal Kapur as its next CEO, effective June 1, 2023.
COVID-19 pandemic
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Honeywell converted some of its manufacturing facilities in Rhode Island, Arizona, Michigan and Germany to produce supplies of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. In April 2020, Honeywell began production of N95 masks at the company's factories in Smithfield and Phoenix, aiming to produce 20 million masks a month. Honeywell's facilities in Muskegon and Germany were converted to produce hand sanitiser for government agencies.Several state governments contracted Honeywell to produce N95 particulate-filtering face masks during the pandemic. The North Carolina Task Force for Emergency Repurposing of Manufacturing (TFERM) awarded Honeywell a contract for the monthly delivery of 100,000 N95 masks. In April 2020, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a deal with Honeywell to produce 24 million N95 masks to distribute to healthcare workers and first responders.United States President Donald Trump visited the Honeywell Aerospace facility in Phoenix on May 5 where he acknowledged the "incredibly patriotic and hard-working men and women of Honeywell" for making N95 masks and referred to the company's production as a "miraculous achievement".In April 2021, Will.i.am and Honeywell collaborated on Xupermask, a smart mask made of silicon and athletic mesh fabric that has LED lights, 3-speed fans and noise-canceling headphones in the mask.
Business groups
The company operates four business groups – Honeywell Aerospace, Honeywell Building Technologies, Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS), and Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT). Business units within the company are as follows:Honeywell Aerospace provides avionics, aircraft engines, flight management systems, and service solutions to manufacturers, airlines, airport operations, militaries, and space programs. It comprises Commercial Aviation, Defense & Space, and Business & General Aviation. In January 2014, Honeywell Aerospace launched its SmartPath Precision Landing System at Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport in Spain, which augments GPS signals to make them suitable for precision approach and landing, before broadcasting the data to approaching aircraft. In July 2014, Honeywell's Transportation Systems merged with the Aerospace division due to similarities between the businesses. In April 2018, Honeywell announced to develop laser communication products for satellite communication in collaboration with Ball Aerospace and plans future volume production. In June 2018 Honeywell spun off and rebranded its Transportation Systems as Garrett.Honeywell Building Technologies and Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions were created when Automation and Control Solutions was split into two in July 2016. Honeywell Building Technologies comprises Honeywell Building Solutions, Environmental and Energy Solutions, and Honeywell Security and Fire. On December 7, 2017, Honeywell announced that it has acquired SCAME, an Italy-based company, to add new fire and gas safety capabilities to its portfolio. Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions comprises Scanning & Mobility, Sensing and Internet of Things, and Industrial safety.Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies comprises six business units: Honeywell UOP, Honeywell Process Solutions, Fluorine Products, Electronic Materials, Resins & Chemicals, and Specialty Materials. Products include process technology for oil and gas processing, fuels, films and additives, special chemicals, electronic materials, and renewable transport fuels.
Corporate governance
Honeywell's current chief executive officer is Vimal Kapur. As of June 2023, the members of the board are:
Acquisitions since 2002
Honeywell's acquisitions have consisted largely of businesses aligned with the company's existing technologies. The acquired companies are integrated into one of Honeywell's four business groups (Aerospace, Building Technologies (HBT), Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS), or Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT)) but retain their original brand name.
Environmental record
The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that no corporation has been linked to a greater number of Superfund toxic waste sites than has Honeywell. Honeywell ranks 44th in a list of US corporations most responsible for air pollution, releasing more than 4.25 million kg (9.4 million pounds) of toxins per year into the air. In 2001, Honeywell agreed to pay $150,000 in civil penalties and to perform $772,000 worth of reparations for environmental violations involving:
failure to prevent or repair leaks of hazardous organic pollutants into the air
failure to repair or report refrigeration equipment containing chlorofluorocarbons
inadequate reporting of benzene, ammonia, nitrogen oxide, dichlorodifluoromethane, sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and caprolactam emissionsIn 2003, a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, ordered the company to perform an estimated $400 million environmental remediation of chromium waste, citing "a substantial risk of imminent damage to public health and safety and imminent and severe damage to the environment." In the same year, Honeywell paid $3.6 million to avoid a federal trial regarding its responsibility for trichloroethylene contamination in Lisle, Illinois. In 2004, the State of New York announced that it would require Honeywell to complete an estimated $448 million cleanup of more than 74,000 kg (165,000 lbs) of mercury and other toxic waste dumped into Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York, from a former Allied Chemical property. Honeywell established three water treatment plants by November 2014, and the chemicals cleanup site removed 7 tons of mercury. In November 2015, Audubon New York gave the Thomas W. Keesee Jr. Conservation Award to Honeywell for its cleanup efforts in “one of the most ambitious environmental reclamation projects in the United States.” By December 2017, Honeywell completed dredging the lake and, later that month, the Department of Justice filed a settlement requiring Honeywell to pay a separate $9.5 million in damages, as well build 20 restoration projects on the shore to help repair the greater area surrounding the lake.In 2005, the state of New Jersey sued Honeywell, Occidental Petroleum, and PPG to compel cleanup of more than 100 sites contaminated with chromium, a metal linked to lung cancer, ulcers, and dermatitis. In 2008, the state of Arizona made a settlement with Honeywell to pay a $5 million fine and contribute $1 million to a local air-quality cleanup project, after allegations of breaking water-quality and hazardous-waste laws on hundreds of occasions between the years of 1974 and 2004.In 2006, Honeywell announced that its decision to stop manufacturing mercury switches had resulted in reductions of more than 11,300 kg (24,900 lb), 2800 kg (6200 lb), and 1500 kg (3300 lb) respectively of mercury, lead, and chromic acid usage. The largest reduction represents 5% of mercury use in the United States. The EPA acknowledged Honeywell's leadership in reducing mercury use through a 2006 National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) Achievement Award for discontinuing the manufacturing of mercury switches.
Carbon footprint
Honeywell reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 2,248 Kt (-89 /-3.8% y-o-y) and aims to reach net zero emissions by 2035.
Criticism
On March 10, 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported that Honeywell was one of sixty companies that shielded annual profits from U.S. taxes. In December 2011, the non-partisan liberal organization Public Campaign criticized Honeywell International for spending $18.3 million on lobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008–2010, instead getting $34 million in tax rebates, despite making a profit of $4.9 billion, laying off 968 workers since 2008, and increasing executive pay by 15% to $54.2 million in 2010 for its top five executives.Honeywell has also been criticized in the past for its manufacture of deadly and maiming weapons, such as cluster bombs.
See also
List of Honeywell products and services
Top 100 US Federal Contractors
Explanatory notes
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Honeywell: |
how bad are bananas? | How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything is a 2010 non-fiction book by Mike Berners-Lee. The book details the carbon footprint of a wide range of activities and helps guide people towards less carbon-costly lifestyle options.
Publication
The book is written by British writer and academic Mike Berners-Lee, who acknowledges throughout the book his use of estimates and imperfect calculations. It was first published in 2010; a second edition was published in the UK in 2020, and an "Updated North American edition", retitled The Carbon Footprint of Everything, in 2022.
Berners-Lee, Mike (2010). How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything:. London: Profile Books. ISBN 9781846688911.
Second edition: Berners-Lee, Mike (2020). How bad are bananas? : the carbon footprint of everything (New ed.). London: Profile Books. ISBN 9781788163811.
"Updated North American" edition: Berners-Lee, Mike (2022). The carbon footprint of everything. Vancouver: Greystone Books. ISBN 9781771645768.
Synopsis
The book gives an approximate carbon footprint of just under 100 activities starting small, with carbon used in sending a text message, ending with the massive example of a World Cup. Commentary in the book helps the reader separate important decisions from trivial ones, for example highlighting that fresh food transported by air is more environmentally harmful than comparable produce transported by ship or truck.The book compares methods of transport, including walking and cycling and details the differences in carbon footprint for human-powered transport based on the diet of the walkers and cyclists.
Critical reception
Aaron Couch writing for The Christian Science Monitor praises Berners-Lee for his use of humour and for informing rather than preaching.The Independent listed the book as one of its ten recommended "best books to help you live more sustainably."
== References == |
tata steel | Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group.
Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata Steel is among the largest steel producing companies in the world, with an annual crude steel capacity of 35 million tonnes. It is one of the world's most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group (excluding SEA operations) recorded a consolidated turnover of US$31 billion in the financial year ending 31 March 2023. It is the largest steel company in India (measured by domestic production) with an annual capacity of 21.6 million tonnes after Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL). Tata Steel, SAIL, and Jindal Steel and Power, are the only three Indian steel companies that have captive iron-ore mines, which gives the three companies price advantages.Tata Steel operates in 26 countries with key operations in India, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and employs around 80,500 people. Its largest plant (10 MTPA capacity) is located in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. In 2007, Tata Steel acquired the UK-based steel maker Corus. It was ranked 486th in the 2014 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's biggest corporations. It was the seventh most valuable Indian brand of 2013 according to Brand Finance.Tata Steel was listed amongst India's Best Workplaces in Manufacturing by Great Place to Work for the fifth time in 2022. Tata Group has been inclusive towards its LGBTQ employees, such as by providing health insurance benefits for partners of its LGBTQ employees.
History
Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was founded by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata and established by Sir Dorabji Tata on 26 August 1907. TISCO started pig iron production in 1911 and began producing steel in 1912 as a branch of Jamsetji's Tata Group. The first steel ingot was manufactured on 16 February 1912. During the First World War (1914–1918), the company made rapid progress.
In 1920, The Tata Iron & Steel Company also incorporated The Tinplate Company of India Ltd (TCIL), as a joint venture with then Burmah Shell to manufacture Tinplate. TCIL is now Tata Tinplate and holds 70% market share in India.
By 1939, it operated the largest steel plant in the British Empire. The company launched a major modernisation and expansion program in 1951. Later, in 1958, the program was upgraded to 2 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) project. By 1970, the company employed around 40,000 people at Jamshedpur, and a further 20,000 in the neighbouring coal mines.In November 2021, Tata Steel was the most profitable company in the Tata Group. In July 2019 Tata Steel Kalinganagar (TSK) was included in the list of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Lighthouse Network.The Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) at Tata Steel Limited India are Koushik Chatterjee as CFO (KMP) and Parvatheesam Kanchinadham as Company Secretary. Koushik Chatterjee, Mallika Srinivasan, Chandrasekaran Natarajan and 7 other members are presently associated as directors.
Nationalisation attempts
There have been two attempts to nationalise Tata Steel, one attempt in 1971 and another in 1979, both were unsuccessful. In 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi tried to nationalise the company, but failed. In 1979, Prime Minister Morarji Desai wanted to nationalise TISCO (now Tata Steel), spurred by Minister for Industries George Fernandes, and Minister of Steel, Mines and Coals Biju Patnaik. However, union protests prevented such nationalisation efforts.In 1990, the company began to expand, and established its subsidiary, Tata Inc., in New York. The company changed its name from TISCO to Tata Steel Ltd. in 2005.
Labour welfare
Tata Steel has been among the first Indian companies to provide various labour welfare benefits, such as eight-hour workdays since 1912, free medical care since 1915, school facilities for the children of employees since 1917, paid time off since 1920, formation of a provident fund and accident compensation in 1920, vocational training since 1921, maternity benefits since 1928, profit sharing bonuses since 1934, and retiring gratuity since 1937.
Expansions
Acquisitions
NatSteel in 2004: Tata Steel agreed to acquire the steel making operations of the Singapore-based NatSteel for $486.4 million in cash. NatSteel had ended 2003 with turnover of $1.4 billion and a profit before tax of $47 million. The steel businesses of NatSteel would be run by the company through a wholly owned subsidiary called Natsteel Asia Pte Ltd. The acquisition was completed in February 2005. At the time of acquisition, NatSteel had a capacity of about 2 million tonnes per annum of finished steel.Millennium Steel in 2005: Tata Steel acquired a majority stake in the Thailand-based steelmaker Millennium Steel for a total cost of $130 million. It paid US$73 million to Siam Cement for a 40% stake and offered to pay 1.13 baht per share for another 25% of the shares of other shareholders. Millennium Steel has now been renamed to Tata Steel Thailand and is headquartered in Bangkok. On 31 March 2013, it held approx. 68% shares in the acquired company.
Corus in 2006: Tata Steel signed a deal with Anglo-Dutch company, Corus to buy 100% stake at £4.3 billion ($8.1 billion) at 455 pence per share. On 19 November 2006, the Brazilian steel company Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) launched a counter offer for Corus at 475 pence per share, valuing it at £4.5 billion. On 11 December 2006, Tata pre-emptively upped its offer to 500 pence per share, which was within hours trumped by CSN's offer of 515 pence per share, valuing the deal at £4.9 billion. The Corus board promptly recommended both the revised offers to its shareholders. On 31 January 2007, Tata Steel won their bid for Corus after offering 608 pence per share, valuing Corus at £6.7 billion ($12 billion). In 2005, Corus employed around 47,300 people worldwide, including 24,000 in the UK. At the time of acquisition, Corus was four times larger than Tata Steel, in terms of annual steel production. Corus was the world's 9th largest producer of Steel, whereas Tata Steel was at 56th position. The acquisition made Tata Steel world's 5th largest producer of Steel.Tayo Rolls in 2008, formerly Tata-Yodogawa Limited is a metal fabrication and processing company headquartered in Jamshedpur, India. It was founded in 1968 as a joint venture between Tata Steel and the Japan-based Yodogawa Steels. In 2008, the company made the rights issue which was subscribed for only about 50% of its total value – Rs 60-crore. Due to undersubscription, the promoters acquired them, as result Tayo Rolls became a Tata Steel Subsidiary. Tata Steel owns 55.24% of the Tayo Rolls.Steel Engineering and Vinausteel in 2007: Tata Steel through its wholly owned Singapore subsidiary, NatSteel Asia Pte Ltd, acquired controlling stake in both rolling mill companies located in Vietnam: Structure Steel Engineering Pte Ltd (100% stake) and Vinausteel Ltd (70% stake). The enterprise value for the acquisition was $41 million. With this acquisition, Tata Steel got hold of two rolling mills, a 250,000 tonnes per year bar/wire rod mill operated by SSE Steel Ltd. and a 180,000 tonnes per year reinforcing bar mill operated by Vinausteel Ltd.Bhushan Steel in 2018: Tata Steel acquired the entire company in 2017–18, when Insolvency proceedings were initiated against the former company on 26 July 2017 under IBC. Tata steel emerged as the highest bidder and took over the company through its wholly owned subsidiary Bamnipal Steel Ltd. The company was renamed as Tata Steel BSL. Later in 2021 Tata Steel amalgamated Bamnipal Steel Ltd. and Tata Steel BSL thereby the latter became a direct subsidiary of Tata Steel (72.65%).Usha Martin (Steel division) in 2019: Tata Sponge Iron Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited, acquired the steel business of Usha Martin Limited in 2019 for Rs.4,094 crore. The acquisition involved UMLs 1.0 MnTPA specialty steel plant in Jamshedpur that makes alloy based long products, a functional iron ore mine, a coal mine under development and captive power plants.Nilachala Ispat Nigam Ltd in 2022: Tata Steel through its wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Steel Long Products (TSLP), acquired controlling stake in NINL. It beat Jindal Steel and JSW Steel to acquire Odisha-based Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) for ₹12,100 crore (US$1.5 billion).
Joint Ventures
In 2006, Tata Steel and BlueScope Steel launched Tata BlueScope Steel Ltd, a joint venture for the manufacturing pre-engineered steel products.In 2014, Tata Steel launched Jamshedpur Continuous Annealing and Processing Company Pvt Ltd (JCAPCPL), a joint venture with Nippon Steel to produce continuous annealed products intended for the automotive industry. The plant had a capacity of 600,000 tonnes and was setup with an investment of 2,750 Crores. Tata Steel held 51% of the joint venture.
Amalgamation
In 2022, Tata group moved for the amalgamation of seven metal companies of the group into Tata Steel. Seven metal companies of Tata group that will be merged with Tata Steel are Tata Steel Long Products Limited (TSLP), The Tinplate Company of India Limited (TCIL), Tata Metaliks Limited (TML), TRF Limited, The Indian Steel & Wire Products Limited (ISWPL), Tata Steel Mining Limited (TSML) and S & T Mining Company Limited.
Sports
Tata Steel have traditionally played a key role in development of sports in India. They have been involved in the inception of Tata Football Academy, TSAF Climbing Academy, Tata Archery Academy, Naval Tata Hockey Academy – Jamshedpur and Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High Performance Centre.
Operations
Tata Steel is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and has its marketing headquarters at the Tata Centre in Kolkata, West Bengal. It has a presence in around 50 countries with manufacturing operations in 26 countries including: India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, UAE, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, South Africa, Australia, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France and Canada.Tata Steel primarily serves customers in the automotive, construction, consumer goods, engineering, packaging, lifting and excavating, energy and power, aerospace, shipbuilding, rail and defence and security sectors.
Upcoming plans
Tata Steel has set a target of achieving an annual production capacity of 100 million tons by 2015; it is planning for capacity expansion to be balanced roughly 50:50 between greenfield developments and acquisitions. Overseas acquisitions have already added an additional 21.4 million tonnes of capacity, including Corus (18.2 million tonnes), NatSteel (2 million tonnes) and Millennium Steel (1.2 million tonnes). Tata plans to add another 29 million tonnes of capacity through acquisitions.Major greenfield steel plant expansion projects planned by Tata Steel include:
A 6 million tonne per annum capacity plant in Kalinganagar, Odisha, India;
An expansion of the capacity of its plant in Jharkhand, India from 6.8 to 10 million tonnes per annum;
A 5 million tonne per annum capacity plant in Chhattisgarh, India (Tata Steel signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chhattisgarh government in 2005; the plant is facing strong protest from tribal people);
A 3 million tonne per annum capacity plant in Iran;
A 2.4 million tonne per annum capacity plant in Bangladesh;
A 10.5 million tonne per annum capacity plant in Vietnam (feasibility studies are underway); and
A 6 million tonne per annum capacity plant in Haveri, Karnataka.
Acquisition of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd in Odisha, India
Issues with Europe business
Since Tata Steel's Corus acquisition in 2007, Tata Steel's Europe unit faced issues from oversupply in the market, labor unions, inexpensive imports from Chinese steel makers, and pressure from regulators for decarbonisation (green taxes) which forced Tata Steel to consolidate its businesses in Europe.In 2015, Tata Steel was looking to sell its facilities in Port Talbot, Hartlepool, Rotherham and Stocksbridge, which was put on hold due to Brexit. In April 2016, Tata Steel's Long Products Europe Division located in Scunthorpe, England was sold to Greybull Capital LLP. The unit was renamed as British Steel Limited.In February 2017, the company decided to sell its specialty division to Liberty House Group.In September 2017, ThyssenKrupp of Germany and Tata Steel announced plans to combine their European steel-making businesses. The deal will structure the European assets as Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel, an equal joint venture. The announcement estimated that the company would be Europe's second-largest steelmaker, and listed future headquarters in Amsterdam. However, in 2019, antitrust regulators of EU refused to accept deals citing reduction in competition. In 2019 Tata Steel decided to sell some of its non-core business units in UK.In June 2020, the company requested £500 million in UK government support. Later in July media houses reported that the company has proposed to give away 50% of its stake in Port Talbot Steelworks to UK Government in return for capital injections amounting to £900 million.In November 2020, SSAB of Sweden announced its intention to buy Tata Steel's unit in IJmuiden, Netherlands. However, in 2021, SSAB backed out of citing technical and cost issues involved with the deal.In October 2021, Tata Steel Europe officially split its businesses into two independent entities Tata Steel Netherlands and Tata Steel UK.
In April 2022, Tata Steel announced that they had to find alternative sources of coal for their steel production plants in the UK and Netherlands after European nations stopped doing business with Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Issues with South East Asia Business
In January 2019, citing debt issues and consistent losses Tata Steel, decided to sell 70 per cent stake its S.E. Asia business (NatSteel and Tata Steel Thailand) to China's state-owned HBIS Group for $327 million. But the deal fell through citing regulatory issues.Later in 2019, Tata Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the Private Equity firm, Synergy Metals and Mining Fund for divestment of 70% shareholding in Tata Steel (Thailand) Public Company Ltd. (excluding NatSteel)In 2021, Tata Steel decided against divesting the South East Asian businesses citing improvement in financials, including reduction in total debt and increase in the cash flow. This was confirmed through its regulatory filing where Tata Steel reclassified its S.E. Asians assets from 'held for sale' to 'continuing operations'.In Oct 2021, Tata Steel announced the sale of its subsidiary Natsteel Holdings Pte. Ltd to TopTip Holding Pte, a Singapore-based steel and iron ore trading company. The deal was valued at $172 million (₹1,275 crore). The deal included two Singapore facilities and one Malaysian facility excluding the wire business in Thailand.
Shareholding
As on 31 March 2018, Tata Group held 31.64% shares in Tata Steel. Over 1 million individual shareholders hold approx. 21% of its shares. Life Insurance Corporation of India is the largest non-promoter shareholder in the company with 14.88% shareholding.
The equity shares of Tata Steel are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index, and the National Stock Exchange of India, where it is a constituent of the S&P CNX Nifty, the Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
Subsidiaries
Tata Steel Thailand
Tata Steel's subsidiary Tata Steel (Thailand) Public Company Limited (SET: TSTH), (formerly Millennium Steel Public Company Limited) is listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Tata Steel Limited directly holds 67.90% through its investment arm T S Global Holdings Pte. Ltd.
Tata Tinplate
The Tinplate Company of India Limited (TCIL) is a subsidiary of Tata Steel. Founded in 1920, TCIL is India's oldest and current largest tinplate manufacturer. The company is described as having "pioneered the tinplate industry in India". TCIL has a 70% market share in India and exports a fourth of its products outside India.In January 1920, the Burmah Oil and The Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO) jointly incorporated The Tinplate Company of India Limited (TCIL) to cater for the demand for tinplate that arose following World War I. Burmah contributed two-thirds of the starting capital and Tata the remainder. Burmah required tinplate for the cans used to hold the kerosene it produced.By November 1921, structural steel for the plant and machinery had been imported from the US and UK and the plant was established at Golmuri, Jamshedpur near the Tata Steel works. The design was based on an Indiana rolling plant. In December 1922, the first hot dip tinning plant started rolling out finished tinplate. By 1924, a total of six mills were in production and the company was producing almost 40 per cent of India's tinplate needs. In 1926, the level of production exceeded the country's imports for the first time. The company's main competition was from tinplate imported from South Wales. In its early years the Company relied to a large extent on European 'covenanted' labour for supervisory and skilled roles, but this lessened over time as the skills of Indian workers developed. Just under 3,000 workers were employed in the late 1920s, early 1930s.With the outbreak of World War II, TCIL diversified into the manufacturing of un-tinned black plates used in Jettison tanks for the Royal Air Force. Also TCIL took over processing of steel from sheet mills of Tata Steel to augment production.
TCIL entered into an agreement with Wean United Canada for switching to Electrolytic Tinning Process. In 1973, an Electrolytic Tinning Line was commissioned with a capacity of 90,000 tonnes per annum to produce tinplate and tin-free steel. In 1996, TCIL established its first Cold Rolling Mill Complex with a capacity of 110,000 tonnes per annum, as part of a backward integration to reduce dependency on imported uncoated sheet steel coils, known as tin mill black plate (TMBP). In 2005, a printing and lacquering line was introduced as part of a forward integration to reduce supply chain inefficiencies. In 2007, mill capacity was more than doubled to 379,000 tonnes by the commissioning of a second Tinning Line; a second Cold Rolling Mill facility was added a year later. Production and sales reached 360,000 tons in 2018–19.In 2012, Tata Steel increased its shareholding in TCIL to 73.44% which currently stands at 74.96%Through volumes, TCIL holds 70% market share in India and exports 25% of the production to South-East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.In August 2021, announced its expansion plans, an additional capacity of 3,00,000 tons per annum.In September 2022, it was announced that the company would be merged into Tata Steel.
Carbon footprint
Tata Steel Group reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 March 2021 at 25,790 Kt (−1,820 /-6.6% y-o-y). There is little evidence of a consistent declining trend as yet.
Controversies
Environment protection at Dhamra Port: The Dhamra Port, a joint venture between Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel near Dhamra river in Bhadrak district of Odisha, has come in for criticism from groups such as Greenpeace, Wildlife Protection Society of India and the Orissa Traditional Fishworkers' Union for environment protection. The port is being built within five kilometers of the Bhitarkanika National Park, a Ramsar wetland of international importance, home to an impressive diversity of mangrove species, saltwater crocodiles and an array of avian species. The port will also be approximately 15 km. from the turtle nesting of Gahirmatha Beach, and turtles are also found immediately adjoining the port site. Aside from potential impacts on nesting and feeding grounds of the turtles, the mudflats of the port site itself are breeding grounds for horseshoe crabs as well as rare species of reptiles and amphibians. The port began commercial production in May 2011. In response, the company website informs that it has been working with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for guidance and assistance in the implementation of environmental standards and designing mitigation measures for potential hazards during construction and operation of the Port.
Job cuts in Europe: In 2019 citing surplus capacity and high costs the company announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs in Europe, including UK (Port Talbot Steelworks), Netherlands and other units. The decision was made after the failed attempt to consolidate with German Steelmaker Thyssenkrupp.
See also
List of steel producers
List of companies of India
List of largest companies by revenue
List of corporations by market capitalization
Make in India
Forbes Global 2000
Fortune India 500
Tata Group
Russi Mody
References
External links
Official website |
iphone 12 pro | The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the flagship smartphones in the fourteenth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, respectively. They were unveiled alongside the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini at an Apple Special Event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California on October 13, 2020, with the iPhone 12 Pro being released on October 23, 2020, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max on November 13, 2020. They were discontinued on September 14, 2021, along with the iPhone XR, following the announcement of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro.
Major upgrades over the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max include the addition of 5G support, the lidar sensor, ProRAW (DNG) allowing high quality lossless 12-bit image capture in the native photos app with the use of the new DNG v1.6 specification, the introduction of the MagSafe wireless charging and accessory system, the Apple A14 Bionic system on a chip (SoC), high-dynamic-range video Dolby Vision 10-bit 4:2:0 4K video recording at 30 or 60 fps, larger 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, respectively, and the move to a base capacity of 128 GB from the prior base capacity of 64 GB, while retaining the other storage capacities of 256 and 512 GB. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, like the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini, are the first iPhone models from Apple to no longer include a power adapter or EarPods headphones found in prior iPhone models; however, a USB-C to Lightning cable is still included, and this change was retroactively applied to other iPhone models sold by Apple including the iPhone XR, iPhone 11 and iPhone SE (2nd generation).
History
The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max were officially announced alongside the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini and HomePod Mini via a virtual press event filmed and recorded at Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on October 13, 2020. Pre-orders began for the iPhone 12 Pro on October 16, 2020, and it was released on October 23, 2020, alongside the iPhone 12 and fourth-generation iPad Air, with pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Pro Max beginning on November 6, 2020, with a full release on November 13, 2020, alongside the iPhone 12 Mini. This marked the first time since the release of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR where a new iPhone was not released simultaneously on the same date as other announced models. Pricing starts at US$999 for the iPhone 12 Pro and US$1099 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
On September 14, 2021, following the announcement of the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max were removed from sale on Apple's official website.
In March 2022, Apple started selling refurbished iPhone 12 Pro models starting at $759 but not its Max variant.
Design
It is the first major redesign since the iPhone X, similar to that of iPad Pros since 2018 and the 4th-generation iPad Air. The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max feature a flat chassis, a design seen with the iPhone 4 through the iPhone 5S and the first generation iPhone SE. The notch size is similar to previous models. The bezels are around 35% thinner than the iPhone 11 Pro and previous models. The new design also comes with Corning Inc’s custom ceramic-hardened i.e glass ceramic front glass, "Ceramic Shield", while the back retains the previous generation of Corning Inc's custom Dual-Ion Exchange strengthened glass. On the back is the same three-camera configuration found on the iPhone 11 Pro, but with larger apertures and an added LiDAR scanner.
The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max is available in four colors: Silver, Graphite, Gold, and Pacific Blue. Pacific Blue is a new color replacing Midnight Green, while Graphite is a renaming of Space Grey.
Specifications
Hardware
The iPhone 12 Pro uses Apple's six-core A14 Bionic processor, which contains a 16-core neural engine. It has three internal storage options: 128, 256, and 512 GB. The iPhone 12 Pro has an IP68 water and dust-resistant rating along with dirt and grime, and is water-resistant up to six meters (20 feet) for 30 minutes. However, the manufacturer warranty does not cover liquid damage to the phone.The iPhone 12 Pro, like the iPhone 12, is not supplied with EarPods (except in France) or the power adapter included with prior iPhone models. Apple claims this will reduce carbon emissions and that most users already own these items. Apple still supplies the USB-C to Lightning cable that was introduced with the iPhone 11 Pro. In addition to Lightning and Qi wireless charging, the phones introduce MagSafe wireless charging, a new magnet-based charging and accessory system that allow accessories such as chargers and cases to snap onto the back of the phones. MagSafe wireless charging supports up to 15 watts, is fast-charge capable, and is a reimagining of the MagSafe brand that was introduced in 2006 with the original MacBook Pro. The MagSafe Charger can be purchased separately, along with a variety of cases and other accessories.The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max support 5G cellular communications. This allows upload speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s (1 Mbit/s = 1 million bits per second) and download speeds of up to 4 Gbit/s. However, only models sold in the U.S. support the faster mmWave technology; those sold elsewhere in the world, including Canada, only support sub-6 GHz frequency bands. A new feature called Smart Data Mode enables 5G only when necessary to preserve battery life and data usage.
Displays
The iPhone 12 Pro has a 6.06 inch (154 mm) (marketed as 6.1 inch) OLED display with a resolution of 2532 × 1170 pixels (2.9 megapixels) at 460 ppi, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.68 inch (170 mm) (marketed as 6.7 inch) OLED display with a resolution of 2778 × 1284 pixels (3.5 megapixels) at 458 ppi. Both models have the Super Retina XDR OLED display with thinner bezels than previous generation iPhones. The iPhone 12 Pro Max features the largest display on any iPhone to date. The phones also introduce a new glass-ceramic covering, named 'Ceramic Shield', which was co-developed with Corning Inc. Apple claims the Ceramic Shield has "4 times better drop performance" and that it is "tougher than any smartphone glass".
Batteries
The iPhone 12 Pro is supplied with a 10.78 Wh (2,815 mAh) battery, a slight decrease from the 11.67 Wh (3,046 mAh) battery found in the iPhone 11 Pro, and is identical to the battery found in the standard iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 14.13 Wh (3,687 mAh) battery, another slight decrease from the 15.04 Wh (3,969 mAh) battery found in the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The battery is not user-replaceable.
Chipsets
Both the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are supplied with the Apple A14 Bionic, the first ARM-based smartphone system-on-a-chip (SoC) manufactured on the 5 nm process node. However, unlike previous years, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are not the first Apple devices to receive the newest A-series processor, with the fourth-generation iPad Air being the first device from Apple to contain the A14 Bionic chip. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max also contain the Apple M14 motion coprocessor. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max use Qualcomm's X55 5G modem.
Cameras
The iPhone 12 Pro features four cameras: one front-facing camera and three back-facing cameras, including a telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide camera. The iPhone 12 Pro also features a lidar scanner for AR and computer-aided photo enhancement services. The iPhone 12 Pro also adds Night Mode for time-lapse video recording on all four cameras. Unlike the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max where the only difference was the screen size and battery capacity, the iPhone 12 Pro Max adds a 47% larger sensor and sensor-shift image stabilization to the main camera lens, and replaces the f/2.0 aperture 52 mm telephoto camera lens with a f/2.2 aperture 65 mm lens, allowing for a 2.5x optical zoom. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are the first smartphones capable of shooting in 10-bit high dynamic range Dolby Vision 4K video at up to 60 frames per second.
Sensors
The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max include mostly the same sensors found on prior iPhone models going back to the iPhone X. These include an accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, and a digital compass. The devices also include the Face ID facial recognition system, which is made up of several sensors: mainly a dot projector, flood illuminator, and an infrared camera, allowing a user's face to be scanned and stored by the Secure Enclave.
A lidar scanner is the new sensor included in the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, similar to that of the fourth-generation iPad Pro, allowing additional augmented reality (AR) features to be supported, such as the ability to measure a user's approximate height from the Measure app.
Software
The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max feature iOS, Apple's mobile operating system. The user interface of iOS is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch, all of which have specific definitions within the context of the iOS operating system and its multi-touch interface. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it vertically (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode).The iPhone 12 Pro was first supplied with iOS 14.1 alongside the iPhone 12 while the iPhone 12 Pro Max was supplied with iOS 14.2 alongside the iPhone 12 Mini. The devices come with the stock iOS apps, such as Safari, Weather, and Messages, and they also include Siri, the personal assistant included in iOS since iOS 5 with the release of the iPhone 4S.
These devices support the current public release of iOS, which is iOS 17. These devices receive full support for some new features introduced in the update.
Reception
The iPhone 12 Pro received generally positive reviews. The Verge called it a "beautiful, powerful, and incredibly capable device", praising the new design reminiscent of the iPhone 5, the speed of the A14 Bionic processor, and its 5G capabilities, but noted the decrease in battery life compared to the iPhone 11 Pro and the low number of upgrades compared to the iPhone 12. Engadget also gave the iPhone 12 Pro a positive review, praising the MagSafe wireless charging and accessory system as well as the improved camera system, but noted the lack of upgrade motivation if users had already purchased a new iPhone in 2019.Apple was criticized for the continued reliance on Face ID as the sole biometric option to unlock the device, which is incompatible with face masks. This limitation was lifted with the introduction of the fifth revision of the iOS 14, which allows the user to unlock the device while wearing a face mask, using the paired and password unlocked Apple Watch as its alternative authenticator. The iPhone SE (3rd generation) is the only phone that Apple currently produces that supports Touch ID, an alternative option that is compatible with face masks. All models can still use a passcode to log in.
"OLED-gate"
Within two weeks of its public release, a thread was started at Apple Support Communities describing a problem with pixels on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro OLED displays not shutting off completely in black scenes, resulting in what was described as an "ugly glowing"; over 3,500 other users have since clicked the "I have this question too" button in the thread. Other users have shared photos and videos online that demonstrate the issue; one of whom—whose video amassed over 50,000 views—claims Apple responded that they were working on the problem. However, Apple has not officially acknowledged the issue, which persists despite multiple software updates, leading users and pundits to fear a hardware issue.
Removal of the power adapter and EarPods
Apple, through an "environmental initiative", has removed the EarPods (except in France until January 31, 2022) and power adapter (except in São Paulo) from all new iPhone boxes, including the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. According to Apple, removing the power adapter permitted Apple to avoid 180, 000 metric tons of CO2 in fiscal year 2021 thanks to a shift in the mode of transport and product weight. Apple now includes a USB-C to Lightning cable, incompatible with the existing USB-A power adapters that Apple previously supplied with its devices. Users can still use their existing USB-A power adapters and Lightning cables to charge and sync, but must purchase or use an existing USB-C power adapter to utilize the included USB-C to Lightning cable. Starting with the iPhone 8, a USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) compliant charger is required to enable fast charging when using the USB-C to Lightning cable, with Apple suggesting the use of a 20W or greater USB-PD compliant charger to fast charge the iPhone 12.
Environmental data
Carbon footprint
The iPhone 12 Pro has a carbon footprint of 82 kg (181 lb) of CO2 emissions, which is 6 kilograms (13 pounds) more than the preceding iPhone 11 Pro. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a footprint of 86 kg (190 lb) of carbon emissions, a 6 kilograms (13 pounds) increase compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Of all emissions, 86% and 82% released by producing the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max respectively are caused by device production and primary resource use with the remaining emissions released by means of first use, transportation, and end-of-life processing.
Repairability
Several weeks after its release, it was discovered by iFixit and Australian tech YouTuber Hugh Jeffreys that a number of key components such as the cameras malfunction or display warnings if they are replaced with new ones or those taken from an otherwise identical donor unit. Internal Apple documents also mention that, beginning with the iPhone 12 and continuing with subsequent models, authorized technicians would have to run the phones through an internal System Configuration tool to reprogram repaired units in order to account for hardware changes. While Apple has yet to comment on the issue, the inability to replace key system components have raised concerns about right to repair and planned obsolescence.
See also
Comparison of smartphones
History of the iPhone
List of iPhone models
Timeline of iPhone models
Explanatory notes
== References == |
philip morris international | Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris International is often referred to as one of the companies comprising Big Tobacco.
Until spun off in March 2008, Philip Morris International was an operating company of Altria. Altria explained the spin-off, arguing PMI would have more "freedom," i.e. leeway outside the responsibilities and standards of American corporate ownership in terms of potential litigation and legislative restrictions to "pursue sales growth in emerging markets", while Altria focuses on the American domestic market. The shareholders in Altria at the time were given shares in PMI, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange and other markets.
The company's legal seat is in Stamford, Connecticut, but it does not operate in the United States of America. Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of PMI's former owner American parent Altria group, owns the Philip Morris brands there. PMI's operational headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.With tobacco being addictive and the single greatest cause of preventable death globally, the company is highly controversial, not least because of its history of obfuscating scientific evidence around the health impacts of smoking. It has been the subject of litigation and restrictive legislation from governments.
The company ranked No. 101 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest corporations by total revenue.
History
Early development
The company states its history is traced to a British tobacconist, Philip Morris, opening a single shop on London's Bond Street in 1847 which sold tobacco and cigarettes. In 1881, Philip Morris' son, Leopold Morris, established "Philip Morris & Company and Grunebaum Ltd" with Joseph Grunebaum. In 1885, the company changed its name to "Philip Morris & Co. Ltd."In 1894, William Curtis Thomson and his family began to control the company, and in 1902 the company was incorporated in New York. In 1919, the American business was acquired and incorporated as "Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc." in Virginia.
Later development
In 1954, Philip Morris (Australia) became the first affiliate of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd, Inc. outside the U.S. In 1972, the company's Marlboro became the world's top-selling cigarette brand.In 1987, Philip Morris International (PMI) was incorporated as an operating company of Philip Morris Companies Inc. In 2001, the operations center of the company was transferred from Rye Brook, New York, to Lausanne, Switzerland. On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. formally changed its name to the Altria Group. In March 2008, Philip Morris International was spun off from Altria.In April 2014, Philip Morris International announced that it would close its Moorabbin plant in Australia by the end of 2014 after operating for 60 years, due to the gradual decline of sales in the last ten years and difficulties conforming to 2010 Australian government regulation about reducing fire risks. In 2015, the company sold 850 billion cigarettes.In August 2018 Reuters reported that Philip Morris "has been among foreign companies with exposure to Russia’s tobacco market. The company’s sales exposure to Russia is 7 percent, according to a note from Goldman Sachs."As of 2019, main institutional investors are The Vanguard Group with an 8% stake, Capital Research & Management with 5% and BlackRock Fund Advisors with 4%.In July 2021, Philip Morris International agreed to buy Vectura for £1 billion. That same year, the company acquired the pharmaceutical company Fertin Pharma from capital fund EQT and the Bagger-Sørensen family for DKK 5.1 billion. At the time, Fertin Pharma was based in Vejle, Denmark with about 800 employees in India, Canada, and Denmark.In November 2021, Philip Morris International announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters from New York to Stamford, Connecticut, which expected to take effect in Summer 2022, while its operational center remained in Lausanne.In 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and boycott of the Russian market by many international companies, the company has faced trouble due to its high level of exposure to the Russian market, from which it was reluctant to disinvest. On the same year, PMI has agreed to a $16 billion deal with Swedish Match which would boost its position in cigarette alternatives.
Brands
Philip Morris International has six multibillion US$ brands including:
Dji Sam Soe 234 was launched in 1913 and is a brand of kretek cigarettes. It is the best seller of kretek cigarettes in Indonesia.
L&M was launched by Liggett & Myers in 1953 with the tagline: "American cigarettes of the highest quality with the best filter." L&M variants include full flavor shorts, full flavor 100s, lights, ultra lights, menthol shorts, menthol 100s, menthol light shorts, menthol light 100s, Turkish Blend shorts, Turkish Blend 100s, and L&M Mild Kretek.
Longbeach include in Australia and Indonesia in 1999. Longbeach variant include: Longbeach Filter and Longbeach Mild.
Marlboro was launched in 1904. Marlboro is the premium brand. Marlboro variants include: Marlboro Special, Marlboro Menthol, Marlboro Lights, Marlboro Lights Menthol, Marlboro Mix-9 Filter Kretek, Marlboro Flavor Plus, Marlboro Black Menthol, and Heatsticks, a heated tobacco product. The company's Marlboro brand ranked first among the most valuable tobacco brands of 2017 on BrandFinance's website, which uses the royalty relief method of brand valuation.
ST Dupont Paris is the brand cigarette designed by Simon Tissot Dupont in 1902. With the black packaging. ST Dupont Paris variants include: filter, lights, menthol, and menthol lights.
A Mild or Sampoerna A was launched in Indonesia on 1989. A Mild is a mild kretek cigarette sold in Indonesia. The iconic brands and best selling brand from Indonesia, now sold in Malaysia.
Chesterfield was launched in 1896. Chesterfield is the third-largest international brand from Philip Morris, with a volume of 57 Billion cigarettes in 2019.
Philip Morris is the fourth-largest international brand from Philip Morris, with a volume of 49 Billion cigarettes in 2019 and is sold in over 40 markets.
Board of directors
As of October, 2023:
Finances
For the fiscal year 2022 Philip Morris reported earnings of US$9.048 billion with an annual revenue of US$80.669 billion, a decrease of 1.9% over the previous fiscal cycle. Its shares traded at $101.21 per share as of December 31, 2022, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$150 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2022.
Carbon footprint
Philip Morris International reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 492 Kt (-175 /-26.2% y-o-y) and commits to reduce absolute emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
Research
Philip Morris International's research center is located in Neuchatel, Switzerland and houses Philip Morris International's product research and development program. As of April 2018, earnings reports showed the company had spent $4.5 billion on four products: two that heat rather than burn tobacco, and two other nicotine products. One of these heat-not-burn tobacco products is IQOS.
Controversies
Foundation for a Smoke-free World
In September 2017, Philip Morris International announced the establishment of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, stating that it would support it with almost US$1 billion of funding over the next 12 years. The declared objective of the Foundation was to "evaluate the impact that smoke-free alternatives can have on smokers and public health, assess the effect of reduced cigarette consumption on the industry value chain, and measure overall progress towards a smoke-free world."
However, the Foundation, which claimed to be independent, was surrounded with controversy since its inception.
Its claims to independence have been challenged.The World Health Organization issued a statement in which it pointed out the "conflicts of interest involved with a tobacco company funding a purported health foundation", indicating that it would not partner with the Foundation and inviting governments and the public health community to follow its lead. More than one hundred public health organizations have taken a strong stance in rejecting collaboration with the foundation.
Australia
The Australian Government announced it would introduce "Tobacco Plain Packaging Laws" on 29 April 2010. Philip Morris International (PMI), arranged for its wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary Philip Morris Asia (PMA) to "takeover" two Australian subsidiaries – Philip Morris Australia Limited and Philip Morris Limited on 23 February 2011. In June 2011, Philip Morris International announced that it was using ISDS provisions in the Australia-Hong Kong Bilateral Investment treaty (BIT) to demand compensation for Australia's plain cigarette packaging anti-smoking legislation. It was one of several tobacco companies to launch legal action against the Australian Government.
In response, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International took the Australian government to the High Court of Australia to try to stop the government of Australia from introducing plain packaging for tobacco products.
Two challenges to the tobacco plain packaging legislation were heard by the High Court of Australia between 17 and 19 April 2012: "British American Tobacco Australasia Limited and Ors v. Commonwealth of Australia" and "J T International SA v. Commonwealth of Australia".
On 15 August 2012, the High Court handed down orders for these matters, and found that the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 is not contrary to s 51(xxxi) of the Constitution. On 5 October 2012, the Court handed down its reasons for the decision. By a 6:1 majority (Heydon J in dissent) the Court held that there had been no acquisition of property that would have required provision of "just terms" under s51(xxxi) of the Constitution.On 18 December 2015, the Tribunal instituted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) issued a unanimous decision (3–0) agreeing with Australia's position that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear PMA's claim. This was due to the fact that PMI used its wholly owned subsidiary PMA to takeover the Australian-based PM subsidiaries in order to specifically sue the Australian Government for bringing in plain packaging laws. PMI was unable to do this itself as the Australia–United States free-trade agreement signed in 2004 did not have any investor-state dispute settlement clauses included—by design.In 2017, the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization supported Australia's right to enforce plain packaging. In 2017, PMI was instructed to pay the Australia government's legal costs, an estimated 50 million dollars.In March 2018, the Tobacco giant announced that it will cut 150 jobs as part of a major restructure. Tammy Chan, the managing director in Australia, said more efficient ways to deal with retailers were introduced based on digital technology development.
European Union
In 2004, Philip Morris and the European Union reached an agreement according to which Philip Morris would pay $1.25bn until 2016 to end a lawsuit over smuggling charges.
Norway
Philip Morris also sued Norway over the country's ban on displaying tobacco products in stores. It lost the case in 2012.
Uruguay
In 2010, the company lobbied against Uruguay's strong anti-smoking laws and filed a complaint against the country (Philip Morris v. Uruguay) under the Switzerland-Uruguay bilateral investment treaty. On 8 July 2016, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ruled in favour of Uruguay.
United Kingdom
In August 2014, the company foreshadowed legal action against the Government of the United Kingdom if it went ahead with plans to introduce plain packaging. In a submission to the government, Philip Morris International said it would seek compensation running into "billions of pounds," if the proposed legislation went ahead.In 2018, an advertising campaign was criticized as hypocritical for urging smokers to quit while promoting other products such as heated tobacco.
IQOS
In 2017, according to two editors of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, after publication of a research letter describing harmful chemicals in heat-not-burn tobacco products, people from Philip Morris International contacted the institutions where the researchers worked and questioned the methods used in the study; the editors described this as a form of "pressure to suppress discourse that could harm commercial interests".In December 2017, Reuters published documents and testimonies of former employees detailing irregularities in the clinical trials conducted by Philip Morris International for the approval of the IQOS product by the FDA.In October 2020, Philip Morris launched its IQOS products in the UAE. The country had officially legalised the sale and use of electronic cigarettes in April 2019. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the marketing of IQOS system, which includes IQOS devices and 3 HeatSticks variants, as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) in July 2020. IQOS is the first electronic alternative to cigarettes to be granted marketing orders through the FDA's MRTP process.
Cigarette smuggling in Africa
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Philip Morris' representative in Burkina Faso, Apollinaire Compaoré, has earned millions by participating in cigarette smuggling in West Africa. In particular, he worked with a Nigerian narco-trafficker Chérif Ould Abidine, nicknamed Chérif Cocaine, to smuggle Marlboro cigarettes into Libya. This tobacco trafficking contributes to the financing of local conflicts and passes through six countries: Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Côte d'Ivoire.
Other
From the 1970s to the late 1990s, Phillip Morris along with British American Tobacco, was involved in campaigns to undermine bans against smoking in Muslim majority countries by branding Muslims who opposed smoking as a "'fundamentalist’ who wishes to return to sharia law," and be "a threat to existing government as” according to leaked documents. A 1985 report from Philip Morris squarely blamed the World Health Organization: “This ideological development has become a threat to our business because of the interference of the WHO [...] The WHO has not only joined forces with Muslim fundamentalists who view smoking as evil, but has gone yet further by encouraging religious leaders previously not active anti-smokers to take up the cause." Philip Morris has refused to comment on these findings.Philip Morris International has announced an overhaul of its human rights protections of tobacco workers in Kazakhstan and 30 other countries after critical reports.The company runs an information web site outlining the health issues of tobacco. However, it has been criticised in an article in the journal Public Health Nursing as merely a "public relations effort" intended to "undermine public health".In the 1930s, the company's tobacco advertisements were a steady source of income for numerous medical organizations and journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).In February 2015, John Oliver highlighted the company's many international legal cases on an episode of his television show Last Week Tonight. He also attempted to raise awareness for his campaign using the hashtag #JeffWeCan.
Sponsorship
Philip Morris is a long-term main sponsor of the Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari. The sponsorship is subliminal in the logo in recent times due to restrictions in tobacco advertising. Marlboro-branded Ferrari and McLaren cars won several world titles with famous drivers such as Alain Prost, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Philip Morris also sponsored several title winners in MotoGP, road racing and Indy Cars. The Ferrari Formula One deal before direct advertisements were banned was estimated to be worth £45 million a year as well as paying the multi-million salary of Schumacher.Despite no longer being able to display the Marlboro logo on Ferrari cars, Philip Morris renewed its sponsorship deal with Ferrari in 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2018 up until 2021. The 2017 deal was reported to be worth $160 million a year.Philip Morris's sponsorship of Ferrari was seen visually on the car again at the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, with the cigarette company's "Mission Winnow" branding. This branding has been seen by authorities as an attempt to flout laws and rules banning tobacco advertising, and it was removed by Ferrari for the 2019 Australian Grand Prix after Australian authorities launched an investigation. Ferrari also decided to remove the branding for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix and the 2019 French Grand Prix to avoid problems with bans on tobacco advertising. As of 2022, Mission Winnow/Phillip Morris International and Ferrari have decided to mutually end their title sponsorship and sponsorship agreement entirely.
In motorcycle racing, Philip Morris International sponsored Ducati Corse and Yamaha MotoGP teams. In 1999, Yamaha was sponsored by Marlboro until 2002 season of MotoGP series. In 2003, Marlboro has been a title sponsor of the team despite the company logo does not appear or riders motorcycle due to the tobacco advertising ban in European Union countries that were already in effect at that time. similarly it had been removed from Scuderia Ferrari Formula One race cars earlier in 2019. Marlboro would stopped the sponsorship on Ducati in 2007. During the Marlboro sponsorship period, Yamaha won the constructor championship in 2000 season and Ducati won the constructor title in 2007 season with Casey Stoner as rider champion.
In 2019, similar to Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team, Philip Morris International returned as a sponsor for Ducati MotoGP team with the cigarette company's "Mission Winnow" branding. The sponsorship has raised controversy in some countries like Australia and Italy. The case has been brought to Italian court. However, Philip Morris International spokesperson, Tomasso di Giovanni denied Mission Winnow being a tobacco advertising and instead is a company dedicated to developing and find ways to help smokers around the world to give up their tobacco addiction. The Australian federal Minister for Health and Victoria state Department of Health and Human Services has also launched a probe against Philip Morris International. Mission Winnow was forced to drop its branding during the 2019 French motorcycle Grand Prix in Le Mans and 2019 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Phillip Island, Victoria due to local government regulations. By 2020 season, Mission Winnow has been dropped as Ducati main sponsor and has been replaced with Lenovo to fill the main sponsorship void.
References
External links
Business data for Philip Morris International:
Official website
"Morris study blasted: Commissioned study found smokers' early deaths helped Czech Republic". CNN Money (July 16, 2001). |
anglo american platinum | Anglo American Platinum Limited (JSE: AMS) is the world's largest primary producer of platinum, accounting for about 38% of the world's annual supply.
Based in South Africa, most of the group's operations lie to the northwest and northeast of Johannesburg. A majority of the company's operations take place in the Bushveld Igneous Complex, a large region that contains a range of mineral commodities including chromium, vanadium, titaniferous magnetite and platinum group metals.
History
In 1995, the company Johannesburg Consolidated Investments unbundled. Its platinum interests became Amplats, later renamed Anglo American Platinum. Anglo American is the company's majority shareholder. On 5 October 2012, Anglo American Platinum made 12,967 striking South African miners redundant. In July 2014, Amplats announced it would sell many of its South African mines following the negative effect of five months' worth of strikes on the firm's hopes of becoming profitable.
Controversies
Treatment of the indigenous
Anglo American Platinum filed SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against a South African public interest lawyer Richard Spoor, who represented indigenous communities affected by platinum mining on tribal land. The actions include an application in the High Court for a so-called gagging order, ostensibly to prevent him further injuring the good name and reputation of the corporation, the lodging of complaints with the Law Society of unprofessional behaviour and the lodging of a civil action for damages for some $500,000. Anglo American Platinum also obtained an ex parte (without notice) order interdicting two tribal chiefs from interfering with their mining operations and had them arrested on charges of intimidation and trespass. Subsequently, followers of the two tribal chiefs were shot, beaten and arrested for protesting the mine's presence on tribal land.In August 2007, British charity War on Want published a report accusing Anglo American Platinum's parent company Anglo American of profiting from the abuse of people in the developing countries in which the company operates. In the report, Anglo American Platinum is accused of displacing communities in South Africa, including forcing the entire Magobading community off its land and into the Mecklenberg township.
Union related violence
In September 2012, following the Marikana massacre in which thirty-four workers were shot by the South African Police Service, workers at Anglo American Platinum staged a strike demanding wage increases at Anglo's partially owned Rustenburg mine. Mametlwe Sebei, a community representative, said in response to protests that at the mine "the mood here is upbeat, very celebratory. Victory is in sight. The workers are celebrating Lonmin as a victory." The strikers carried traditional weapons such as spears and machetes, before being dispersed by police using tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets against the "illegal gathering", according to police spokesman Dennis Adriao. Central Methodist Church Bishop Paul Verry said that one woman who was struck by a bullet died. At the same time, an unnamed organiser for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union of protests at Impala Platinum said: "We want management to meet us as well now. We want 9,000 rand a month as a basic wage instead of the roughly 5,000 rand we are getting." Anglo Platinum then said in a statement that: "Anglo American Platinum has communicated to its employees the requirement to return to work by the night shift on Thursday 20 September, failing which legal avenues will be pursued."A wave of strikes occurred across the South African mining sector. As of early October, analysts estimated that approximately 75,000 miners were on strike from various gold and platinum mines and companies across South Africa, most of them illegally. Citing workers failing to attend disciplinary hearings, on 5 October 2012, Anglo American Platinum—the world's biggest platinum producer—announced that it would fire 12,000 people. It said it would do so after losing 39,000 ounces in output – or 700 million rand ($82.3 million; £51 million) in revenue. The ANC Youth League expressed anger at the company and pledged solidarity with those who had been fired:
This action demonstrates the insensibility and insensitivity of the company... which has made astronomical profits on the blood, sweat and tears of the very same workers that today the company can just fire with impunity. Amplats is a disgrace and a disappointment to the country at large, a representation of white monopoly capital out of touch and uncaring of the plight of the poor.
Reuters described the move as "a high-stakes attempt by the world's biggest platinum producer to push back at a wave of illegal stoppages sweeping through the country's mining sector and beyond". The announcement made the rand fall to a 3+1⁄2-year low. The events were expected to put further political pressure on President Jacob Zuma ahead of the leadership vote in December's ANC National Conference.According to the Bench Marks Foundation, the violence erupted against a backdrop of a lack of employment opportunities for local youth, squalid living conditions, unemployment and growing inequalities. It claimed the workers were exploited and this was a motivation for the violence. It also criticised the high profits when compared with the low wages of the workers.In late January 2014 thousands of employees belonging to Anglo American Platinum and other platinum mines went on strike, demanding a basic salary of R12,500 ($880), the same salary that miners wanted in 2012. The five-month-long platinum strike resulted in the deaths of four people, six stabbings, and 24 billion rand ($2.25 billion) in lost revenue for the South African platinum industry. The GDP of South Africa contracted in the first quarter of 2014, pulled down by the steepest drop in mining production, 25% of which 19% was directly attributable to the strike, in 50 years. It was the first contraction since 2009. Workers, most of whom already lived in poverty, lost around 10.6 billion rand ($1 billion) in wages.
Carbon footprint
Anglo American Platinum reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 3,943 Kt (-493 /-11.1% y-o-y). Emissions have been on a declining trend since 2015.
References
Anglo American: The Alternative Report
External links
Anglo American Platinum
2007 annual report award for Anglo Platinum |
agnico eagle | Agnico Eagle Mines Limited is a Canadian-based gold producer with operations in Canada, Finland, Australia and Mexico and exploration and development activities extending to the United States. Agnico Eagle has full exposure to higher gold prices consistent with its policy of no-forward gold sales. As of 2017, it has paid a cash dividend every year since 1983.
History
In 1953, five struggling mining companies joined together to become Cobalt Consolidated Mining, which would last until 1957, when the company changed its name to Agnico Mines. "Agnico" is derived from the periodic table of elements using the symbols for silver (Ag), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co).
In 1963, Paul Penna became the president of Agnico Mines, and he eventually oversaw the merger of Agnico Mines with Eagle Mines Ltd, a successful gold exploration company, enabling the development of Eagle's Joutel mining complex. The newly formed company became Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.In 1974, the Joutel mine went into production and would eventually produce approximately 1.1 million ounces of gold until its closure in 1993. During this period, Agnico Eagle also acquired the property and assets of Dumagami Mines Limited in north-western Quebec, which had recently gone into production a year earlier in 1988. The Dumagami mine would eventually be renamed the LaRonde mine, which is now considered the flagship mining operation for Agnico Eagle, and one of the largest gold deposits in Canada. With LaRonde producing steadily, Agnico Eagle acquired more assets over the following years.In 1993, they completed the purchase of the Goldex mine, becoming the 100% owner of the largest unexploited gold deposit in Quebec. This was followed by the purchase of the Lapa gold deposit in 2000, Riddarhyttan Resources AB (the 100% owner of the Suurikuusikko gold deposit in northern Finland, which would become the Kittilä mine) in 2005, the Pinos Altos project in Mexico in 2006, and the purchase of Cumberland Resources in 2007, giving Agnico Eagle 100% control of the Meadowbank gold project in Nunavut, Canada.As a result of these purchases, the following years would see Agnico Eagle grow from a single-operation gold producer (LaRonde) to a much larger company consisting of 6 mines in total, with Goldex going into production in 2008, Kittila, Lapa and Pinos Altos in 2009, and Meadowbank in 2010.
In 2010, Agnico Eagle completed the purchase of the Meliadine property, located southeast of Meadowbank near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. In 2011, the company also announced a $70 million (CAD) investment in Rubicon Minerals, representing a 9.2% ownership stake and access to the Phoenix gold project located in the heart of Red Lake, Ontario.In 2016, Agnico Eagle was ranked as the 14th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in Arctic resource extraction.In 2018, CEO Sean Boyd received The Northern Miner's "Mining Person of the Year Award" at the annual Pacific Mine Forum (PMF).In the 2021 Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) Agnico Eagle Mines Limited was ranked no. 35 among 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle.In 2021, a $13.5 billion merger between Kirkland Lake Gold and Agnico consolidated the largest gold mines in Canada's Abitibi gold belt.Company veteran Ammar Al-Joundi was appointed CEO of Agnico on 1 March 2022, after Tony Makuch, the holdover CEO from its merger with KL Gold, lasted only three weeks in the job and was fired by Sean Boyd who had progressed by then to the Chair the amalamgated company, which at the time had a market capitalization of $29 billion.
Operations
LaRonde gold mine
The LaRonde mine, formerly Dumagami Mine, is located alongside the Trans-Canada highway in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region between Cadillac and Val-d’or, Quebec.
LaRonde's Penna shaft, also known as shaft 3, is believed to be the deepest single lift shaft in the Western Hemisphere, descending more than three kilometres (or 9800ft) below the surface. It is estimated to have the longest potential lifespan of Agnico Eagle's six operating mines, estimated to be approximately 35 years once completed, from 1988 to 2023. The lifespan is now expected to run until 2032. The operation currently mines gold, zinc, copper and silver ores and employs 1,042 workers.The mine was renamed to the LaRonde Mine by company founder Paul Penna, to honour its first project manager, mining engineer Donald J. "Don" LaRonde (c. 1931-1986).
Goldex
Employing 213 people, with an estimated mine life of 10 years (2008-2018); Goldex is an underground mine located just outside Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. Goldex is unique due to its partnership with the Quebec government in the restoration of the nearby abandoned Manitou mine tailings site. Through an innovative approach, the tailings from the Goldex mine are sent through a 25 km long pipeline to the Manitou site where they neutralize the acidic waters in the area, the result of years of poorly confined tailings generated between 1942 and 1979 by the mining companies operating the Manitou project at the time. Not only do the Goldex tailings neutralize and help rehabilitate the site, but the system also eliminates the need for a tailings pond at the Goldex site itself.The mine is expected to run until 2032 and currently produces roughly 134,000 oz of gold per year.
Lapa
Lapa, located about 11 km away from the LaRonde mine (see above), in the Rivière-Héva municipality of the Abitibi region in Quebec, Canada, is one of Agnico Eagle's smaller operations employing 192 people, with a 6-year mine life expectancy (2009-2015). The main headframe that is used at the Lapa mine was constructed almost entirely from a pre-existing headframe at LaRonde. The original headframe was dismantled, sand blasted and painted before it was installed at Lapa. Although Lapa may be a smaller operation in comparison to our other mines, it is one of Agnico Eagle's highest-grade mines, with reserve grades twice as rich as the company average.
Kittilä
In the Lapland region of Northern Finland, Agnico Eagle's Kittila operation has a life expectancy of 23 years (2009 – 2032). With 375 employees, this open pit and underground mine is one of the largest known gold deposits in all of Europe, containing almost 4.9 million ounces of gold in reserves. Aggressive exploration is also currently underway; with the Kittilä mine serving notice that gold-mining is again a booming industry in northern Finland.
Pinos Altos
Agnico Eagle's largest employer, with 972 employees, is the Pinos Altos mine located in the state of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. Pinos Altos began operation in 2009 and is expected to continue until 2026, resulting in an estimated 17 years of production. The open-pit and underground mining operation is in the mountainous Sierra Madre gold and silver belt of northern Mexico.
La India
La India is an open pit mine is located approximately 200 km east of Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico. It began production in February 2014 and has a mine life expectancy of 6 years.
Meadowbank
Meadowbank is an open-pit mine in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut with an 8-year life expectancy (2010 – 2017). Meadowbank is one of Agnico Eagle's most recent mine to begin operation, and has about 650 employees. In 2010 the first gold brick was poured at Meadowbank, which was also the first ever gold brick to be poured in the history of Nunavut. Meadowbank is also Agnico Eagle's largest producer, estimated to produce 430,000 ounces of gold in 2014.
Exploration
The 2011 exploration program is expected to include more than 410 km of planned drilling to expand resources and convert our large gold resource to reserves.
Major programs are planned at the following locations:
Meliadine – 90,000 meters of diamond drilling, an underground bulk sample, new permanent accommodations at the exploration camp, permitting infrastructure upgrades.Kittilä – 56,200 meters of exploration and conversion drilling, and construction of an exploration ramp to accelerate the definition of resources and facilitate additional exploration at depth.
Goldex – 58,200 meters of diamond drilling will principally target resource expansion for the D zone. Pending the results of a planned mining study in 2011, a reserve conversion program will also be considered.LaRonde/Bousquet/Ellison – 42,050 meters of drilling, which includes a follow-up exploration program for Ellison.Pinos Altos – 33,800 meters of drilling including minesite (reserve conversion) and regional (resource expansion) drilling, and an underground exploration program and scoping study for the Cubiro zone.Meadowbank – 32,000 meters of conversion and exploration drilling targeting extensions of the Vault deposit and underground potential beneath Goose South.Gilt Edge – In 2018, a former gold mine in South Dakota was acquired in an exploration-environmental partnership with the EPA.
In December 2016 Agnico invested CA$4.5 million into Canadian junior mining company Cartier Resources to conduct exploration on the Chimo, Benoist, Wilson, Fenton and Cadillac Extension projects in Quebec.
Carbon footprint
Agnico-Eagle Mines Group reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 578 Kt (+57/+11% y-o-y). The growth accelerated compared to the long-term upward trend (CAGR of +7.6% since 4Q'16).
References
Further reading
Vos mines vous parlent. 2013 onwards. Montréal: Québécor media. N.B.: "1ère éd., 10 avril 2013". Without ISSN
External links
Official website
Business data for Agnico Eagle: |
list of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita | This is a list of sovereign states and territories by per capita greenhouse gas emissions due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European Commission. The following table lists the 1970, 1990, 2005, 2017 and 2022 annual per capita GHG emissions estimates (in metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year). The data include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from all sources, including agriculture and land use change. They are measured in carbon dioxide-equivalents over a 100-year timescale.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th assessment report finds that the “Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)” sector on average, accounted for 13-21% of global total anthropogenic GHG emissions in the period 2010-2019. Land use change drivers net AFOLU CO2 emission fluxes, with deforestation being responsible for 45% of total AFOLU emissions. In addition to being a net carbon sink and source of GHG emissions, land plays an important role in climate through albedo effects, evapotranspiration, and aerosol loading through emissions of volatile organic compounds. The IPCC report finds that the LULUCF sector offers significant near-term mitigation potential while providing food, wood and other renewable resources as well as biodiversity conservation. Mitigation measures in forests and other natural ecosystems provide the largest share of the LULUCF mitigation potential between 2020 and 2050. Among various LULUCF activities, reducing deforestation has the largest potential to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions, followed by carbon sequestration in agriculture and ecosystem restoration including afforestation and reforestation. Land use change emissions can be negative.According to Science for Policy report in 2023 by the Joint Research Centre (JRC - the European Commission’s science and knowledge service) and International Energy Agency (IEA), global per-capita emissions in 2022 increased by 0.4% to reach 6.76 tCO2eq/cap, a value still 0.8% lower than in 2019, but have increased by about 8.3% from 6.24 tCO2eq/cap to 6.76 tCO2eq/cap between 1990 and 2022.The main advantage of measuring total national emissions per capita is that it does take population size into account. China has the largest CO2 and GHG emissions in the world, but also the largest population. For a fair comparison, emissions should be analyzed in terms of the amount of CO2 and GHG per capita.In 2022, China's GHG per capita emissions levels (10.95) are almost 60 percent those of the United States (17.90) and less than a sixth of those of Qatar (67.38 - the country with the highest emissions of GHG per capita in 2022).Measures of territorial-based emissions, also known as production-based emissions, do not account for emissions embedded in global trade, where emissions may be imported or exported in the form of traded goods, as it only reports emissions emitted within geographical boundaries. Accordingly, a proportion of the CO2 produced and reported in Asia and Africa is for the production of goods consumed in Europe and North America.According to the review of the scientific literature conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas by warming contribution. Greenhouse gases (GHG) – primarily carbon dioxide but also others, including methane and chlorofluorocarbons – trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming. Higher temperatures then act on the climate, with varying effects. For example, dry regions might become drier while, at the poles, the ice caps are melting, causing higher sea levels. In 2016, the global average temperature was already 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels.
GHG emissions
Per capita GHG emissions by country/territory
The data in the following table is extracted from EDGAR - Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research.
Notes
References
See also
List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions
List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions
List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita
Climate change
Land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF)
List of countries by carbon intensity of GDP
List of countries by renewable electricity production
United Nations | Sustainable Development Goal 13 - Climate action
External links
UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform – The SDGs
GHG data from UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data
Total greenhouse gas emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent) – World Bank
CO2 emissions in metric tons per capita – Google Public Data Explorer |
american airlines | American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by scheduled passengers carried and revenue passenger mile. American, together with its regional partners and affiliates, operates an extensive international and domestic network with almost 6,800 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in 48 countries. American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name American Eagle.American Airlines and American Eagle operate out of 10 hubs, with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) being its largest. The airline handles more than 200 million passengers annually with an average of more than 500,000 passengers daily. As of 2022, the company employs 129,700 staff members.
History
American Airlines was started in 1930 via a union of more than eighty small airlines. The two organizations from which American Airlines was originated were Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Colonial Air Transport. The former was first created in Missouri in 1921, with both being merged in 1929 into holding company The Aviation Corporation. This, in turn, was made in 1930 into an operating company and rebranded as American Airways. In 1934, when new laws and attrition of mail contracts forced many airlines to reorganize, the corporation redid its routes into a connected system and was renamed American Airlines. The airline fully developed its international business between 1970 and 2000. It purchased Trans World Airlines in 2001.American had a direct role in the development of the Douglas DC-3, which resulted from a marathon telephone call from American Airlines CEO C. R. Smith to Douglas Aircraft Company founder Donald Wills Douglas Sr., when Smith persuaded a reluctant Douglas to design a sleeper aircraft based on the DC-2 to replace American's Curtiss Condor II biplanes. (The existing DC-2's cabin was 66 inches (1.7 m) wide, too narrow for side-by-side berths.) Douglas agreed to go ahead with development only after Smith informed him of American's intention to purchase 20 aircraft. The prototype DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) first flew on December 17, 1935, the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk. Its cabin was 92 in (2.3 m) wide, and a version with 21 seats instead of the 14–16 sleeping berths of the DST was given the designation DC-3. There was no prototype DC-3; the first DC-3 built followed seven DSTs off the production line and was delivered to American Airlines. American Airlines inaugurated passenger service on June 26, 1936, with simultaneous flights from Newark, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinois.
American also had a direct role in the development of the DC-10, which resulted from a specification from American Airlines to manufacturers in 1966 to offer a widebody aircraft that was smaller than the Boeing 747, but capable of flying similar long-range routes from airports with shorter runways. McDonnell Douglas responded with the DC-10 trijet shortly after the two companies' merger. On February 19, 1968, the president of American Airlines, George A. Spater, and James S. McDonnell of McDonnell Douglas announced American's intention to acquire the DC-10. American Airlines ordered 25 DC-10s in its first order. The DC-10 made its first flight on August 29, 1970, and received its type certificate from the FAA on July 29, 1971. On August 5, 1971, the DC-10 entered commercial service with American Airlines on a round trip flight between Los Angeles and Chicago.In 2011, due to a downturn in the airline industry, American Airlines' parent company, the AMR Corporation, filed for bankruptcy protection. In 2013, American Airlines merged with US Airways but kept the American Airlines name, as it was the better-recognized brand internationally; the combination of the two airlines resulted in the creation of the largest airline in the United States, and ultimately the world.
Destinations and hubs
Destinations
As of July 2022, American Airlines flies to 269 domestic destinations and 81 international destinations in 58 countries (as of August 2022) in five continents.
Hubs
American currently operates ten hubs.
Charlotte – American's hub for the southeastern United States and secondary Caribbean gateway. Its operations in Concourse E are the largest regional flight operation in the world. American has about 91% of the market share at CLT, making it the largest carrier at the airport. It is a former US Airways hub.
Chicago–O'Hare – American's hub for the Midwest. American has about 35% of the market share at O'Hare, making it the airport's second largest airline after United.
Dallas/Fort Worth – American's hub for the southern United States and largest hub overall. American currently has about 87% of the market share at DFW, making it the largest carrier at the airport. American's corporate headquarters are also in Fort Worth near the airport. DFW serves as American's primary Transpacific hub, primary gateway to Mexico and its secondary gateway to Latin America.
Los Angeles – American's hub for the West Coast and secondary transpacific gateway. Though American has increasingly reduced its network out of Los Angeles, citing many long-haul international routes as unprofitable, it still maintains a limited amount of transatlantic and transpacific flights.
Miami – American's primary Latin American and Caribbean hub. American has about 68% of the market share in Miami, making it the largest airline at the airport.
New York–JFK – American's secondary transatlantic hub mostly serving destinations that see high demand from local New York traffic. American has about 12% of the market share at JFK, making it the third largest carrier at the airport behind Delta and JetBlue.
New York–LaGuardia – American's New York hub for domestic flights with a few exceptions. Most flights are operated by American Eagle.
Philadelphia – American's primary Northeast domestic hub and primary transatlantic hub. American has about 70% of the market share at PHL, making it the airport's largest airline. Another former US Airways hub.
Phoenix–Sky Harbor – American's Rocky Mountain hub. Currently American has about 33% of the market share at PHX, making it the airport's second-largest airline. Former US Airways hub.
Washington–Reagan – American's hub for the capital of the United States. American has about 49% of the market share at DCA, making it the largest carrier at the airport. Former US Airways hub.
Alliance and codeshare agreements
American Airlines is a member of the Oneworld alliance and has codeshares with the following airlines:
Joint ventures
In addition to the above codeshares, American Airlines has entered into joint ventures with the following airlines:
British Airways
Finnair
Iberia
Japan Airlines
Qantas
Fleet
As of January 2023, American Airlines operates the largest commercial fleet in the world, comprising 933 aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus, with an additional 161 planned or on order.Over 80% of American's aircraft are narrow-bodies, mainly Airbus A320 series and the Boeing 737-800. It is the largest A320 series aircraft operator in the world, as well as the largest operator of the A319 and A321 variants. It is the fourth-largest operator of 737 family aircraft and second-largest operator of the 737-800 variant.
American's wide-body aircraft are all Boeing airliners. It is the third-largest operator of the Boeing 787 series and the sixth-largest operator of the Boeing 777 series.
American exclusively ordered Boeing aircraft throughout the 2000s. This strategy shifted on July 20, 2011, when American announced the largest combined aircraft order in history for 460 narrow-body jets including 260 aircraft from the Airbus A320 series. Additional Airbus aircraft joined the fleet in 2013 during the US Airways merger, which operated a nearly all Airbus fleet.On August 16, 2022, American announced that a deal had been confirmed with Boom Supersonic to purchase at least 20 of their Overture supersonic airliners and potentially up to 60 in total.American Airlines operates aircraft maintenance and repair bases at the Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas–Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, and Tulsa airports.Only American's widebody planes and its specially-configured Airbus A321T feature seatback entertainment. All other A321 and all Boeing 737 planes were retrofitted with their "Oasis" configuration. While this configuration adds larger overhead bins, it also added more seats, reduced legroom and seat padding, and removed seatback entertainment, which has drawn ire from some travelers.
Cabins
Flagship FirstFlagship First is American's international and transcontinental first class product. It is offered only on Boeing 777-300ERs and select Airbus A321s which American designates "A321T". The seats are fully lie-flat and offer direct aisle access with only one on each side of the aisle in each row. As with the airline's other premium cabins, Flagship First offers wider food and beverage options, larger seats, and lounge access at certain airports. American offers domestic Flagship First service on transcontinental routes between New York–JFK and Los Angeles, New York–JFK and San Francisco, New York-JFK and Santa Ana, Boston and Los Angeles, and Miami and Los Angeles, as well as on the standard domestic route between New York-JFK and Boston. The airline will debut new Flagship Suite® premium seats and a revamped aircraft interior for its long-haul fleet with fresh deliveries of its Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 787-9 aircraft, beginning in 2024.
Flagship BusinessFlagship Business is American's international and transcontinental business class product. It is offered on all Boeing 777-200ERs, Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 787-8s, and Boeing 787-9s, as well as select Airbus A321s. All Flagship Business seats are fully lie-flat. The amenities in Flagship Business include complimentary alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages, multi-course meals, and lounge access.
Domestic first classFirst class is offered on all domestically configured aircraft. Seats range from 19–21 inches (48–53 cm) in width and have 37–42 inches (94–107 cm) of pitch. Dining options include complementary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on all flights as well as standard economy snack offerings, enhanced snack basket selections on flights over 500 miles (800 km), and meals on flights 900 miles (1,400 km) or longer.
Premium EconomyPremium Economy is American's economy plus product. It is offered on all widebody aircraft. The cabin debuted on the airline's Boeing 787-9s in late 2016 and is also available on Boeing 777-200s and -300s, and Boeing 787-8s. Premium Economy seats are wider than seats in the main cabin (American's economy cabin) and provide more amenities: Premium Economy customers get two free checked bags, priority boarding, and enhanced food and drink service including free alcohol. This product made American Airlines the first U.S. carrier to offer a four-cabin aircraft.
Main Cabin ExtraMain Cabin Extra is American's enhanced economy product. It is available on all of the mainline fleet and American Eagle aircraft. Main Cabin Extra seats include greater pitch than is available in main cabin, along with free alcoholic beverages and boarding one group ahead of main cabin. American retained Main Cabin Extra when the new Premium Economy product entered service in late 2016.
Main CabinMain Cabin (economy class) is American's economy product and is found on all mainline and regional aircraft in its fleet. Seats range from 17–18.5 inches (43–47 cm) in width and have 30–32 inches (76–81 cm) of pitch. American markets a number of rows within the main cabin immediately behind Main Cabin Extra as "Main Cabin Preferred", which require an extra charge to select for those without status.American Airlines marketed increased legroom in economy class as "More Room Throughout Coach", also referred to as "MRTC", starting in February 2000. Two rows of economy class seats were removed on domestic narrowbody aircraft, resulting in more than half of all standard economy seats having a pitch of 34 inches (86 cm) or more. Amid financial losses, this scheme was discontinued in 2004.On many routes, American also offers Basic Economy, the airline's lowest main cabin fare. Basic Economy consists of a Main Cabin ticket with numerous restrictions including waiting until check-in for a seat assignment, no upgrades or refunds, and boarding in the last group. Originally Basic Economy passengers could only carry a personal item, but American later revised their Basic Economy policies to allow for a carry-on bag.In May 2017, American announced it would be adding more seats to some of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets and reducing overall legroom in the basic economy class. The last three rows were to lose 2 inches (5.1 cm), going from the current 31 to 29 inches (79 to 74 cm). The remainder of the main cabin was to have 30 inches (76 cm) of legroom. This "Project Oasis" seating configuration has since been expanded to all 737 MAX 8s as well as standard Boeing 737-800 and non-transcontinental Airbus A321 jets. New Airbus A321neo jets have been delivered with the same configuration. This configuration has been considered unpopular with passengers, especially American's frequent flyers, as the new seats have less padding, less legroom, and no seatback entertainment.
Reward programs
AAdvantage
AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program for American Airlines. It was launched on May 1, 1981, and it remains the largest frequent flyer program with over 115 million members as of 2021. Miles accumulated in the program allow members to redeem tickets, upgrade service class, or obtain free or discounted car rentals, hotel stays, merchandise, or other products and services through partners. The most active members, based on the accumulation of Loyalty Points with American Airlines, are designated AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum Pro, and AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite members, with privileges such as separate check-in, priority upgrade, and standby processing, or free upgrades. AAdvantage status correspond with Oneworld status levels allowing elites to receive reciprocal benefits from American's oneworld partner airlines.AAdvantage co-branded credit cards are also available and offer other benefits. The cards are issued by CitiCards, a subsidiary of Citigroup, Barclaycard, and Bilt card in the United States, by several banks including Butterfield Bank and Scotiabank in the Caribbean, and by Banco Santander in Brazil.AAdvantage allows one-way redemption, starting at 7,500 miles.
Admirals Club
The Admirals Club was conceived by AA president C.R. Smith as a marketing promotion shortly after he was made an honorary Texas Ranger. Inspired by the Kentucky colonels and other honorary title designations, Smith decided to make particularly valued passengers "admirals" of the "Flagship fleet" (AA called its aircraft "Flagships" at the time). The list of admirals included many celebrities, politicians, and other VIPs, as well as more "ordinary" customers who had been particularly loyal to the airline.There was no physical Admirals Club until shortly after the opening of LaGuardia Airport. During the airport's construction, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had an upper-level lounge set aside for press conferences and business meetings. At one such press conference, he noted that the entire terminal was being offered for lease to airline tenants; after a reporter asked whether the lounge would be leased as well, LaGuardia replied that it would, and a vice president of AA immediately offered to lease the premises. The airline then procured a liquor license and began operating the lounge as the "Admirals Club" in 1939.The second Admirals Club opened at Washington National Airport. Because it was illegal to sell alcohol in Virginia at the time, the club contained refrigerators for the use of its members, so they could store their liquor at the airport. For many years, membership in the Admirals Club (and most other airline lounges) was by the airline's invitation. After a passenger sued for discrimination, the club switched to a paid membership program in 1974.
Flagship Lounge
Though affiliated with the Admirals Club and staffed by many of the same employees, the Flagship Lounge is a separate lounge specifically designed for customers flying in first class and business class on international flights and transcontinental domestic flights.
Corporate affairs
Business trends
The key trends for American Airlines are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):
Ownership and structure
American Airlines, Inc., is publicly traded through its parent company, American Airlines Group Inc., under NASDAQ: AAL Nasdaq: AAL, with a market capitalization of about $12 billion as of 2019, and is included in the S&P 500 index.American Eagle is a network of six regional carriers that operate under a codeshare and service agreement with American, operating flights to destinations in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Three of these carriers are independent and three are subsidiaries of American Airlines Group: Envoy Air Inc., Piedmont Airlines, Inc., and PSA Airlines Inc.
Headquarters
American Airlines is headquartered across several buildings in Fort Worth, Texas that it calls the "Robert L. Crandall Campus" in honor of former president and CEO Robert Crandall. The 1,700,000-square-foot (160,000 m2) square-foot, five-building office complex called was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. The campus is located on 300 acres, adjacent to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, American's fortress hub.Before it was headquartered in Texas, American Airlines was headquartered at 633 Third Avenue in the Murray Hill area of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In 1979, American moved its headquarters to a site at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which affected up to 1,300 jobs. Mayor of New York City Ed Koch described the move as a "betrayal" of New York City. American moved to two leased office buildings in Grand Prairie, Texas. On January 17, 1983, the airline finished moving into a $150 million ($441,000,000 when adjusted for inflation), 550,000-square-foot (51,000 m2) facility in Fort Worth; $147 million (about $432,000,000 when adjusted for inflation) in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport bonds financed the headquarters. The airline began leasing the facility from the airport, which owns the facility. Following the merger of US Airways and American Airlines, the new company consolidated its corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, abandoning the US Airways headquarters in Phoenix, AZ.
As of 2015, American Airlines is the corporation with the largest presence in Fort Worth.In 2015, American announced that it would build a new headquarters in Fort Worth. Groundbreaking began in the spring of 2016 and occupancy completed in September 2019. The airline plans to house 5,000 new workers in the building.It will be located on a 41-acre (17 ha) property adjacent to the airline's flight academy and conference and training center, west of Texas State Highway 360, 2 miles (3.2 km) west from the current headquarters. The airline will lease a total of 300 acres (120 ha) from Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport and this area will include the headquarters. Construction of the new headquarters began after the demolition of the Sabre facility, previously on the site.The airline considered developing a new headquarters in Irving, Texas, on the old Texas Stadium site, before deciding to keep the headquarters in Fort Worth.
Corporate identity
Logo
In 1931, Goodrich Murphy, an American employee, designed the AA logo as an entry in a logo contest. The eagle in the logo was copied from a Scottish hotel brochure. The logo was redesigned by Massimo Vignelli in 1967. Thirty years later, in 1997, American Airlines was able to make its logo Internet-compatible by buying the domain AA.com. AA is also American's two-letter IATA airline designator.On January 17, 2013, American launched a new rebranding and marketing campaign with FutureBrand dubbed, "A New American". This included a new logo, which includes elements of the 1967 logo.American Airlines faced difficulty obtaining copyright registration for their 2013 logo. On June 3, 2016, American Airlines sought to register it with the United States Copyright Office, but in October of that year, the Copyright Office ruled that the logo was ineligible for copyright protection, as it did not pass the threshold of originality, and was thus in the public domain. American requested that the Copyright Office reconsider, but on January 8, 2018, the Copyright Office affirmed its initial determination. After American Airlines submitted additional materials, the Copyright Office reversed its decision on December 7, 2018, and ruled that the logo contained enough creativity to merit copyright protection.
Aircraft livery
American's early liveries varied widely, but a common livery was adopted in the 1930s, featuring an eagle painted on the fuselage. The eagle became a symbol of the company and inspired the name of American Eagle Airlines. Propeller aircraft featured an international orange lightning bolt running down the length of the fuselage, which was replaced by a simpler orange stripe with the introduction of jets.In the late 1960s, American commissioned designer Massimo Vignelli to develop a new livery. The original design called for a red, white, and blue stripe on the fuselage, and a simple "AA" logo, without an eagle, on the tail; instead, Vignelli created a highly stylized eagle, which remained the company's logo until January 16, 2013.
On January 17, 2013, American unveiled a new livery. Before then, American had been the only major U.S. airline to leave most of its aircraft surfaces unpainted. This was because C. R. Smith would not say he liked painted aircraft and refused to use any liveries that involved painting the entire plane. Robert "Bob" Crandall later justified the distinctive natural metal finish by noting that less paint reduced the aircraft's weight, thus saving on fuel costs.In January 2013, American launched a new rebranding and marketing campaign dubbed, "The New American". In addition to a new logo, American Airlines introduced a new livery for its fleet. The airline calls the new livery and branding "a clean and modern update". The current design features an abstract American flag on the tail, along with a silver-painted fuselage, as a throw-back to the old livery. The new design was painted by Leading Edge Aviation Services in California. Doug Parker, the incoming CEO indicated that the new livery could be short-lived, stating that "maybe we need to do something slightly different than [sic] that ... The only reason this is an issue now is that they just did it right in the middle, which kind of makes it confusing, so that gives us an opportunity, actually, to decide if we are going to do something different because we have so many airplanes to paint". The current logo and livery have had mixed criticism, with Design Shack editor Joshua Johnson writing that they "boldly and proudly communicate the concepts of American pride and freedom wrapped into a shape that instantly makes you think about an airplane", and AskThePilot.com author Patrick Smith describing the logo as 'a linoleum knife poking through a shower curtain'. Later in January 2013, Bloomberg asked the designer of the 1968 American Airlines logo (Massimo Vignelli) on his opinion over the rebranding.In the end, American let their employees decide the new livery's fate. On an internal website for employees, American posted two options, one the new livery and one a modified version of the old livery. All of the American Airlines Group employees (including US Airways and other affiliates) were able to vote. American ultimately decided to keep the new look. Parker announced that American would keep a US Airways and America West heritage aircraft in the fleet, with plans to add a heritage TWA aircraft and a heritage American plane with the old livery. As of September 2019, American has heritage aircraft for Piedmont, PSA, America West, US Airways, Reno Air, TWA, and AirCal in their fleet. They also have two AA branded heritage 737-800 aircraft, an AstroJet N905NN, and the polished aluminum livery used from 1967 to 2013, N921NN.
Customer Service
American, both before and after the merger with US Airways, has consistently performed poorly in rankings. The Wall Street Journal's annual airline rankings have ranked American as the worst or second-worst U.S. carrier for ten of the past twelve years, and in the bottom three of U.S. Airlines for at least the past twelve years. The airline has persistently performed poorly in the areas of losing checked luggage and bumping passengers due to oversold flights.
Worker relations
The main representatives of key groups of employees are:
The Allied Pilots Association is an in-house union which represents the nearly 15,000 American Airlines pilots; it was created in 1963 after the pilots left the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). However the majority of American Eagle pilots are ALPA members.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants represents American Airlines flight attendants, including former USAirways flight attendants.
Flight attendants at wholly owned regional carriers (Envoy, Piedmont, and PSA) are all represented by Association of Flight Attendants – Communications Workers of America (AFA-CWA). US Airways flight attendants were active members of AFA-CWA before the merger, and they are honorary lifetime members. AFA-CWA is the largest flight attendant union in the industry.
The Transport Workers Union-International Association of Machinists alliance (TWU-IAM) represents the majority of American Airlines employed fleet service agents, mechanics, and other ground workers.
American's customer service and gate employees belong to the Communications Workers of America/International Brotherhood of Teamsters Passenger Service Association.
Concerns and conflicts
Environmental violations
Between October 1993 to July 1998, American Airlines was repeatedly cited for using high-sulfur fuel in motor vehicles at 10 major airports around the country, a violation of the Clean Air Act.
Lifetime AAirpass
Since 1981, as a means of creating revenue in a period of loss-making, American Airlines had offered a lifetime pass of unlimited travel, for the initial cost of $250,000. This entitled the pass holder to fly anywhere in the world. Twenty-eight were sold. However, after some time, the airline realized they were making losses on the tickets, with the ticketholders costing them up to $1 million each. Ticketholders were booking large numbers of flights with some ticketholders flying interstate for lunch or flying to London multiple times a month. AA raised the cost of the lifetime pass to $3 million, and then finally stopped offering it in 2003. AA then used litigation to cancel two of the lifetime offers, saying the passes "had been terminated due to fraudulent activity".
Cabin fume events
In 1988, on American Airlines Flight 132's approach into Nashville, flight attendants notified the cockpit that there was smoke in the cabin. The flight crew in the cockpit ignored the warning, as on a prior flight, a fume event had occurred due to a problem with the auxiliary power unit. However, the smoke on Flight 132 was caused by improperly packaged hazardous materials. According to the NTSB inquiry, the cockpit crew persistently refused to acknowledge that there was a serious threat to the aircraft or the passengers, even after they were told that the floor was becoming soft and passengers had to be reseated. As a result, the aircraft was not evacuated immediately on landing, exposing the crew and passengers to the threat of smoke and fire longer than necessary.
On April 11, 2007, toxic smoke and oil fumes leaked into the aircraft cabin as American Airlines Flight 843 taxied to the gate. A flight attendant who was present in the cabin subsequently filed a lawsuit against Boeing, stating that she was diagnosed with neurotoxic disorder due to her exposure to the fumes, which caused her to experience memory loss, tremors, and severe headaches. She settled with the company in 2011.
In 2009, Mike Holland, deputy chairman for radiation and environmental issues at the Allied Pilots Association and an American Airlines pilot, said that the pilot union had started alerting pilots of the danger of contaminated bleed air, including contacting crew members that the union thinks were exposed to contamination based on maintenance records and pilot logs.
In a January 2017 incident on American Airlines Flight 1896, seven flight attendants were hospitalized after a strange odor was detected in the cabin. The Airbus A330 involved subsequently underwent a "thorough maintenance inspection", having been involved in three fume events in three months.
In August 2018, American Airlines flight attendants picketed in front of the Fort Worth company headquarters over a change in sick day policy, complaining that exposure to ill passengers, toxic uniforms, toxic cabin air, radiation exposure, and other issues were causing them to be sick.
In January 2019, two pilots and three flight attendants on Flight 1897 from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale were hospitalized following complaints of a strange odor.
Discrimination complaints
On October 24, 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory for American Airlines urging African Americans to "exercise caution" when traveling with the airline. The NAACP issued the advisory after four incidents. In one incident, a black woman was moved from first class to coach while her white traveling companion was allowed to remain in first class. In another incident, a black man was forced to give up his seats after being confronted by two unruly white passengers. According to the NAACP, while they did receive complaints on other airlines, most of their complaints in the year before their advisory were on American Airlines. In July 2018, the NAACP lifted their travel advisory saying that American has made improvements to mitigate discrimination and unsafe treatment of African Americans.
Accidents and incidents
As of March 2019, the airline has had almost sixty aircraft hull losses, beginning with the crash of an American Airways Ford 5-AT-C Trimotor in August 1931. Of these most were propeller driven aircraft, including three Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft (of which one, the crash in 1959 of Flight 320, resulted in fatalities). The two accidents with the highest fatalities in both the airline's and U.S. aviation history were Flight 191 in 1979 and Flight 587 in 2001.Out of the 17 hijackings of American Airlines flights, two aircraft were hijacked and destroyed in the September 11 attacks: Flight 11 crashed into the north facade of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon; both were bound for LAX from Boston Logan International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport respectively.
Other accidents include the Flight 383 engine failure and fire in 2016. There were two training flight accidents in which the crew were killed and six that resulted in no fatalities. Another four jet aircraft have been written off due to incidents while they were parked between flights or while undergoing maintenance.
Carbon footprint
American Airlines reported total CO2e emissions (direct and indirect) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2020, at 20,092 Kt (-21,347 /-51.5% y-o-y). The company aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
See also
AAirpass
Air transportation in the United States
List of airlines of the United States
List of airports in the United States
U.S. Airways, which merged with American Airlines in 2013
Notes and references
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Official website
Official American Airlines Vacations website |
heat pump | A heat pump is a device that uses work to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space by transferring thermal energy using a refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm space. In cold weather a heat pump can move heat from the cool outdoors to warm a house; the pump may also be designed to move heat from the house to the warmer outdoors in warm weather. As they transfer heat rather than generating heat, they are more energy-efficient than other ways of heating a home.A gaseous refrigerant is compressed so its temperature rises. When operating as a heater in cold weather, the warmed gas flows to a heat exchanger in the indoor space where some of its thermal energy is transferred to that indoor space, causing the gas to condense to its liquid state. The liquified refrigerant flows to a heat exchanger in the outdoor space where the pressure falls, the liquid evaporates and the temperature of the gas falls. It is now colder than the temperature of the outdoor space being used as a heat source. It can again take up energy from the heat source, be compressed and repeat the cycle.
Air source heat pumps are the most common models, while other types include ground source heat pumps, water source heat pumps and exhaust air heat pumps. Large-scale heat pumps are also used in district heating systems.The efficiency of a heat pump is expressed as a coefficient of performance (COP), or seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP). The higher the number, the more efficient a heat pump is. When used for space heating, heat pumps are typically much more energy-efficient than electric resistance and other heaters.
Because of their high efficiency and the increasing share of fossil-free sources in electrical grids, heat pumps can play a key role in climate change mitigation. Consuming 1 kWh of electricity, they can transfer 3 to 6 kWh of thermal energy into a building. The carbon footprint of heat pumps depends on how electricity is generated, but they usually reduce emissions in mild climates. Heat pumps could satisfy over 80% of global space and water heating needs with a lower carbon footprint than gas-fired condensing boilers: however, in 2021 they only met 10%.
Principle of operation
Heat will flow spontaneously from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature. Heat will not flow spontaneously from lower temperature to higher, but it can be made to flow in this direction if work is performed. The work required to transfer a given amount of heat is usually much less than the amount of heat; this is the motivation for using heat pumps in applications such as the heating of water and the interior of buildings.The amount of work required to drive an amount of heat Q from a lower-temperature reservoir such as ambient air to a higher-temperature reservoir such as the interior of a building is:
where
W
{\displaystyle W}
is the work performed on the working fluid by the heat pump's compressor.
Q
{\displaystyle Q}
is the heat transferred from the lower-temperature reservoir to the higher-temperature reservoir.
C
O
P
{\displaystyle \mathrm {COP} }
is the instantaneous coefficient of performance for the heat pump at the temperatures prevailing in the reservoirs at one instant.The coefficient of performance of a heat pump is greater than unity so the work required is less than the heat transferred, making a heat pump a more efficient form of heating than electrical resistance heating. As the temperature of the higher-temperature reservoir increases in response to the heat flowing into it, the coefficient of performance decreases, causing an increasing amount of work to be required for each unit of heat being transferred.The coefficient of performance, and the work required, by a heat pump can be calculated easily by considering an ideal heat pump operating on the reversed Carnot cycle:
If the low-temperature reservoir is at a temperature of 270 K (−3 °C) and the interior of the building is at 280 K (7 °C) the relevant coefficient of performance is 27. This means only 1 joule of work is required to transfer 27 joules of heat from a reservoir at 270 K to another at 280 K. The one joule of work ultimately ends up as thermal energy in the interior of the building so for each 27 joules of heat that are removed from the low-temperature reservoir, 28 joules of heat are added to the building interior, making the heat pump even more attractive from an efficiency perspective.
As the temperature of the interior of the building rises progressively to 300 K (27 °C) the coefficient of performance falls progressively to 9. This means each joule of work is responsible for transferring 9 joules of heat out of the low-temperature reservoir and into the building. Again, the 1 joule of work ultimately ends up as thermal energy in the interior of the building so 10 joules of heat are added to the building interior.
History
Milestones:
1748
William Cullen demonstrates artificial refrigeration.
1834
Jacob Perkins builds a practical refrigerator with dimethyl ether.
1852
Lord Kelvin describes the theory underlying heat pumps.
1855–1857
Peter von Rittinger develops and builds the first heat pump.
1877
In the period before 1875, heat pumps were for the time being pursued for vapour compression evaporation (open heat pump process) in salt works with their obvious advantages for saving wood and coal. In 1857, Peter von Rittinger was the first to try to implement the idea of vapor compression in a small pilot plant. Presumably inspired by Rittinger's experiments in Ebensee, Antoine-Paul Piccard from the University of Lausanne and the engineer J.H. Weibel from the Weibel–Briquet company in Geneva built the world's first really functioning vapor compression system with a two-stage piston compressor. In 1877 this first heat pump in Switzerland was installed in the Bex salt works.
1928
Aurel Stodola constructs a closed-loop heat pump (water source from Lake Geneva) which provides heating for the Geneva city hall to this day.
1937–1945
During and after the First World War, Switzerland suffered from heavily difficult energy imports and subsequently expanded its hydropower plants. In the period before and especially during the Second World War, when neutral Switzerland was completely surrounded by fascist-ruled countries, the coal shortage became alarming again. Thanks to their leading position in energy technology, the Swiss companies Sulzer, Escher Wyss and Brown Boveri built and put in operation around 35 heat pumps between 1937 and 1945. The main heat sources were lake water, river water, groundwater, and waste heat. Particularly noteworthy are the six historic heat pumps from the city of Zurich with heat outputs from 100 kW to 6 MW. An international milestone is the heat pump built by Escher Wyss in 1937/38 to replace the wood stoves in the City Hall of Zurich. To avoid noise and vibrations, a recently developed rotary piston compressor was used. This historic heat pump heated the town hall for 63 years until 2001. Only then was it replaced by a new, more efficient heat pump,
1945
John Sumner, City Electrical Engineer for Norwich, installs an experimental water-source heat pump fed central heating system, using a nearby river to heat new Council administrative buildings. Seasonal efficiency ratio of 3.42. Average thermal delivery of 147 kW and peak output of 234 kW.
1948
Robert C. Webber is credited as developing and building the first ground-source heat pump.
1951
First large scale installation—the Royal Festival Hall in London is opened with a town gas-powered reversible water-source heat pump, fed by the Thames, for both winter heating and summer cooling needs.
2019
Kigali Amendment to phase out harmful refrigerants takes effect.
Types
Air-source heat pump
Air-source heat pumps are used to move heat between two heat exchangers, one outside the building which is fitted with fins through which air is forced using a fan and the other which either directly heats the air inside the building or heats water which is then circulated around the building through radiators or underfloor heating which releases the heat to the building. These devices can also operate in a cooling mode where they extract heat via the internal heat exchanger and eject it into the ambient air using the external heat exchanger. Some can be used to heat water for washing which is stored in a domestic hot water tank.Air-source heat pumps are relatively easy and inexpensive to install and have therefore historically been the most widely used heat pump type. In mild weather, coefficient of performance (COP) may be around 4, while at temperatures below around −7 °C (19 °F) an air-source heat pump may still achieve a COP of 3.
While older air-source heat pumps performed relatively poorly at low temperatures and were better suited for warm climates, newer models with variable-speed compressors remain highly efficient in freezing conditions allowing for wide adoption and cost savings in places like Minnesota and Maine in the United States.
Ground-source heat pump
A ground-source heat pump draws heat from the soil or from groundwater which remains at a relatively constant temperature all year round below a depth of about 30 feet (9.1 m). A well maintained ground-source heat pump will typically have a COP of 4 at the beginning of the heating season and a seasonal COP of around 3.3 as heat is drawn from the ground. Ground-source heat pumps are more expensive to install due to drilling boreholes needed for vertical placement of heat exchanger piping or digging trenches needed for horizontal placement of the piping that carries the heat-exchange fluid (water with a little antifreeze).
A ground-source heat pump can also be used to cool buildings during hot days, thereby transferring heat from the dwelling back into the soil via the ground loop. Solar thermal collectors or piping placed within the tarmac of a parking lot can also be used to replenish the heat underground.
Exhaust air heat pump
Exhaust air heat pumps extract heat from the exhaust air of a building and require mechanical ventilation. Two classes exist:
Exhaust air-air heat pumps transfer heat to intake air.
Exhaust air-water heat pumps transfer heat to a heating circuit that includes a tank of domestic hot water.
Solar-assisted heat pump
A solar-assisted heat pump either integrates a heat pump and thermal solar panels or photovoltaic solar power in a single system. In the case of thermal solar, typically these two technologies are used separately (or are operated in parallel) to produce hot water. In this system the solar thermal panel is the low-temperature heat source, and the heat produced feeds the heat pump's evaporator. The goal of this system is to get high COP and then produce energy in a more efficient and less expensive way.. In the case of photovoltaic solar heat pumps, or solar air conditioners, electricity to run the heat pump is generated from the sun. Either batteries can be used to store excess solar energy generated to run during cloudy or nighttime periods, or grid power can be used during these periods.
Water-source heat pump
A water-source heat pump works in a similar manner to a ground-source heat pump, except that it takes heat from a body of water rather than the ground. The body of water does, however, need to be large enough to be able to withstand the cooling effect of the unit without freezing or creating an adverse effect for wildlife. The largest water-source heat pump was installed in the Danish town of Esbjerg in 2023.
Others
A thermoacoustic heat pump operates as a thermoacoustic heat engine without refrigerant but instead uses a standing wave in a sealed chamber driven by a loudspeaker to achieve a temperature difference across the chamber.Electrocaloric heat pumps are solid state.
Applications
The International Energy Agency estimated that, as of 2021, heat pumps installed in buildings have a combined capacity of more than 1 000 GW. They are used in climates with moderate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) needs and may also provide domestic hot water and tumble clothes drying functions. The purchase costs are supported in various countries by consumer rebates.
Space heating and sometimes also cooling
In HVAC applications, a heat pump is typically a vapor-compression refrigeration device that includes a reversing valve and optimized heat exchangers so that the direction of heat flow (thermal energy movement) may be reversed. The reversing valve switches the direction of refrigerant through the cycle and therefore the heat pump may deliver either heating or cooling to a building.
Because the two heat exchangers, the condenser and evaporator, must swap functions, they are optimized to perform adequately in both modes. Therefore, the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) of a reversible heat pump is typically slightly less than those of two separately optimized machines. For equipment to receive the Energy Star rating, it must have a rating of at least 14 SEER. Pumps with ratings of 18 SEER or above are considered highly efficient. The highest efficiency heat pumps manufactured are up to 24 SEER.
Water heating
In water heating applications, a heat pump may be used to heat or preheat water for swimming pools or heating potable water for use by homes and industry. Usually heat is extracted from outdoor air and transferred to an indoor water tank, another variety extracts heat from indoor air to assist in cooling the space.
District heating
Large (megawatt-scale) heat pumps are used for district heating. In Europe, heat pumps account for a mere 1% of heat supply in district heating networks but several countries have targets to decarbonise their networks between 2030 and 2040. Possible sources of heat for such applications are sewage water, ambient water (e.g. sea, lake and river water), industrial waste heat, geothermal energy, flue gas, waste heat from district cooling and heat from solar seasonal thermal energy storage. In Europe, more than 1500 MW of large-scale heat pumps were installed since the 1980s, of which about 1000 MW were in use in Sweden in 2017. Large-scale heat pumps for district heating combined with thermal energy storage offer high flexibility for the integration of variable renewable energy. Therefore, they are regarded as a key technology for smart energy systems with high shares of renewable energy up to 100%, and advanced 4th generation district heating systems. They are also a crucial element of cold district heating systems.
Industrial heating
There is great potential to reduce the energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions in industry by application of industrial heat pumps. An international collaboration project completed in 2015 collected totally 39 examples of R&D-projects and 115 case studies worldwide. The study shows that short payback periods of less than 2 years are possible, while achieving a high reduction of CO2 emissions (in some cases more than 50%). Industrial heat pumps can heat up to 200°C, and can meet the heating demands of many light industries. In Europe alone, 15 GW of heat pumps could be installed in 3,000 facilities in the paper, food and chemicals industries.
Performance
The performance of a heat pump is determined by the ability of the pump to extract heat from a low temperature environment (the source) and deliver it to a higher temperature environment (the sink). Performance varies, depending on installation details, temperature differences, site elevation, location on site, pipe runs, flow rates, and maintenance.
Common performance metrics are the SEER (in cooling mode) and seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) (commonly used just for heating), although SCOP can be used for both modes of operation. Larger values of either metric indicate better performance. When comparing the performance of heat pumps, the term performance is preferred to efficiency, with coefficient of performance (COP) being used to describe the ratio of useful heat movement per work input. An electrical resistance heater has a COP of 1.0, which is considerably lower than a well-designed heat pump which will typically be between COP of 3 to 5 with an external temperature of 10 °C and an internal temperature of 20 °C.
Because the ground is a constant temperature source, a ground-source heat pump is not subjected to large temperature fluctuations, and therefore is considered the most energy-efficient type of heat pump.The "Seasonal Coefficient of Performance" (SCOP) is a measure of the aggregate energy efficiency measure over a period of one year which is dependent on regional climate. One framework for this calculation is given by the Commission Regulation (EU) No. 813/2013.A heat pump's operating performance in cooling mode is characterized in the US by either its energy efficiency ratio (EER) or seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER), both of which have units of BTU/(h·W) (note that 1 BTU/(h·W) = 0.293 W/W) and larger values indicate better performance.
Carbon footprint
The carbon footprint of heat pumps depends on their individual efficiency and how electricity is produced. An increasing share of low-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar will lower the impact on the climate.
In most settings, heat pumps will reduce CO2 emissions compared to heating systems powered by fossil fuels. In regions accounting for 70% of world energy consumption, the emissions savings of heat pumps compared with a high-efficiency gas boiler are on average above 45% and reach 80% in countries with cleaner electricity mixes. These values can be improved by 10 percentage points, respectively, with alternative refrigerants. In the United States, 70% of houses could reduce emissions by installing a heat pump. The rising share of renewable electricity generation in many countries is set to increase the emissions savings from heat pumps over time.Heating systems powered by green hydrogen are also low-carbon and may become competitors, but are much less efficient due to the energy loss associated with hydrogen conversion, transport and use. In addition, not enough green hydrogen is expected to be available before the 2030s or 2040s.
Operation
Vapor-compression uses a circulating refrigerant as the medium which absorbs heat from one space, compresses it thereby increasing its temperature before releasing it in another space. The system normally has 8 main components: a compressor, a reservoir, a reversing valve which selects between heating and cooling mode, two thermal expansion valves (one used when in heating mode and the other when used in cooling mode) and two heat exchangers, one associated with the external heat source/sink and the other with the interior. In heating mode the external heat exchanger is the evaporator and the internal one being the condenser; in cooling mode the roles are reversed.
Circulating refrigerant enters the compressor in the thermodynamic state known as a saturated vapor and is compressed to a higher pressure, resulting in a higher temperature as well. The hot, compressed vapor is then in the thermodynamic state known as a superheated vapor and it is at a temperature and pressure at which it can be condensed with either cooling water or cooling air flowing across the coil or tubes. In heating mode this heat is used to heat the building using the internal heat exchanger, and in cooling mode this heat is rejected via the external heat exchanger.
The condensed, liquid refrigerant, in the thermodynamic state known as a saturated liquid, is next routed through an expansion valve where it undergoes an abrupt reduction in pressure. That pressure reduction results in the adiabatic flash evaporation of a part of the liquid refrigerant. The auto-refrigeration effect of the adiabatic flash evaporation lowers the temperature of the liquid and-vapor refrigerant mixture to where it is colder than the temperature of the enclosed space to be refrigerated.
The cold mixture is then routed through the coil or tubes in the evaporator. A fan circulates the warm air in the enclosed space across the coil or tubes carrying the cold refrigerant liquid and vapor mixture. That warm air evaporates the liquid part of the cold refrigerant mixture. At the same time, the circulating air is cooled and thus lowers the temperature of the enclosed space to the desired temperature. The evaporator is where the circulating refrigerant absorbs and removes heat which is subsequently rejected in the condenser and transferred elsewhere by the water or air used in the condenser.
To complete the refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator is again a saturated vapor and is routed back into the compressor.
Over time, the evaporator may collect ice or water from ambient humidity. The ice is melted through defrosting cycle. An internal heat exchanger is either used to heat/cool the interior air directly or to heat water that is then circulated through radiators or underfloor heating circuit to either heat or cool the buildings.
Improvement of coefficient of performance (COP) by subcooling
Heat input can be improved if the refrigerant enters the evaporator with a lower vapor content. This can be achieved by cooling the liquid refrigerant after condensation. The gaseous refrigerant condenses on the heat exchange surface of the condenser. To achieve a heat flow from the gaseous flow center to the wall of the condenser, the temperature of the liquid refrigerant must be lower than the condensation temperature.
Additional subcooling can be achieved by heat exchange between relatively warm liquid refrigerant leaving the condenser and the cooler refrigerant vapor emerging from the evaporator. The enthalpy difference required for the subcooling leads to the superheating of the vapor drawn into the compressor. When the increase in cooling achieved by subcooling is greater that the compressor drive input required to overcome the additional pressure losses, such a heat exchange improves the coefficient of performance.One disadvantage of the subcooling of liquids is that the difference between the condensing temperature and the heat-sink temperature must be larger. This leads to a moderately high pressure difference between condensing and evaporating pressure, whereby the compressor energy increases.
Refrigerant choice
Pure refrigerants can be divided into organic substances (hydrocarbons (HCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), and HCFOs), and inorganic substances (ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2), and water (H2O)). Their boiling points are usually below −25 °C.In the past 200 years, the standards and requirements for new refrigerants have changed. Nowadays low global warming potential (GWP) is required, in addition to all the previous requirements for safety, practicality, material compatibility, appropriate atmospheric life, and compatibility with high-efficiency products. By 2022, devices using refrigerants with a very low GWP still have a small market share but are expected to play an increasing role due to enforced regulations, as most countries have now ratified the Kigali Amendment to ban HFCs. Isobutane (R600A) and propane (R290) are far less harmful to the environment than conventional hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and are already being used in air-source heat pumps. Propane may be the most suitable for high temperature heat pumps. Ammonia (R717) and carbon dioxide (R744) also have a low GWP. As of 2023 smaller CO2 heat pumps are not widely available and research and development of them continues.Until the 1990s, heat pumps, along with fridges and other related products used chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as refrigerants, which caused major damage to the ozone layer when released into the atmosphere. Use of these chemicals was banned or severely restricted by the Montreal Protocol of August 1987.Replacements, including R-134a and R-410A, are hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) with similar thermodynamic properties with insignificant ozone depletion potential (ODP) but had problematic GWP. HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. Dimethyl ether (DME) also gained in popularity as a refrigerant in combination with R404a.
More recent refrigerants include difluoromethane (R32) with a lower GWP, but still over 600.
Devices with R-290 refrigerant (propane) are expected to play a key role in the future. The GWP of propane is about 500 times less than conventional HFC refrigerants and thus extremely low. The flammability of propane requires additional security measures. This issue can be targeted with a reduced charge. By 2022, an increasing number of devices with R-290 were offered for domestic use, especially in Europe.
At the same time, HFC refrigerants still dominate the market. Recent government mandates have seen the phase-out of R-22 refrigerant. Replacements such as R-32 and R-410A are being promoted as environmentally friendly but still have a high GWP. A heat pump typically uses 3 kg of refrigerant. With R-32 this amount still has a 20-year impact equivalent to 7 tons of CO2, which corresponds to two years of natural gas heating in an average household. Refrigerants with a high ODP have already been phased out.
Government incentives
Financial incentives aim to protect consumers from high fossil gas costs and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and are currently available in more than 30 countries around the world, covering more than 70% of global heating demand in 2021.
Australia
Food processors, brewers, petfood producers and other industrial energy users are exploring whether it is feasible to use renewable energy to produce industrial-grade heat. Process heating accounts for the largest share of onsite energy use in Australian manufacturing, with lower-temperature operations like food production particularly well-suited to transition to renewables.
To help producers understand how they could benefit from making the switch, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) provided funding to the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP) to undertake pre-feasibility studies at a range of sites around Australia, with the most promising locations advancing to full feasibility studies.
Canada
In 2022, the Canada Greener Homes Grant provides up to $5000 for upgrades (including certain heat pumps), and $600 for energy efficiency evaluations.
China
Purchase subsidies in rural areas in the 2010s reduced burning coal for heating, which had been causing ill health.
United Kingdom
As of 2022: heat pumps have no VAT although in Northern Ireland they are taxed at the reduced rate of 5% instead of the usual level of VAT of 20% for most other products. As of 2022 the installation cost of a heat pump is more than a gas boiler, but with the "Boiler Upgrade Scheme" government grant and assuming electricity/gas costs remain similar their lifetime costs would be similar.
United States
The High-efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program was created in 2022 to award grants to State energy offices and Indian Tribes in order to establish state-wide high-efficiency electric-home rebates. Effective immediately, American households are eligible for a tax credit to cover the costs of buying and installing a heat pump, up to $2,000. Starting in 2023, low- and moderate-level income households will be eligible for a heat-pump rebate of up to $8,000.In 2022, more heat pumps were sold in the United States than natural gas furnaces.Some US states and municipalities have previously offered incentives for air-source heat pumps:
California
In 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission allocated an additional $40 million from the 2023 gas Cap-and-Trade allowance auction proceeds to the existing $44.7 million budget of the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) program, in which single-family residential customers can receive an incentive of up to $3,800 to install a HPWH. Half of the incentive funds are reserved for low-income utility customers, who are eligible for a maximum incentive of $4,885.
Maine
The Efficiency Maine Trust offers residential heat-pump rebates of up to $1,200, as well as heat-pump rebates for low and moderate income Mainers of $2,000 for their first eligible heat pump and up to $400 for a second eligible heat pump.
Massachusetts
Mass Save, a collaborative initiative between Massachusetts' natural gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers, offers an air-source heat-pump rebate of up to $10,000, which covers the purchase price of the heat pump and installation costs.
Minnesota
Minnesota Power offers an air-source heat-pump rebate of up to $1,200 if the pump is bought and installed by a Minnesota Power Participating Contractor.
South Carolina
Dominion Energy South Carolina offers a $400–$500 rebate for purchasing and installing an ENERGY STAR certified heat pump or air-conditioning unit.
See also
EcoCute
References
Sources
IPCC reports
IPCC (2021). Masson-Delmotte, V.; Zhai, P.; Pirani, A.; Connors, S. L.; et al. (eds.). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (PDF). Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press (In Press).
Forster, P.; Storelvmo, T.; Armour, K.; Collins, W. (2021). "Chapter 7: The Earth's energy budget, climate feedbacks, and climate sensitivity Supplementary Material" (PDF). IPCC AR6 WG1 2021.
IPCC (2018). Masson-Delmotte, V.; Zhai, P.; Pörtner, H.-O.; Roberts, D.; et al. (eds.). Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty (PDF). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/.
Rogelj, J.; Shindell, D.; Jiang, K.; Fifta, S.; et al. (2018). "Chapter 2: Mitigation Pathways Compatible with 1.5°C in the Context of Sustainable Development" (PDF). IPCC SR15 2018. pp. 93–174.
IPCC (2022). Shula, P. R.; Skea, J.; Slade, R.; Al Khourdajie, A.; et al. (eds.). Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change (PDF). Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press (In Press). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
IPCC (2022). "Industry" (PDF). IPCC AR6 WG3 2022.
Other
Quaschning, Volker. "Specific Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Various Fuels". Retrieved 22 February 2022.
External links
Media related to Heat pumps at Wikimedia Commons
IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Heat Pumping Technologies
Carbon Brief guest post: How heat pump sales are starting to take off around the world |
united parcel service | United Parcel Service (UPS) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.UPS is the largest courier company in the world by revenue, with annual revenues around US$85 billion in 2020, ahead of competitors DHL and FedEx. UPS's main international hub, UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky, is the fifth busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic based on preliminary statistics from ACI, and the third busiest in the U.S. behind FedEx's Memphis Superhub and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The company is one of the largest private employers in the United States.
History
Foundation
On August 28, 1907, James E. Casey founded the American Messenger Company with Claude Ryan in Seattle, Washington, capitalized with $100 in debt. Most deliveries at this time were made on foot and bicycles were used for longer trips.
The American Messenger Company focused primarily on package delivery to retail stores with special delivery mail delivered for its largest client the U.S. Post Office. In 1913, the company acquired a Model T Ford as its first delivery vehicle. Casey and Ryan merged with a competitor, Evert McCabe, and formed Merchants Parcel Delivery. Consolidated delivery was also introduced, combining packages addressed to a certain neighborhood onto one delivery vehicle.In 1916, Charlie Soderstrom joined Merchants Parcel Delivery bringing in more vehicles for the growing delivery business. In 1919, the company expanded for the first time outside of Seattle to Oakland, California, and changed its name to United Parcel Service.The common carrier service was acquired in 1922 from a company in Los Angeles, California. UPS became one of the only companies in the United States to offer common carrier service. At first, common carrier was only limited to a small area around Los Angeles but by 1927 expanded to areas up to 125 miles outside the city. In 1924, a conveyor belt system was debuted for the handling of packages for UPS operations.In 1930, a consolidated service began in New York City, and soon after in other major cities in the East and the Midwest. The use of common carrier for delivery between all customers placed UPS in direct competition with USPS, and delivering parcels beyond the California border brought it under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The first city for UPS to use common carrier status outside California was Chicago, Illinois, in 1953.
Air service through UPS was first used in 1929 through private airlines. However, the Great Depression and a lack of volume ended the service. In 1953, UPS resumed air service called UPS Blue Label Air with two-day service to major cities along the East Coast and West Coast.
Expansion and diversification
In 1975, UPS moved its headquarters to Greenwich, Connecticut, and began serving all of the 48 contiguous states of the United States. This expansion of operations made UPS the first package delivery company to serve every address in the contiguous United States. Additionally in 1975, UPS went international by establishing operations in Canada. In 1976, UPS established a domestic operation in West Germany.UPS Next Day Air Service was launched in 1985 for all 48 contiguous states plus Puerto Rico. In 1988, UPS Airlines was launched with authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration and became the fastest-growing airline in FAA history – currently the 10th largest airline in the United States. Domestic air service was added to Germany in 1989. In 1991, UPS relocated its headquarters to Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Following this in 1992, UPS acquired both Haulfast and Carryfast and rebranded them UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Haulfast provided the pallet haulage and trucking network for the CarryFast group of companies. By 1993, UPS was delivering up to 11.5 million packages and documents per day.
In order for the company to service the large volume of customers in 1991, UPS developed technologies to improve efficiency. A handheld device called "Delivery Information Acquisition Device" (DIAD) was created to record and upload delivery information to the UPS network immediately upon pickup by every UPS driver. In 1992, UPS began tracking all ground shipments electronically. In 1994, UPS.com debuted, and provided an interface to make what was primarily internal operational information available for customer access. After 27 years of providing this information, UPS chose to hide it again for most packages in 2021 and this information is no longer available on their consumer facing website.
In 1995, UPS acquired SonicAir to offer service parts logistics and compete with Choice Logistics. In the same year, UPS launched UPS Logistics Group to facilitate global supply chain management services and consulting for customer needs. In 1997, a walkout by the 185,000 members of the Teamsters shut down UPS for 16 days. In 1998, UPS Capital was established to enable companies to grow their business through a comprehensive menu of integrated financial services through UPS. UPS acquired Challenge Air in 1999 to expand its operations in Latin America.
On November 10, 1999, UPS became a public company in the largest initial public offering of the 20th century.
21st century
In 2001, UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., a franchised network of packing and shipping retail centers across the United States and Canada. In 2003, the company rebranded the Mail Boxes, Etc. network as The UPS Store.
In 2004, UPS entered the heavy freight business with the purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, a former subsidiary of Menlo Worldwide; UPS rebranded it as UPS Supply Chain Solutions. The purchase price was US$150 million and the assumption of US$110 million in long-term debt.
On August 5, 2005, UPS announced that it has completed its acquisition of less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking company Overnite Transportation for US$1.25 billion. This was approved by the FTC and Overnite shareholders on August 4, 2005. On April 28, 2006, Overnite officially became UPS Freight.
In 2005, UPS offered non-stop delivery service between Guangzhou and the United States. On October 3, 2005, UPS completed the purchase of Lynx Express, one of the largest independent parcel carriers in the United Kingdom, for £55.5 million (US$97.1 million) after receiving approval for the transaction from the European Commission. The first joint package car center operation in Dartford, Kent, was opened in 2006.
On August 28, 2007, United Parcel Service celebrated its 100th anniversary. All Nippon Airways, a Star Alliance member, and UPS formed a cargo alliance and code-share to transport member cargo in 2008, similarly to an airline alliance.On March 19, 2012, UPS announced that it intended to acquire TNT Express for $6.8 billion, in a move to help expand its presence in European and Asian markets. However, the deal fell through in January 2013, after it was announced that UPS had failed to obtain permission from the European Commission and as such had been blocked on competition grounds.In February 2012, UPS acquired Brussels-based company Kiala that provides e-commerce retailers the option to have goods delivered to a conventional retail location.In 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that UPS's operations were hampered by its outdated 20th-century technology, lagging behind its competitors.In May 2019, UPS launched a partnership with autonomous trucking startup, TuSimple to carry cargo across Phoenix, Arizona, and Tucson, Arizona.In October 2019, UPS won the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones. The certification will allow UPS to deliver health care supplies using a fleet of drones.On January 29, 2020, UPS announced it was investing in UK start-up Arrival and ordering 10,000 Generation 2 electric vehicles as a step towards a cleaner, more high-tech fleet. The deal runs from 2020 until 2024 and was reported to be worth more than $400 million.In March 2020, the company has appointed Carol Tomé to succeed David Abney as its chief executive officer. It was viewed as a move to steer the parcel delivery company through the turbulence of trade wars, technological disruption and the risk of a pandemic-induced recession.In March 2020, UPS expands its autonomous trips with TuSimple by adding an extra route between Phoenix and El Paso, Texas.In January 2021, UPS announced it had agreed to sell UPS Freight, its less-than-truckload freight business, to TFI International, a Canadian transport and logistics company, for $800 million. UPS said the move would allow it to focus on small-package delivery. At the time of the sale, UPS Freight had about 14,500 employees, approximately 11,000 of them represented by the Teamsters union, and generated an estimated $3.15 billion in revenue in 2020 offering services across the US, Canada, and Mexico. TFI had reported $4.1 billion in revenue in 2019 and already operated truckload and LTL services in Canada. The acquisition was completed in April and UPS Freight was renamed TForce Freight.In 2021, following the company's shift to target smaller customers to boost profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, UPS reported a 21% jump in their fourth quarter sales to $24.9 billion. CEO Carol Tomé reported that Amazon paid UPS $11.3 billion in shipping in 2020, accounting for 13.3% of the company's revenue.In September 2021, UPS entered into an agreement to acquire Roadie for an undisclosed amount with the transaction expected to be closed in the fourth quarter.In November 2022, it was announced UPS had acquired the healthcare focused, Europe-based warehousing and temperature-controlled transport company, Bomi Group.In September 2023, it was announced UPS had acquired the Long Beach, California-headquartered time-critical, health care logistics company, MNX for an undisclosed amount.In October 2023, it was announced UPS had acquired the Los Angeles-headquartered reverse logistics company, Happy Returns from PayPal for an undisclosed amount.
Operational facilities
United States
Louisville UPS Worldport
UPS’ global hub for air shipments Is the Worldport, located at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The facility contributes to the airport's status of the second-busiest cargo airport in the United States and the fourth-busiest worldwide.The Worldport consist of:
290 aircraft;
more than 20,000 employees;
5.2 million square feet of building space (about 90 football fields).
the capacity to handle 115 packages per second (equivalent to 416,000 packages flowing through its facilities every hour);
Regional hubs
UPS has five large regional hubs in the United States, located in Ontario, California; Dallas, Texas; Rockford, Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia. These hubs serve as major sorting and distribution centers for packages moving within and between regions.
Europe
Poland
UPS has established a 11,000 square meter package center in Mysłowice. The facility is equipped with a conveyor belt system capable of sorting up to 6,000 packages per hour. It also offers parking for 170 package cars and houses a customer call center. The size of the Mysłowice facility is more than three times larger than the one in Katowice. Mysłowice was chosen as the location for the new facility in 2017 due to its proximity to various business distribution centers and Katowice airport, where UPS has invested in additional air cargo capacity.
Turkey
UPS has 15 small package and 4 SCS operating facilities in Turkey, located in various cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, and Antalya.
Asia-Pacific Region
Asia-Pacific Air Hub
UPS's Asia-Pacific Air Hub is located at Singapore Changi Airport. It is the company's largest hub outside of the United States, and handles over 1.1 million packages per day. The hub has been expanded by 25% in 2023 to meet the growing e-commerce demand following the pandemic. After the upgrade, it can process 40% more import packages and 45% more export packages, enabling extended pick-up cut-off times for all export services.The hub also features refrigerators and freezers that can maintain temperatures between -20 to 25 degrees Celsius to facilitate the temporary storage of shipments, especially for critical healthcare deliveries such as COVID-19 vaccines. It is part of Changi's cold chain infrastructure, which ensures an unbroken cold chain for pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Regional hubs
UPS has five regional hubs in the Asia-Pacific region, located in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. These hubs serve as major sorting and distribution centers for packages moving within and between regions.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2022, UPS reported earnings of US$11.55 billion, with an annual revenue of US$100.34 billion, an increase of 3% over the previous fiscal cycle. UPS ranked No. 34 on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Operations
UPS's primary business is the time-definite delivery of packages and documents worldwide. In recent years, UPS extended its service portfolio to include LTL transportation (primarily in the U.S.) and supply chain services.
UPS reports its operations in three segments:
U.S. Domestic Package operations,
International Package operations, and
Supply Chain & Freight operations.
United States domestic shipping
UPS services for consumers include:
UPS Ground for day-definite delivery. Can take up to 5 days.
UPS 3-Day Select for less-sensitive express shipments. This service may use either air or ground transportation depending on distance, demand, and weather conditions, and as noted by its name, can take up to three days.
UPS 2nd Day Air for packages that must arrive within two days. UPS also offers a 2nd Day Air AM service which offers morning delivery.
UPS Next Day Air for shipments that require overnight service. UPS splits Next Day Air into three tiers:
Next Day Air Saver: guaranteed overnight shipping with afternoon delivery
Next Day Air: guaranteed overnight delivery between 10:30 AM and noon
Next Day Air Early: guaranteed overnight shipping by 8:30 AM for major US cities and 9:30 AM to most other destinations.
UPS Express Critical: UPS' fastest service. Delivers to all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico by end of day.
UPS also offers UPS SurePost, in which packages are handled by UPS in intermodal transit, and delivered last-mile by USPS.
International Package
International Package operations include delivery to more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, including shipments wholly outside the United States, as well as shipments with either origin or distribution outside the United States.
UPS splits its international shipping into a few services:
UPS Standard for shipments to Mexico and Canada
UPS Worldwide Expedited for all international shipments usually delivered within 2-5 business days
UPS Worldwide Saver, also for all international shipments usually delivered overnight to Canada, 2 Days to Mexico, Latin America, and Europe, and 3 or more days to the rest of the world, all by the end of the day.
UPS Worldwide Express for more critical international shipments with similar time frames to Worldwide Saver. Delivers around 10:30 AM to Noon.
UPS Worldwide Express Plus for Worldwide Express shipments that need to arrive to their destination earlier in the morning.
Supply Chain & Freight
Supply Chain & Freight (UPS-SCS for UPS Supply Chain Solutions) includes UPS' forwarding and contract logistics operations and other related business units. UPS' forwarding and logistics business provides services in more than 175 countries and territories worldwide and includes worldwide supply chain design, execution and management, freight forwarding and distribution, customs brokerage, mail and consulting services.
Other business units within this segment include The UPS Store and UPS Capital.
Trailer / railroad reporting marks: UPGX, UPGZ, UPOZ, UPSZ, UPWZ, UPSC, UPSU, NONZ
NMFTA SCAC code: UPSS, UPSN, UPSCUntil 2021, this segment also included UPS Freight which offered a variety of less than truckload ("LTL") and truckload ("TL") services to customers in North America. UPS Freight was sold to TFI International in April 2021 and was renamed TForce Freight.
Personnel structure
In 2016 UPS employed approximately 444,000 staff: 362,000 in the U.S. and 82,000 internationally. In 2023 approximately 330,000 UPS drivers, package handlers, and clerks are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters with more than 50% of those being part-time workers. In 2023, the average UPS full-time package delivery worker with more than four years experience was paid $95,000 per year.During the United Parcel Service strike of 1997, the company's only nationwide strike in its history, which lasted 16 days, Teamster President Ron Carey negotiated a new contract for workers. In July 2023, before their contract was set to expire, a strike was threatened over union demands of increases in wages, benefits, and air conditioning in delivery vans. A 10-day strike would have been the largest single-employer strike in US history and would have cost the US economy more than $7 billion. The strike was called off after UPS agreed to increase starting pay for part-time workers to $21 per hour, in addition to other concessions.
UPS had previously announced the non-economic portions of the agreement had been settled, including to equip new delivery vans with air conditioning starting January 2024 combined with retrofitting existing vehicles with 2 fans, additional ventilation of the cargo area and shielding to reduce heat from the exhaust being transmitted to the cargo area of delivery vehicles. All tractor trailers are already equipped with AC.
Chief executives
1907–1962, James E. "Jim" Casey
1962–1972, George D. Smith
1972–1973, Paul Oberkotter
1973–1980, Harold Oberkotter
1980–1984, George Lamb
1984–1989, John W. Rogers
1989–1996, Kent C. "Oz" Nelson
1997–2001, James P. Kelly
2002–2007, Michael L. "Mike" Eskew
2008–2014, Scott Davis
2014–2020, David Abney
2020–current, Carol B. Tomé
Competitors
Major competitors in the United States include the United States Postal Service (USPS) and FedEx, along with regional carriers such as OnTrac, and LSO (formerly Lonestar Overnight). In addition to these domestic carriers, UPS competes with a variety of international operators, including SF Express, Canada Post (and its subsidiary Purolator), TransForce, Deutsche Post (and its subsidiary DHL), Royal Mail, Japan Post Service, and many other regional carriers, national postal services and air cargo handlers (see Package delivery and Mail pages).
Historically, the bulk of competition for UPS came from inexpensive ground-based delivery services, such as Parcel Post (USPS) or Choice Logistics. In 1998, FedEx expanded into ground parcel delivery through its acquisition of RPS (formerly Roadway Package System), rebranding it as FedEx Ground in 2000. In 2003, DHL acquired Airborne Express, expanding its operations in the United States.
In response to the expansion of FedEx and DHL, UPS partnered with the US Postal Service to offer UPS Mail Innovations, a program that allows UPS to pick up mail and packages weighing under one pound separately from the main ground network and transfer them to a USPS center, or destination delivery unit (DDU), for final distribution. This process is also known as zone skipping, long used by parcel consolidators. UPS also has a separate product called "SurePost" which uses the UPS Ground network to deliver packages weighing under 10 pounds to the nearest UPS Package Center, which transfers them to the USPS DDU for "final mile" delivery.More recently, the continued growth of online shopping, combined with increasing awareness of the role of transportation (including package delivery) on the environment, has contributed to the rise of emerging competition from niche carriers or rebranded incumbents. For instance, the US Postal Service claims "greener delivery" of parcels on the assumption that USPS letter carriers deliver to each US address, six days a week anyway, and therefore offer the industry's lowest fuel consumption per delivery. Other carriers, like ParcelPool.com, which specializes in residential package delivery to APO/FPO addresses, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and other US Territories, arose in response to increased demand from catalog retailers and online e-tailers for low-cost residential delivery services closely matching service standards normally associated with more expensive expedited parcel delivery.
In 2019, UPS sued in an attempt to force USPS to raise their prices, but was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Transportation
UPS operates over 119,000 delivery vehicles worldwide, ranging from bicycles to tractor-trailer trucks. In a long-running company policy to avoid advertisement or endorsement of a vehicle manufacturer, all external manufacturer emblems and badging are removed when a vehicle enters service (whenever possible).
The typical lifespan of a UPS ground vehicle is 20–25 years (or more), lasting until the structural integrity is compromised. The company does not re-sell any of its ground vehicles, so retired vehicles are almost always stripped of reusable parts before being sent to be crushed/broken up. Prior to scrapping, UPS trucks and trailers have all company branding painted over and are assigned an ADA (Automotive Destruction Authorization) number and must be crushed under the supervision of UPS Automotive personnel, which records the vehicle's destruction. The only exception to this policy are vehicles taken off the road for internal company use; package cars (repainted white) are used for various purposes (typically at large hubs); older semi tractors sometimes see use as terminal tractors.
Delivery vans
UPS refers to its delivery van as a "package car". Several designs and sizes are used by the company, dependent on routes and package volume; the distinct design of the rounded "bubble-nose" front hood and upper roofline was introduced in 1965. The bodies of the package cars are manufactured by Morgan Olson (Grumman Olson), Union City Body, and Utilimaster; while older vehicles were based on Ford or General Motors P-chassis, vehicles manufactured in the 21st century use Freightliner or Workhorse chassis.
Until the end of the 20th century, UPS delivery vehicles were equipped with manual transmissions and steering, with automatic transmissions and power steering adopted by newer vehicles.
For lower-volume delivery routes, UPS utilizes production-based vehicles, including minivans (including the Ford Transit Connect or the Ford Transit, and Dodge Grand Caravan C/V) and Mercedes-Benz (Dodge/Freightliner) Sprinter box vans. UPS has ordered Modec electric vans for its UK and German fleets. Energy costs play a huge part in the potential profitability of package delivery companies.
Most UPS Ground vehicles have no air conditioning, with the exception of tractor-trailers. This has been considered to be a contributing factor to heatstroke and other heat-related health problems in drivers who work in these vehicles for the entire shift. Modern vehicles have improved ventilation systems.
On January 29, 2020, UPS invested in Arrival and ordered 10,000 Generation 2 Electric Vehicles.
Bicycles
In 2008, UPS started hiring bicycle delivery personnel in Vancouver, Washington, and in several cities in Oregon (Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, and Medford). In fall of 2018, UPS announced a new program in Seattle, Washington using pedal-assist electric cargo bikes (made by Portland-based Truck Trike) around Pike Place and other congested downtown areas. In Amsterdam UPS also uses Urban Arrow delivery bicycles for delivery via a granted concession.
Cargo airline
The fourth-largest cargo airline worldwide, UPS Airlines flies to over 800 destinations worldwide (the most of any airline, cargo or passenger). Formed in 1988, the airline is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky (home to Worldport, its worldwide air hub) with additional hubs in the United States located in Ontario, California, Dallas, Texas, Rockford, Illinois and Philadelphia. Outside of North America, a hub in Cologne, Germany services Europe; in Asia, UPS Airlines operates a facility in Hong Kong and two hubs in mainland China.Consisting of a fleet of over 260 aircraft, the airline competes directly against FedEx Express, facilitating air shipments by the company in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Cargo drone airline
UPS Flight Forward is a subsidiary which was formed in July 2019 and approved by FAA for Part 135 Standard certification, first ever to receive this specific type of certification. The FAA's Part 135 Standard certification allows company to operate an unlimited number of drones of any size (even allowing the cargo to exceed 55 pounds) even with an unlimited number of remote operators in command.
Company brand
Brown
The brown color that UPS uses on its vehicles and uniforms is called Pullman brown. Company founder James E. Casey originally wanted company vehicles to use a yellow paint scheme, but one of his partners, Charlie Soderstrom, stated that a yellow vehicle would be hard to keep clean and that Pullman railroad cars were brown for just that reason.During the 2000s, the company used the familiarity of its color scheme in an advertising slogan: "What can Brown do for you?"
Font
UPS commissioned brand consultancy FutureBrand to develop its own font, UPS Sans, for use in marketing and communication material. UPS Sans was created by slightly altering certain parts of FSI FontShop International's font FF Dax without permission. This has resulted in an agreement between FSI FontShop International and FutureBrand to avoid litigation.
Reputation
UPS has been criticized for its treatment of its workforce, including providing inadequate protections and sick leave during the COVID-19 pandemic.The company has also been subject to perennial criticism for damaged, late, or otherwise mishandled packages.Safe streets activists have attacked UPS, along with other parcel delivery services, for frequently illegally parking their vehicles in bike lanes while making deliveries, a practice that endangers cyclists. They were sued over it in New York in 2015, and criticized alongside peers in a letter from Washington, D.C.'s transportation agency in 2018.
Environmental record
As of 2013, UPS has over 104,900 vehicles in operation worldwide including nearly 7,000 alternative fuel vehicles. In May 2008, UPS placed an order for 200 hybrid electric vehicles (adding to the 50 it had at that point) and 300 compressed natural gas (which are 20% more fuel efficient, and add to the 800 it already has) vehicles from Daimler Trucks North America. The company added 200 hybrid electric vehicles to its fleet in 2016.UPS received a "striding" rating of 80 points out of 100 totals on the environmental scorecard by the Climate Counts Group for its efforts to lessen the company's impact on the environment. UPS has also been awarded the Clean Air Excellence Award by the United States Environmental Protection Agency because of the alternative fuel program it has developed. A few years later, the Environmental Protection Agency fined the UPS for not following environmental laws.In October 2009, UPS became the first small-package carrier to offer customers the chance to buy carbon offsets to neutralize the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the transport of their packages. Although initially only available on ups.com and to high-volume shippers, they are now widely available through UPS shipping systems and UPS Ready third-party shipping systems.
Carbon footprint
UPS reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 16,500 Kt (+1,546/+10% y-o-y). UPS aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
See also
Big Brown – 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner; named after the company
MaxiCode – A UPS developed and utilized square barcode-like symbol that appears on their package label
References
Further reading
Allen, Joe (April 7, 2020). The Package King: A Rank-and-File History of UPS. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books. ISBN 9781642592177.
Brewster, Mike and Frederick Dalzell. Driving Change: The UPS Approach to Business (2007) excerpt and text search
Thomas L. Friedman, "Insourcing," in The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, updated and expanded, 2006, pp. 167–176.
Minchin, Timothy J. "Shutting Down 'Big Brown': Reassessing the 1997 UPS Strike and the Fate of American Labor," Labor History, 53 (Nov. 2012), 541–60.
Niemann, Greg. Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
External links
Official website
Business data for United Parcel Service, Inc.: |
carbon dioxide | Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CO2. It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature, and as the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle, atmospheric CO2 is the primary carbon source for life on Earth. In the air, carbon dioxide is transparent to visible light but absorbs infrared radiation, acting as a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide is soluble in water and is found in groundwater, lakes, ice caps, and seawater. When carbon dioxide dissolves in water, it forms carbonate and mainly bicarbonate (HCO−3), which causes ocean acidification as atmospheric CO2 levels increase.It is a trace gas in Earth's atmosphere at 421 parts per million (ppm), or about 0.04% (as of May 2022) having risen from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm or about 0.025%. Burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of these increased CO2 concentrations and also the primary cause of climate change.Its concentration in Earth's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian was regulated by organisms and geological phenomena. Plants, algae and cyanobacteria use energy from sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water in a process called photosynthesis, which produces oxygen as a waste product. In turn, oxygen is consumed and CO2 is released as waste by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize organic compounds to produce energy by respiration. CO2 is released from organic materials when they decay or combust, such as in forest fires. Since plants require CO2 for photosynthesis, and humans and animals depend on plants for food, CO2 is necessary for the survival of life on earth.
Carbon dioxide is 53% more dense than dry air, but is long lived and thoroughly mixes in the atmosphere. About half of excess CO2 emissions to the atmosphere are absorbed by land and ocean carbon sinks. These sinks can become saturated and are volatile, as decay and wildfires result in the CO2 being released back into the atmosphere. CO2 is eventually sequestered (stored for the long term) in rocks and organic deposits like coal, petroleum and natural gas. Sequestered CO2 is released into the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels or naturally by volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and when carbonate rocks dissolve in water or react with acids.
CO2 is a versatile industrial material, used, for example, as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers, as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery, and as a supercritical fluid solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying. It is a byproduct of fermentation of sugars in bread, beer and wine making, and is added to carbonated beverages like seltzer and beer for effervescence. It has a sharp and acidic odor and generates the taste of soda water in the mouth, but at normally encountered concentrations it is odorless.
Chemical and physical properties
Structure, bonding and molecular vibrations
The symmetry of a carbon dioxide molecule is linear and centrosymmetric at its equilibrium geometry. The length of the carbon-oxygen bond in carbon dioxide is 116.3 pm, noticeably shorter than the roughly 140-pm length of a typical single C–O bond, and shorter than most other C–O multiply bonded functional groups such as carbonyls. Since it is centrosymmetric, the molecule has no electric dipole moment.
As a linear triatomic molecule, CO2 has four vibrational modes as shown in the diagram. In the symmetric and the antisymmetric stretching modes, the atoms move along the axis of the molecule. There are two bending modes, which are degenerate, meaning that they have the same frequency and same energy, because of the symmetry of the molecule. When a molecule touches a surface or touches another molecule, the two bending modes can differ in frequency because the interaction is different for the two modes. Some of the vibrational modes are observed in the infrared (IR) spectrum: the antisymmetric stretching mode at wavenumber 2349 cm−1 (wavelength 4.25 μm) and the degenerate pair of bending modes at 667 cm−1 (wavelength 15 μm). The symmetric stretching mode does not create an electric dipole so is not observed in IR spectroscopy, but it is detected in by Raman spectroscopy at 1388 cm−1 (wavelength 7.2 μm).In the gas phase, carbon dioxide molecules undergo significant vibrational motions and do not keep a fixed structure. However, in a Coulomb explosion imaging experiment, an instantaneous image of the molecular structure can be deduced. Such an experiment has been performed for carbon dioxide.
The result of this experiment, and the conclusion of theoretical calculations based on an ab initio potential energy surface of the molecule, is that none of the
molecules in the gas phase are ever exactly linear. This counter-intuitive result is trivially due to
the fact that the nuclear motion volume element vanishes for linear geometries.
This is so for all molecules (except diatomics!).
In aqueous solution
Carbon dioxide is soluble in water, in which it reversibly forms H2CO3 (carbonic acid), which is a weak acid since its ionization in water is incomplete.
CO2 + H2O ⇌ H2CO3The hydration equilibrium constant of carbonic acid is, at 25 °C:
K
h
=
[
H
2
CO
3
]
[
CO
2
(
aq
)
]
=
1.70
×
10
−
3
{\displaystyle K_{\mathrm {h} }={\frac {{\ce {[H2CO3]}}}{{\ce {[CO2_{(aq)}]}}}}=1.70\times 10^{-3}}
Hence, the majority of the carbon dioxide is not converted into carbonic acid, but remains as CO2 molecules, not affecting the pH.
The relative concentrations of CO2, H2CO3, and the deprotonated forms HCO−3 (bicarbonate) and CO2−3(carbonate) depend on the pH. As shown in a Bjerrum plot, in neutral or slightly alkaline water (pH > 6.5), the bicarbonate form predominates (>50%) becoming the most prevalent (>95%) at the pH of seawater. In very alkaline water (pH > 10.4), the predominant (>50%) form is carbonate. The oceans, being mildly alkaline with typical pH = 8.2–8.5, contain about 120 mg of bicarbonate per liter.
Being diprotic, carbonic acid has two acid dissociation constants, the first one for the dissociation into the bicarbonate (also called hydrogen carbonate) ion (HCO−3):
H2CO3 ⇌ HCO−3 + H+
Ka1 = 2.5 × 10−4 mol/L; pKa1 = 3.6 at 25 °C.This is the true first acid dissociation constant, defined as
K
a
1
=
[
HCO
3
−
]
[
H
+
]
[
H
2
CO
3
]
{\displaystyle K_{\mathrm {a1} }={\frac {{\ce {[HCO3- ][H+]}}}{{\ce {[H2CO3]}}}}}
where the denominator includes only covalently bound H2CO3 and does not include hydrated CO2(aq). The much smaller and often-quoted value near 4.16 × 10−7 is an apparent value calculated on the (incorrect) assumption that all dissolved CO2 is present as carbonic acid, so that
K
a
1
(
a
p
p
a
r
e
n
t
)
=
[
HCO
3
−
]
[
H
+
]
[
H
2
CO
3
]
+
[
CO
2
(
aq
)
]
{\displaystyle K_{\mathrm {a1} }{\rm {(apparent)}}={\frac {{\ce {[HCO3- ][H+]}}}{{\ce {[H2CO3] + [CO2_{(aq)}]}}}}}
Since most of the dissolved CO2 remains as CO2 molecules, Ka1(apparent) has a much larger denominator and a much smaller value than the true Ka1.The bicarbonate ion is an amphoteric species that can act as an acid or as a base, depending on pH of the solution. At high pH, it dissociates significantly into the carbonate ion (CO2−3):
HCO−3 ⇌ CO2−3 + H+
Ka2 = 4.69 × 10−11 mol/L; pKa2 = 10.329In organisms, carbonic acid production is catalysed by the enzyme known as carbonic anhydrase.
Chemical reactions of CO2
CO2 is a potent electrophile having an electrophilic reactivity that is comparable to benzaldehyde or strong α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. However, unlike electrophiles of similar reactivity, the reactions of nucleophiles with CO2 are thermodynamically less favored and are often found to be highly reversible. The reversible reaction of carbon dioxide with amines to make carbamates is used in CO2 scrubbers and has been suggested as a possible starting point for carbon capture and storage by amine gas treating.
Only very strong nucleophiles, like the carbanions provided by Grignard reagents and organolithium compounds react with CO2 to give carboxylates:
MR + CO2 → RCO2M
where M = Li or Mg Br and R = alkyl or aryl.In metal carbon dioxide complexes, CO2 serves as a ligand, which can facilitate the conversion of CO2 to other chemicals.The reduction of CO2 to CO is ordinarily a difficult and slow reaction:
CO2 + 2 e− + 2 H+ → CO + H2OPhotoautotrophs (i.e. plants and cyanobacteria) use the energy contained in sunlight to photosynthesize simple sugars from CO2 absorbed from the air and water:
n CO2 + n H2O → (CH2O)n + n O2The redox potential for this reaction near pH 7 is about −0.53 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode. The nickel-containing enzyme carbon monoxide dehydrogenase catalyses this process.
Physical properties
Carbon dioxide is colorless. At low concentrations, the gas is odorless; however, at sufficiently high concentrations, it has a sharp, acidic odor. At standard temperature and pressure, the density of carbon dioxide is around 1.98 kg/m3, about 1.53 times that of air.Carbon dioxide has no liquid state at pressures below 0.51795(10) MPa (5.11177(99) atm). At a pressure of 1 atm (0.101325 MPa), the gas deposits directly to a solid at temperatures below 194.6855(30) K (−78.4645(30) °C) and the solid sublimes directly to a gas above this temperature. In its solid state, carbon dioxide is commonly called dry ice.
Liquid carbon dioxide forms only at pressures above 0.51795(10) MPa (5.11177(99) atm); the triple point of carbon dioxide is 216.592(3) K (−56.558(3) °C) at 0.51795(10) MPa (5.11177(99) atm) (see phase diagram). The critical point is 304.128(15) K (30.978(15) °C) at 7.3773(30) MPa (72.808(30) atm). Another form of solid carbon dioxide observed at high pressure is an amorphous glass-like solid. This form of glass, called carbonia, is produced by supercooling heated CO2 at extreme pressures (40–48 GPa, or about 400,000 atmospheres) in a diamond anvil. This discovery confirmed the theory that carbon dioxide could exist in a glass state similar to other members of its elemental family, like silicon dioxide (silica glass) and germanium dioxide. Unlike silica and germania glasses, however, carbonia glass is not stable at normal pressures and reverts to gas when pressure is released.
At temperatures and pressures above the critical point, carbon dioxide behaves as a supercritical fluid known as supercritical carbon dioxide.
Table of thermal and physical properties of saturated liquid carbon dioxide:
Table of thermal and physical properties of carbon dioxide (CO2) at atmospheric pressure:
Biological role
Carbon dioxide is an end product of cellular respiration in organisms that obtain energy by breaking down sugars, fats and amino acids with oxygen as part of their metabolism. This includes all plants, algae and animals and aerobic fungi and bacteria. In vertebrates, the carbon dioxide travels in the blood from the body's tissues to the skin (e.g., amphibians) or the gills (e.g., fish), from where it dissolves in the water, or to the lungs from where it is exhaled. During active photosynthesis, plants can absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release in respiration.
Photosynthesis and carbon fixation
Carbon fixation is a biochemical process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is incorporated by plants, algae and (cyanobacteria) into energy-rich organic molecules such as glucose, thus creating their own food by photosynthesis. Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and water to produce sugars from which other organic compounds can be constructed, and oxygen is produced as a by-product.
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase, commonly abbreviated to RuBisCO, is the enzyme involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, the production of two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate from CO2 and ribulose bisphosphate, as shown in the diagram at left.
RuBisCO is thought to be the single most abundant protein on Earth.
Phototrophs use the products of their photosynthesis as internal food sources and as raw material for the biosynthesis of more complex organic molecules, such as polysaccharides, nucleic acids, and proteins. These are used for their own growth, and also as the basis of the food chains and webs that feed other organisms, including animals such as ourselves. Some important phototrophs, the coccolithophores synthesise hard calcium carbonate scales. A globally significant species of coccolithophore is Emiliania huxleyi whose calcite scales have formed the basis of many sedimentary rocks such as limestone, where what was previously atmospheric carbon can remain fixed for geological timescales.Plants can grow as much as 50% faster in concentrations of 1,000 ppm CO2 when compared with ambient conditions, though this assumes no change in climate and no limitation on other nutrients. Elevated CO2 levels cause increased growth reflected in the harvestable yield of crops, with wheat, rice and soybean all showing increases in yield of 12–14% under elevated CO2 in FACE experiments.Increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations result in fewer stomata developing on plants which leads to reduced water usage and increased water-use efficiency. Studies using FACE have shown that CO2 enrichment leads to decreased concentrations of micronutrients in crop plants. This may have knock-on effects on other parts of ecosystems as herbivores will need to eat more food to gain the same amount of protein.The concentration of secondary metabolites such as phenylpropanoids and flavonoids can also be altered in plants exposed to high concentrations of CO2.Plants also emit CO2 during respiration, and so the majority of plants and algae, which use C3 photosynthesis, are only net absorbers during the day. Though a growing forest will absorb many tons of CO2 each year, a mature forest will produce as much CO2 from respiration and decomposition of dead specimens (e.g., fallen branches) as is used in photosynthesis in growing plants. Contrary to the long-standing view that they are carbon neutral, mature forests can continue to accumulate carbon and remain valuable carbon sinks, helping to maintain the carbon balance of Earth's atmosphere. Additionally, and crucially to life on earth, photosynthesis by phytoplankton consumes dissolved CO2 in the upper ocean and thereby promotes the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Toxicity
Carbon dioxide content in fresh air (averaged between sea-level and 10 kPa level, i.e., about 30 km (19 mi) altitude) varies between 0.036% (360 ppm) and 0.041% (412 ppm), depending on the location.CO2 is an asphyxiant gas and not classified as toxic or harmful in accordance with Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals standards of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe by using the OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals. In concentrations up to 1% (10,000 ppm), it will make some people feel drowsy and give the lungs a stuffy feeling. Concentrations of 7% to 10% (70,000 to 100,000 ppm) may cause suffocation, even in the presence of sufficient oxygen, manifesting as dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, and unconsciousness within a few minutes to an hour. The physiological effects of acute carbon dioxide exposure are grouped together under the term hypercapnia, a subset of asphyxiation.
Because it is heavier than air, in locations where the gas seeps from the ground (due to sub-surface volcanic or geothermal activity) in relatively high concentrations, without the dispersing effects of wind, it can collect in sheltered/pocketed locations below average ground level, causing animals located therein to be suffocated. Carrion feeders attracted to the carcasses are then also killed. Children have been killed in the same way near the city of Goma by CO2 emissions from the nearby volcano Mount Nyiragongo. The Swahili term for this phenomenon is mazuku.
Adaptation to increased concentrations of CO2 occurs in humans, including modified breathing and kidney bicarbonate production, in order to balance the effects of blood acidification (acidosis). Several studies suggested that 2.0 percent inspired concentrations could be used for closed air spaces (e.g. a submarine) since the adaptation is physiological and reversible, as deterioration in performance or in normal physical activity does not happen at this level of exposure for five days. Yet, other studies show a decrease in cognitive function even at much lower levels. Also, with ongoing respiratory acidosis, adaptation or compensatory mechanisms will be unable to reverse such condition.
Below 1%
There are few studies of the health effects of long-term continuous CO2 exposure on humans and animals at levels below 1%. Occupational CO2 exposure limits have been set in the United States at 0.5% (5000 ppm) for an eight-hour period. At this CO2 concentration, International Space Station crew experienced headaches, lethargy, mental slowness, emotional irritation, and sleep disruption. Studies in animals at 0.5% CO2 have demonstrated kidney calcification and bone loss after eight weeks of exposure. A study of humans exposed in 2.5 hour sessions demonstrated significant negative effects on cognitive abilities at concentrations as low as 0.1% (1000 ppm) CO2 likely due to CO2 induced increases in cerebral blood flow. Another study observed a decline in basic activity level and information usage at 1000 ppm, when compared to 500 ppm.However a review of the literature found that a reliable subset of studies on the phenomenon of carbon dioxide induced cognitive impairment to only show a small effect on high-level decision making (for concentrations below 5000 ppm). Most of the studies were confounded by inadequate study designs, environmental comfort, uncertainties in exposure doses and differing cognitive assessments used. Similarly a study on the effects of the concentration of CO2 in motorcycle helmets has been criticized for having dubious methodology in not noting the self-reports of motorcycle riders and taking measurements using mannequins. Further when normal motorcycle conditions were achieved (such as highway or city speeds) or the visor was raised the concentration of CO2 declined to safe levels (0.2%).
Ventilation
Poor ventilation is one of the main causes of excessive CO2 concentrations in closed spaces, leading to poor indoor air quality. Carbon dioxide differential above outdoor concentrations at steady state conditions (when the occupancy and ventilation system operation are sufficiently long that CO2 concentration has stabilized) are sometimes used to estimate ventilation rates per person. Higher CO2 concentrations are associated with occupant health, comfort and performance degradation. ASHRAE Standard 62.1–2007 ventilation rates may result in indoor concentrations up to 2,100 ppm above ambient outdoor conditions. Thus if the outdoor concentration is 400 ppm, indoor concentrations may reach 2,500 ppm with ventilation rates that meet this industry consensus standard. Concentrations in poorly ventilated spaces can be found even higher than this (range of 3,000 or 4,000 ppm).
Miners, who are particularly vulnerable to gas exposure due to insufficient ventilation, referred to mixtures of carbon dioxide and nitrogen as "blackdamp", "choke damp" or "stythe". Before more effective technologies were developed, miners would frequently monitor for dangerous levels of blackdamp and other gases in mine shafts by bringing a caged canary with them as they worked. The canary is more sensitive to asphyxiant gases than humans, and as it became unconscious would stop singing and fall off its perch. The Davy lamp could also detect high levels of blackdamp (which sinks, and collects near the floor) by burning less brightly, while methane, another suffocating gas and explosion risk, would make the lamp burn more brightly.
In February 2020, three people died from suffocation at a party in Moscow when dry ice (frozen CO2) was added to a swimming pool to cool it down. A similar accident occurred in 2018 when a woman died from CO2 fumes emanating from the large amount of dry ice she was transporting in her car.
Indoor air
Humans spend more and more time in a confined atmosphere (around 80-90% of the time in a building or vehicle). According to the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) and various actors in France, the CO2 rate in the indoor air of buildings (linked to human or animal occupancy and the presence of combustion installations), weighted by air renewal, is “usually between about 350 and 2,500 ppm”.In homes, schools, nurseries and offices, there are no systematic relationships between the levels of CO2 and other pollutants, and indoor CO2 is statistically not a good predictor of pollutants linked to outdoor road (or air, etc.) traffic. CO2 is the parameter that changes the fastest (with hygrometry and oxygen levels when humans or animals are gathered in a closed or poorly ventilated room). In poor countries, many open hearths are sources of CO2 and CO emitted directly into the living environment.
Outdoor areas with elevated concentrations
Local concentrations of carbon dioxide can reach high values near strong sources, especially those that are isolated by surrounding terrain. At the Bossoleto hot spring near Rapolano Terme in Tuscany, Italy, situated in a bowl-shaped depression about 100 m (330 ft) in diameter, concentrations of CO2 rise to above 75% overnight, sufficient to kill insects and small animals. After sunrise the gas is dispersed by convection. High concentrations of CO2 produced by disturbance of deep lake water saturated with CO2 are thought to have caused 37 fatalities at Lake Monoun, Cameroon in 1984 and 1700 casualties at Lake Nyos, Cameroon in 1986.
Human physiology
Content
The body produces approximately 2.3 pounds (1.0 kg) of carbon dioxide per day per person, containing 0.63 pounds (290 g) of carbon. In humans, this carbon dioxide is carried through the venous system and is breathed out through the lungs, resulting in lower concentrations in the arteries. The carbon dioxide content of the blood is often given as the partial pressure, which is the pressure which carbon dioxide would have had if it alone occupied the volume. In humans, the blood carbon dioxide contents is shown in the adjacent table.
Transport in the blood
CO2 is carried in blood in three different ways. (Exact percentages vary between arterial and venous blood).
Majority (about 70% to 80%) is converted to bicarbonate ions HCO−3 by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase in the red blood cells, by the reaction:CO2 + H2O → H2CO3 → H+ + HCO−35–10% is dissolved in blood plasma
5–10% is bound to hemoglobin as carbamino compoundsHemoglobin, the main oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells, carries both oxygen and carbon dioxide. However, the CO2 bound to hemoglobin does not bind to the same site as oxygen. Instead, it combines with the N-terminal groups on the four globin chains. However, because of allosteric effects on the hemoglobin molecule, the binding of CO2 decreases the amount of oxygen that is bound for a given partial pressure of oxygen. This is known as the Haldane Effect, and is important in the transport of carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs. Conversely, a rise in the partial pressure of CO2 or a lower pH will cause offloading of oxygen from hemoglobin, which is known as the Bohr effect.
Regulation of respiration
Carbon dioxide is one of the mediators of local autoregulation of blood supply. If its concentration is high, the capillaries expand to allow a greater blood flow to that tissue.Bicarbonate ions are crucial for regulating blood pH. A person's breathing rate influences the level of CO2 in their blood. Breathing that is too slow or shallow causes respiratory acidosis, while breathing that is too rapid leads to hyperventilation, which can cause respiratory alkalosis.Although the body requires oxygen for metabolism, low oxygen levels normally do not stimulate breathing. Rather, breathing is stimulated by higher carbon dioxide levels. As a result, breathing low-pressure air or a gas mixture with no oxygen at all (such as pure nitrogen) can lead to loss of consciousness without ever experiencing air hunger. This is especially perilous for high-altitude fighter pilots. It is also why flight attendants instruct passengers, in case of loss of cabin pressure, to apply the oxygen mask to themselves first before helping others; otherwise, one risks losing consciousness.The respiratory centers try to maintain an arterial CO2 pressure of 40 mmHg. With intentional hyperventilation, the CO2 content of arterial blood may be lowered to 10–20 mmHg (the oxygen content of the blood is little affected), and the respiratory drive is diminished. This is why one can hold one's breath longer after hyperventilating than without hyperventilating. This carries the risk that unconsciousness may result before the need to breathe becomes overwhelming, which is why hyperventilation is particularly dangerous before free diving.
Concentrations and role in the environment
Atmosphere
Oceans
Ocean acidification
Carbon dioxide dissolves in the ocean to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), bicarbonate (HCO−3), and carbonate (CO2−3). There is about fifty times as much carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans as exists in the atmosphere. The oceans act as an enormous carbon sink, and have taken up about a third of CO2 emitted by human activity.
Hydrothermal vents
Carbon dioxide is also introduced into the oceans through hydrothermal vents. The Champagne hydrothermal vent, found at the Northwest Eifuku volcano in the Mariana Trench, produces almost pure liquid carbon dioxide, one of only two known sites in the world as of 2004, the other being in the Okinawa Trough. The finding of a submarine lake of liquid carbon dioxide in the Okinawa Trough was reported in 2006.
Production
Biological processes
Carbon dioxide is a by-product of the fermentation of sugar in the brewing of beer, whisky and other alcoholic beverages and in the production of bioethanol. Yeast metabolizes sugar to produce CO2 and ethanol, also known as alcohol, as follows:
C6H12O6 → 2 CO2 + 2 CH3CH2OHAll aerobic organisms produce CO2 when they oxidize carbohydrates, fatty acids, and proteins. The large number of reactions involved are exceedingly complex and not described easily. Refer to (cellular respiration, anaerobic respiration and photosynthesis). The equation for the respiration of glucose and other monosaccharides is:
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2OAnaerobic organisms decompose organic material producing methane and carbon dioxide together with traces of other compounds. Regardless of the type of organic material, the production of gases follows well defined kinetic pattern. Carbon dioxide comprises about 40–45% of the gas that emanates from decomposition in landfills (termed "landfill gas"). Most of the remaining 50–55% is methane.
Industrial processes
Carbon dioxide can be obtained by distillation from air, but the method is inefficient. Industrially, carbon dioxide is predominantly an unrecovered waste product, produced by several methods which may be practiced at various scales.
Combustion
The combustion of all carbon-based fuels, such as methane (natural gas), petroleum distillates (gasoline, diesel, kerosene, propane), coal, wood and generic organic matter produces carbon dioxide and, except in the case of pure carbon, water. As an example, the chemical reaction between methane and oxygen:
CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2OIron is reduced from its oxides with coke in a blast furnace, producing pig iron and carbon dioxide:
Fe2O3 + 3 CO → 3 CO2 + 2 Fe
By-product from hydrogen production
Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of the industrial production of hydrogen by steam reforming and the water gas shift reaction in ammonia production. These processes begin with the reaction of water and natural gas (mainly methane). This is a major source of food-grade carbon dioxide for use in carbonation of beer and soft drinks, and is also used for stunning animals such as poultry. In the summer of 2018 a shortage of carbon dioxide for these purposes arose in Europe due to the temporary shut-down of several ammonia plants for maintenance.
Thermal decomposition of limestone
It is produced by thermal decomposition of limestone, CaCO3 by heating (calcining) at about 850 °C (1,560 °F), in the manufacture of quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO), a compound that has many industrial uses:
CaCO3 → CaO + CO2Acids liberate CO2 from most metal carbonates. Consequently, it may be obtained directly from natural carbon dioxide springs, where it is produced by the action of acidified water on limestone or dolomite. The reaction between hydrochloric acid and calcium carbonate (limestone or chalk) is shown below:
CaCO3 + 2 HCl → CaCl2 + H2CO3The carbonic acid (H2CO3) then decomposes to water and CO2:
H2CO3 → CO2 + H2OSuch reactions are accompanied by foaming or bubbling, or both, as the gas is released. They have widespread uses in industry because they can be used to neutralize waste acid streams.
Commercial uses
Carbon dioxide is used by the food industry, the oil industry, and the chemical industry.
The compound has varied commercial uses but one of its greatest uses as a chemical is in the production of carbonated beverages; it provides the sparkle in carbonated beverages such as soda water, beer and sparkling wine.
Precursor to chemicals
In the chemical industry, carbon dioxide is mainly consumed as an ingredient in the production of urea, with a smaller fraction being used to produce methanol and a range of other products. Some carboxylic acid derivatives such as sodium salicylate are prepared using CO2 by the Kolbe–Schmitt reaction.In addition to conventional processes using CO2 for chemical production, electrochemical methods are also being explored at a research level. In particular, the use of renewable energy for production of fuels from CO2 (such as methanol) is attractive as this could result in fuels that could be easily transported and used within conventional combustion technologies but have no net CO2 emissions.
Agriculture
Plants require carbon dioxide to conduct photosynthesis. The atmospheres of greenhouses may (if of large size, must) be enriched with additional CO2 to sustain and increase the rate of plant growth. At very high concentrations (100 times atmospheric concentration, or greater), carbon dioxide can be toxic to animal life, so raising the concentration to 10,000 ppm (1%) or higher for several hours will eliminate pests such as whiteflies and spider mites in a greenhouse.
Foods
Carbon dioxide is a food additive used as a propellant and acidity regulator in the food industry. It is approved for usage in the EU (listed as E number E290), US and Australia and New Zealand (listed by its INS number 290).
A candy called Pop Rocks is pressurized with carbon dioxide gas at about 4,000 kPa (40 bar; 580 psi). When placed in the mouth, it dissolves (just like other hard candy) and releases the gas bubbles with an audible pop.
Leavening agents cause dough to rise by producing carbon dioxide. Baker's yeast produces carbon dioxide by fermentation of sugars within the dough, while chemical leaveners such as baking powder and baking soda release carbon dioxide when heated or if exposed to acids.
Beverages
Carbon dioxide is used to produce carbonated soft drinks and soda water. Traditionally, the carbonation of beer and sparkling wine came about through natural fermentation, but many manufacturers carbonate these drinks with carbon dioxide recovered from the fermentation process. In the case of bottled and kegged beer, the most common method used is carbonation with recycled carbon dioxide. With the exception of British real ale, draught beer is usually transferred from kegs in a cold room or cellar to dispensing taps on the bar using pressurized carbon dioxide, sometimes mixed with nitrogen.
The taste of soda water (and related taste sensations in other carbonated beverages) is an effect of the dissolved carbon dioxide rather than the bursting bubbles of the gas. Carbonic anhydrase 4 converts to carbonic acid leading to a sour taste, and also the dissolved carbon dioxide induces a somatosensory response.
Winemaking
Carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice is often used during the cold soak phase in winemaking to cool clusters of grapes quickly after picking to help prevent spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast. The main advantage of using dry ice over water ice is that it cools the grapes without adding any additional water that might decrease the sugar concentration in the grape must, and thus the alcohol concentration in the finished wine. Carbon dioxide is also used to create a hypoxic environment for carbonic maceration, the process used to produce Beaujolais wine.
Carbon dioxide is sometimes used to top up wine bottles or other storage vessels such as barrels to prevent oxidation, though it has the problem that it can dissolve into the wine, making a previously still wine slightly fizzy. For this reason, other gases such as nitrogen or argon are preferred for this process by professional wine makers.
Stunning animals
Carbon dioxide is often used to "stun" animals before slaughter. "Stunning" may be a misnomer, as the animals are not knocked out immediately and may suffer distress.
Inert gas
Carbon dioxide is one of the most commonly used compressed gases for pneumatic (pressurized gas) systems in portable pressure tools. Carbon dioxide is also used as an atmosphere for welding, although in the welding arc, it reacts to oxidize most metals. Use in the automotive industry is common despite significant evidence that welds made in carbon dioxide are more brittle than those made in more inert atmospheres. When used for MIG welding, CO2 use is sometimes referred to as MAG welding, for Metal Active Gas, as CO2 can react at these high temperatures. It tends to produce a hotter puddle than truly inert atmospheres, improving the flow characteristics. Although, this may be due to atmospheric reactions occurring at the puddle site. This is usually the opposite of the desired effect when welding, as it tends to embrittle the site, but may not be a problem for general mild steel welding, where ultimate ductility is not a major concern.
Carbon dioxide is used in many consumer products that require pressurized gas because it is inexpensive and nonflammable, and because it undergoes a phase transition from gas to liquid at room temperature at an attainable pressure of approximately 60 bar (870 psi; 59 atm), allowing far more carbon dioxide to fit in a given container than otherwise would. Life jackets often contain canisters of pressured carbon dioxide for quick inflation. Aluminium capsules of CO2 are also sold as supplies of compressed gas for air guns, paintball markers/guns, inflating bicycle tires, and for making carbonated water. High concentrations of carbon dioxide can also be used to kill pests. Liquid carbon dioxide is used in supercritical drying of some food products and technological materials, in the preparation of specimens for scanning electron microscopy and in the decaffeination of coffee beans.
Fire extinguisher
Carbon dioxide can be used to extinguish flames by flooding the environment around the flame with the gas. It does not itself react to extinguish the flame, but starves the flame of oxygen by displacing it. Some fire extinguishers, especially those designed for electrical fires, contain liquid carbon dioxide under pressure. Carbon dioxide extinguishers work well on small flammable liquid and electrical fires, but not on ordinary combustible fires, because they do not cool the burning substances significantly, and when the carbon dioxide disperses, they can catch fire upon exposure to atmospheric oxygen. They are mainly used in server rooms.Carbon dioxide has also been widely used as an extinguishing agent in fixed fire-protection systems for local application of specific hazards and total flooding of a protected space. International Maritime Organization standards recognize carbon-dioxide systems for fire protection of ship holds and engine rooms. Carbon-dioxide-based fire-protection systems have been linked to several deaths, because it can cause suffocation in sufficiently high concentrations. A review of CO2 systems identified 51 incidents between 1975 and the date of the report (2000), causing 72 deaths and 145 injuries.
Supercritical CO2 as solvent
Liquid carbon dioxide is a good solvent for many lipophilic organic compounds and is used to remove caffeine from coffee. Carbon dioxide has attracted attention in the pharmaceutical and other chemical processing industries as a less toxic alternative to more traditional solvents such as organochlorides. It is also used by some dry cleaners for this reason. It is used in the preparation of some aerogels because of the properties of supercritical carbon dioxide.
Medical and pharmacological uses
In medicine, up to 5% carbon dioxide (130 times atmospheric concentration) is added to oxygen for stimulation of breathing after apnea and to stabilize the O2/CO2 balance in blood.
Carbon dioxide can be mixed with up to 50% oxygen, forming an inhalable gas; this is known as Carbogen and has a variety of medical and research uses.
Another medical use are the mofette, dry spas that use carbon dioxide from post-volcanic discharge for therapeutic purposes.
Energy
Supercritical CO2 is used as the working fluid in the Allam power cycle engine.
Fossil fuel recovery
Carbon dioxide is used in enhanced oil recovery where it is injected into or adjacent to producing oil wells, usually under supercritical conditions, when it becomes miscible with the oil. This approach can increase original oil recovery by reducing residual oil saturation by 7–23% additional to primary extraction. It acts as both a pressurizing agent and, when dissolved into the underground crude oil, significantly reduces its viscosity, and changing surface chemistry enabling the oil to flow more rapidly through the reservoir to the removal well. In mature oil fields, extensive pipe networks are used to carry the carbon dioxide to the injection points.
In enhanced coal bed methane recovery, carbon dioxide would be pumped into the coal seam to displace methane, as opposed to current methods which primarily rely on the removal of water (to reduce pressure) to make the coal seam release its trapped methane.
Bio transformation into fuel
It has been proposed that CO2 from power generation be bubbled into ponds to stimulate growth of algae that could then be converted into biodiesel fuel. A strain of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus has been genetically engineered to produce the fuels isobutyraldehyde and isobutanol from CO2 using photosynthesis.Researchers have developed a process called electrolysis, using enzymes isolated from bacteria to power the chemical reactions which convert CO2 into fuels.
Refrigerant
Liquid and solid carbon dioxide are important refrigerants, especially in the food industry, where they are employed during the transportation and storage of ice cream and other frozen foods. Solid carbon dioxide is called "dry ice" and is used for small shipments where refrigeration equipment is not practical. Solid carbon dioxide is always below −78.5 °C (−109.3 °F) at regular atmospheric pressure, regardless of the air temperature.
Liquid carbon dioxide (industry nomenclature R744 or R-744) was used as a refrigerant prior to the use of dichlorodifluoromethane (R12, a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compound). CO2 might enjoy a renaissance because one of the main substitutes to CFCs, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R134a, a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) compound) contributes to climate change more than CO2 does. CO2 physical properties are highly favorable for cooling, refrigeration, and heating purposes, having a high volumetric cooling capacity. Due to the need to operate at pressures of up to 130 bars (1,900 psi; 13,000 kPa), CO2 systems require highly mechanically resistant reservoirs and components that have already been developed for mass production in many sectors. In automobile air conditioning, in more than 90% of all driving conditions for latitudes higher than 50°, CO2 (R744) operates more efficiently than systems using HFCs (e.g., R134a). Its environmental advantages (GWP of 1, non-ozone depleting, non-toxic, non-flammable) could make it the future working fluid to replace current HFCs in cars, supermarkets, and heat pump water heaters, among others. Coca-Cola has fielded CO2-based beverage coolers and the U.S. Army is interested in CO2 refrigeration and heating technology.
Minor uses
Carbon dioxide is the lasing medium in a carbon-dioxide laser, which is one of the earliest type of lasers.
Carbon dioxide can be used as a means of controlling the pH of swimming pools, by continuously adding gas to the water, thus keeping the pH from rising. Among the advantages of this is the avoidance of handling (more hazardous) acids. Similarly, it is also used in the maintaining reef aquaria, where it is commonly used in calcium reactors to temporarily lower the pH of water being passed over calcium carbonate in order to allow the calcium carbonate to dissolve into the water more freely, where it is used by some corals to build their skeleton.
Used as the primary coolant in the British advanced gas-cooled reactor for nuclear power generation.
Carbon dioxide induction is commonly used for the euthanasia of laboratory research animals. Methods to administer CO2 include placing animals directly into a closed, prefilled chamber containing CO2, or exposure to a gradually increasing concentration of CO2. The American Veterinary Medical Association's 2020 guidelines for carbon dioxide induction state that a displacement rate of 30–70% of the chamber or cage volume per minute is optimal for the humane euthanasia of small rodents.: 5, 31 Percentages of CO2 vary for different species, based on identified optimal percentages to minimize distress.: 22 Carbon dioxide is also used in several related cleaning and surface-preparation techniques.
History of discovery
Carbon dioxide was the first gas to be described as a discrete substance. In about 1640, the Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont observed that when he burned charcoal in a closed vessel, the mass of the resulting ash was much less than that of the original charcoal. His interpretation was that the rest of the charcoal had been transmuted into an invisible substance he termed a "gas" (from Greek "chaos") or "wild spirit" (spiritus sylvestris).The properties of carbon dioxide were further studied in the 1750s by the Scottish physician Joseph Black. He found that limestone (calcium carbonate) could be heated or treated with acids to yield a gas he called "fixed air". He observed that the fixed air was denser than air and supported neither flame nor animal life. Black also found that when bubbled through limewater (a saturated aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide), it would precipitate calcium carbonate. He used this phenomenon to illustrate that carbon dioxide is produced by animal respiration and microbial fermentation. In 1772, English chemist Joseph Priestley published a paper entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air in which he described a process of dripping sulfuric acid (or oil of vitriol as Priestley knew it) on chalk in order to produce carbon dioxide, and forcing the gas to dissolve by agitating a bowl of water in contact with the gas.Carbon dioxide was first liquefied (at elevated pressures) in 1823 by Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday. The earliest description of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) was given by the French inventor Adrien-Jean-Pierre Thilorier, who in 1835 opened a pressurized container of liquid carbon dioxide, only to find that the cooling produced by the rapid evaporation of the liquid yielded a "snow" of solid CO2.Carbon dioxide in combination with nitrogen was known from earlier times as Blackdamp, stythe or choke damp, Along with the other types of damp it was encountered in mining operations and well sinking. Slow oxidation of coal and biological processes replaced the oxygen to create a suffocating mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
See also
Notes
References
External links
Current global map of carbon dioxide concentration
CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards – Carbon Dioxide
Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (NOAA) |
general electric | General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892 and incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. The company has several divisions, including aerospace, power, renewable energy, digital industry, additive manufacturing, and venture capital and finance.In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE – Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973) – have been awarded the Nobel Prize.On November 9, 2021, the company announced it would divide itself into three public companies. On July 18, 2022, GE unveiled the brand names of the companies it will create through its planned separation: GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare and GE Vernova. The new companies will be focused on aerospace, healthcare, and energy (renewable energy, power, and digital). The first spin-off of GE HealthCare was finalized on January 4, 2023; GE continues to hold 13.5% of shares and intends to sell the remaining over time. This will be followed by the spin-off of GE's portfolio of energy businesses which plan to become GE Vernova in 2024. Following these transactions, GE will be an aviation-focused company; GE Aerospace will be the legal successor of the original GE.
History
Formation
During 1889, Thomas Edison (1847–1931) had business interests in many electricity-related companies, including Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann & Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and financial arm for Edison's lighting experiments, backed by J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) and the Vanderbilt family.In 1889, Drexel, Morgan & Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel financed Edison's research and helped merge several of Edison's separate companies under one corporation forming Edison General Electric Company, which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company acquired Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company in the same year. The consolidation did not involve all of the companies established by Edison; notably, the Edison Illuminating Company, which would later become Consolidated Edison, was not part of the merger.
In 1880, Gerald Waldo Hart formed the American Electric Company of New Britain, Connecticut, which merged a few years later with Thomson-Houston Electric Company, led by Charles Coffin. In 1887, Hart left to become superintendent of the Edison Electric Company. General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co. The original plants of both companies continue to operate under the GE banner to this day.The General Electric business was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.In 1893, General Electric bought the business of Rudolf Eickemeyer in Yonkers, New York, along with all of its patents and designs. Eickemeyer's firm had developed transformers for use in the transmission of electrical power.
Public company
In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average, where it remained a part of the index for 122 years, though not continuously.
In 1911, General Electric absorbed the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) into its lighting business. GE established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. The lighting division has since remained in the same location.
RCA and NBC
Owen D. Young, through GE, founded the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919, after purchasing the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. He aimed to expand international radio communications. GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales. In 1926, RCA co-founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), which built two radio broadcasting networks. In 1930, General Electric was charged with antitrust violations and was ordered to divest itself of RCA.
Television
In 1927, Ernst Alexanderson of GE made the first demonstration of television broadcast reception at his General Electric Realty Plot home at 1132 Adams Road in Schenectady, New York. On January 13, 1928, he made what was said to be the first broadcast to the public in the United States on GE's W2XAD: the pictures were picked up on 1.5 square inch (9.7 square centimeter) screens in the homes of four GE executives. The sound was broadcast on GE's WGY (AM).Experimental television station W2XAD evolved into the station WRGB which, along with WGY and WGFM (now WRVE), was owned and operated by General Electric until 1983. In 1965, the company expanded into cable with the launch of a franchise, which was awarded to a non-exclusive franchise in Schenectady through subsidiary General Electric Cablevision Corporation. On February 15, 1965, General Electric expanded its holdings in order to acquire more television stations to meet the maximum limit of the FCC, and more cable holdings through subsidiaries General Electric Broadcasting Company and General Electric Cablevision Corporation.The company also owned television stations such as KOA-TV (now KCNC-TV) in Denver and WSIX-TV (later WNGE-TV, now WKRN) in Nashville, but like WRGB, General Electric sold off most of its broadcasting holdings, but held on to the Denver television station until in 1986, when General Electric bought out RCA and made it into an owned-and-operated station by NBC. It even stayed on until 1995 when it was transferred to a joint venture between CBS and Group W in a swap deal, alongside KUTV in Salt Lake City for longtime CBS O&O in Philadelphia, WCAU-TV.
Former General Electric-owned stations
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
Radio stations
Power generation
Led by Sanford Alexander Moss, GE moved into the new field of aircraft turbo superchargers. This technology also led to the development of industrial gas turbine engines used for power production. GE introduced the first set of superchargers during World War I, and continued to develop them during the interwar period. Superchargers became indispensable in the years immediately prior to World War II. GE supplied 300,000 turbo superchargers for use in fighter and bomber engines. This work led the U.S. Army Air Corps to select GE to develop the nation's first jet engine during the war. This experience, in turn, made GE a natural selection to develop the Whittle W.1 jet engine that was demonstrated in the United States in 1941. GE was ranked ninth among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. Although, their early work with Whittle's designs was later handed to Allison Engine Company. GE Aviation then emerged as one of the world's largest engine manufacturers, bypassing the British company, Rolls-Royce plc.
Some consumers boycotted GE light bulbs, refrigerators and other products during the 1980s and 1990s. The purpose of the boycott was to protest against GE's role in nuclear weapons production.In 2002, GE acquired the wind power assets of Enron during its bankruptcy proceedings. Enron Wind was the only surviving U.S. manufacturer of large wind turbines at the time, and GE increased engineering and supplies for the Wind Division and doubled the annual sales to $1.2 billion in 2003. It acquired ScanWind in 2009.In 2018, GE Power garnered press attention when a model 7HA gas turbine in Texas was shut down for two months due to the break of a turbine blade. This model uses similar blade technology to GE's newest and most efficient model, the 9HA. After the break, GE developed new protective coatings and heat treatment methods. Gas turbines represent a significant portion of GE Power's revenue, and also represent a significant portion of the power generation fleet of several utility companies in the United States. Chubu Electric of Japan and Électricité de France also had units that were impacted. Initially, GE did not realize the turbine blade issue of the 9FB unit would impact the new HA units.
Computing
GE was one of the eight major computer companies of the 1960s along with IBM, Burroughs, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA, and UNIVAC. GE had a line of general purpose and special purpose computers, including the GE 200, GE 400, and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real-time process control computers, and the DATANET-30 and Datanet 355 message switching computers (DATANET-30 and 355 were also used as front end processors for GE mainframe computers). A Datanet 500 computer was designed, but never sold.In 1956 Homer Oldfield had been promoted to General Manager of GE's Computer Department. He facilitated the invention and construction of the Bank of America ERMA system, the first computerized system designed to read magnetized numbers on checks. But he was fired from GE in 1958 by Ralph J. Cordiner for overstepping his bounds and successfully gaining the ERMA contract. Cordiner was strongly against GE entering the computer business because he did not see the potential in it.
In 1962, GE started developing its GECOS (later renamed GCOS) operating system, originally for batch processing, but later extended to time-sharing and transaction processing. Versions of GCOS are still in use today. From 1964 to 1969, GE and Bell Laboratories (which soon dropped out) joined with MIT to develop the Multics operating system on the GE 645 mainframe computer. The project took longer than expected and was not a major commercial success, but it demonstrated concepts such as single-level storage, dynamic linking, hierarchical file system, and ring-oriented security. Active development of Multics continued until 1985.
GE got into computer manufacturing because in the 1950s they were the largest user of computers outside the United States federal government, aside from being the first business in the world to own a computer. Its major appliance manufacturing plant "Appliance Park" was the first non-governmental site to host one. However, in 1970, GE sold its computer division to Honeywell, exiting the computer manufacturing industry, though it retained its timesharing operations for some years afterwards. GE was a major provider of computer time-sharing services, through General Electric Information Services (GEIS, now GXS), offering online computing services that included GEnie.
In 2000, when United Technologies Corp. planned to buy Honeywell, GE made a counter-offer that was approved by Honeywell. On July 3, 2001, the European Union issued a statement that "prohibit the proposed acquisition by General Electric Co. of Honeywell Inc.". The reasons given were it "would create or strengthen dominant positions on several markets and that the remedies proposed by GE were insufficient to resolve the competition concerns resulting from the proposed acquisition of Honeywell".On June 27, 2014, GE partnered with collaborative design company Quirky to announce its connected LED bulb called Link. The Link bulb is designed to communicate with smartphones and tablets using a mobile app called Wink.
Acquisitions and divestments
In December 1985, GE reacquired the RCA Corporation, primarily to gain ownership of the NBC television network (also parent of Telemundo Communications Group) for $6.28 billion; this merger surpassed the Capital Cities/ABC merger that happened earlier that year as the largest non-oil merger in world business history. The remainder of RCA was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann which absorbed RCA Records and Thomson SA, which licensed the manufacture of RCA branded electronics, traced its roots to Thomson-Houston, one of the original components of GE. Also in 1986, Kidder, Peabody & Co., a U.S.-based securities firm, was sold to GE and following heavy losses was sold to PaineWebber in 1994.In 2002, Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a division of GE called GE Information Systems (GEIS). The new company, named GXS, is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. GXS is a provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions. GE maintains a minority stake in GXS. Also in 2002, GE Wind Energy was formed when GE bought the wind turbine manufacturing assets of Enron Wind after the Enron scandals.In 2004, GE bought 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, the parent of Universal Pictures from Vivendi. Vivendi bought 20% of NBC forming the company NBCUniversal. GE then owned 80% of NBCUniversal and Vivendi owned 20%. In 2004, GE completed the spin-off of most of its mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia.Genpact formerly known as GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was established by GE in late 1997 as its captive India-based BPO. GE sold 60% stake in Genpact to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and hived off Genpact into an independent business. GE is still a major client to Genpact today, for services in customer service, finance, information technology, and analytics.In May 2007, GE acquired Smiths Aerospace for $4.8 billion. Also in 2007, GE Oil & Gas acquired Vetco Gray for $1.9 billion, followed by the acquisition of Hydril Pressure & Control in 2008 for $1.1 billion.GE Plastics was sold in 2008 to SABIC (Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation). In May 2008, GE announced it was exploring options for divesting the bulk of its consumer and industrial business.On December 3, 2009, it was announced that NBCUniversal would become a joint venture between GE and cable television operator Comcast. Comcast would hold a controlling interest in the company, while GE would retain a 49% stake and would buy out shares owned by Vivendi.Vivendi would sell its 20% stake in NBCUniversal to GE for US$5.8 billion. Vivendi would sell 7.66% of NBCUniversal to GE for US$2 billion if the GE/Comcast deal was not completed by September 2010 and then sell the remaining 12.34% stake of NBCUniversal to GE for US$3.8 billion when the deal was completed or to the public via an IPO if the deal was not completed.On March 1, 2010, GE announced plans to sell its 20.85% stake in Turkey-based Garanti Bank. In August 2010, GE Healthcare signed a strategic partnership to bring cardiovascular Computed Tomography (CT) technology from start-up Arineta Ltd. of Israel to the hospital market. In October 2010, GE acquired gas engines manufacturer Dresser Industries in a $3 billion deal and also bought a $1.6 billion portfolio of retail credit cards from Citigroup Inc. On October 14, 2010, GE announced the acquisition of data migration & SCADA simulation specialists Opal Software. In December 2010, for the second time that year (after the Dresser acquisition), GE bought the oil sector company Wellstream, an oil pipe maker, for 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion).In March 2011, GE announced that it had completed the acquisition of privately held Lineage Power Holdings from The Gores Group. In April 2011, GE announced it had completed its purchase of John Wood plc's Well Support Division for $2.8 billion.In 2011, GE Capital sold its $2 billion Mexican assets to Santander for $162 million and exited the business in Mexico. Santander additionally assumed the portfolio debts of GE Capital in the country. Following this, GE Capital focused in its core business and shed its non-core assets.In June 2012, CEO and President of GE Jeff Immelt said that the company would invest ₹3 billion to accelerate its businesses in Karnataka. In October 2012, GE acquired $7 billion worth of bank deposits from MetLife Inc.On March 19, 2013, Comcast bought GE's shares in NBCU for $16.7 billion, ending the company's longtime stake in television and film media.In April 2013, GE acquired oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industries for $2.98 billion.In April 2014, it was announced that GE was in talks to acquire the global power division of French engineering group Alstom for a figure of around $13 billion. A rival joint bid was submitted in June 2014 by Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) with Siemens seeking to acquire Alstom's gas turbine business for €3.9 billion, and MHI proposing a joint venture in steam turbines, plus a €3.1 billion cash investment. In June 2014 a formal offer from GE worth $17 billion was agreed by the Alstom board. Part of the transaction involved the French government taking a 20% stake in Alstom to help secure France's energy and transport interests and French jobs. A rival offer from Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was rejected. The acquisition was expected to be completed in 2015. In October 2014, GE announced it was considering the sale of its Polish banking business Bank BPH.Later in 2014, General Electric announced plans to open its global operations center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Global Operations Center opened in October 2016 as home to GE's multifunctional shared services organization. It supports the company's finance/accounting, human resources, information technology, supply chain, legal and commercial operations, and is one of GE's four multifunctional shared services centers worldwide in Pudong, China; Budapest, Hungary; and Monterrey, Mexico.In April 2015, GE announced its intention to sell off its property portfolio, worth $26.5 billion, to Wells Fargo and The Blackstone Group. It was announced in April 2015 that GE would sell most of its finance unit and return around $90 billion to shareholders as the firm looked to trim down on its holdings and rid itself of its image of a "hybrid" company, working in both banking and manufacturing. In August 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell its Healthcare Financial Services business to Capital One for US$9 billion. The transaction involved US$8.5 billion of loans made to a wide array of sectors including senior housing, hospitals, medical offices, outpatient services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Also in August 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell GE Capital Bank's on-line deposit platform to Goldman Sachs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the sale included US$8 billion of on-line deposits and another US$8 billion of brokered certificates of deposit. The sale was part of GE's strategic plan to exit the U.S. banking sector and to free itself from tightening banking regulations. GE also aimed to shed its status as a "systematically important financial institution".In September 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell its transportation-finance unit to Canada's Bank of Montreal. The unit sold had US$8.7 billion (CA$11.5 billion) of assets, 600 employees and 15 offices in the U.S. and Canada. Exact terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the final price would be based on the value of the assets at closing, plus a premium according to the parties. In October 2015, activist investor Nelson Peltz's fund Trian bought a $2.5 billion stake in the company.In January 2016, Haier acquired GE's appliance division for $5.4 billion. In October 2016, GE Renewable Energy agreed to pay €1.5 billion to Doughty Hanson & Co for LM Wind Power during 2017.At the end of October 2016, it was announced that GE was under negotiations for a deal valued at about $30 billion to combine GE Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes. The transaction would create a publicly traded entity controlled by GE. It was announced that GE Oil & Gas would sell off its water treatment business, GE Water & Process Technologies, as part of its divestment agreement with Baker Hughes. The deal was cleared by the EU in May 2017, and by the United States Department of Justice in June 2017. The merger agreement was approved by shareholders at the end of June 2017. On July 3, 2017, the transaction was completed and Baker Hughes became a GE company and was renamed Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE). In November 2018, GE reduced its stake in Baker Hughes to 50.4%. On October 18, 2019, GE reduced its stake to 36.8% and the company was renamed back to Baker Hughes.In May 2017, GE had signed $15 billion of business deals with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of GE's largest customers. In September 2017, GE announced the sale of its Industrial Solutions Business to ABB. The deal closed on June 30, 2018.
Fraud allegations and notice of possible SEC civil action
On August 15, 2019, Harry Markopolos, a financial fraud investigator known for his discovery of a Ponzi Scheme run by Bernard Madoff, accused General Electric of being a "bigger fraud than Enron", alleging $38 billion in accounting fraud. GE denied wrongdoing.On October 6, 2020, General Electric reported it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission stating the SEC may take civil action for possible violations of securities laws.
Insufficient reserves for long-term care policies
It is alleged that GE is "hiding" (i.e. under-reserved) $29 billion in losses related to its long-term care business.According to an August 2019 Fitch Ratings report, there are concerns that GE has not set aside enough money to cover its long-term care liabilities.In 2018, a lawsuit (the Bezio case) was filed in New York state court on behalf of participants in GE's 401(k) plan and shareowners alleging violations of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 based on alleged misstatements and omissions related to insurance reserves and performance of GE's business segments.The Kansas Insurance Department (KID) is requiring General Electric to make $14.5 billion of capital contributions for its insurance contracts during the 7-year period ending in 2024.GE reported the total liability related to its insurance contracts increased significantly from 2016 to 2019:
December 31, 2016 $26.1 billion
December 31, 2017 $38.6 billion
December 31, 2018 $35.6 billion
December 31, 2019 $39.6 billionIn 2018, GE announced the issuance of the new standard by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) regarding Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944) will materially affect its financial statements. Mr. Markopolos estimated there will be a $US 10.5 billion charge when the new accounting standard is adopted in the first quarter of 2021.
Anticipated $8 billion loss upon disposition of Baker Hughes
In 2017, GE acquired a 62.5% interest in Baker Hughes (BHGE) when it combined its oil & gas business with Baker Hughes Incorporated.
In 2018, GE reduced its interest to 50.4%, resulting in the realization of a $2.1 billion loss. GE is planning to divest its remaining interest and has warned that the divestment will result in an additional loss of $8.4 billion (assuming a BHGE share price of $23.57 per share). In response to the fraud allegations, GE noted the amount of the loss would be $7.4 billion if the divestment occurred on July 26, 2019. Mr. Markopolos noted that BHGE is an asset available for sale and therefore mark-to-market accounting is required.Markopolos noted GE's current ratio was only 0.67. He expressed concerns that GE may file for bankruptcy if there is a recession.
Other
In 2018, the GE Pension Plan reported losses of US$3.3 billion on plan assets.In 2018, General Electric changed the discount rate used to calculate the actuarial liabilities of its pension plans. The rate was increased from 3.64% to 4.34%. Consequently, the reported liability for the underfunded pension plans decreased by $7 billion year-over-year, from $34.2 billion in 2017 to $27.2 billion in 2018.In October 2018, General Electric announced it would "freeze pensions" for about 20,000 salaried U.S. employees. The employees will be moved to a defined-contribution retirement plan in 2021.On March 30, 2020, General Electric factory workers protested to convert jet engine factories to make ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis.In June 2020, GE made an agreement to sell its Lighting business to Savant Systems, Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.In November 2020, General Electric warned it would be cutting jobs waiting for a recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Financial performance
Dividends
General Electric was a longtime "dividend aristocrat" (a company with a long history of maintaining dividend payments to shareholders). Until 2017, the company had never cut dividends for 119 years before a 50% dividend reduction from 24 cents per share to 12 cents per share. In 2018, GE further reduced its quarterly dividend from 12 cents to 1 cent per share.
Stock
As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, GE stock was one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1907 to 2018, the longest continuous presence of any company on the index, and during this time the only company which was part of the original Dow Jones Industrial Index created in 1896. In August 2000, the company had a market capitalization of $601 billion, and was the most valuable company in the world. On June 26, 2018, the stock was removed from the index and replaced with Walgreens Boots Alliance. In the years leading to its removal, GE was the worst performing stock in the Dow, falling more than 55 percent year on year and more than 25 percent year to date. The company continued to lose value after being removed from the index.
General Electric Co. announced on July 30, 2021 (the completion of) a reverse stock split of GE common stock at a ratio of 1-for-8 and trading on a split-adjusted basis with a new ISIN number (US3696043013) starting on August 2, 2021.
Corporate affairs
In 1959, General Electric was accused of promoting the largest illegal cartel in the United States since the adoption of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 in order to maintain artificially high prices. In total, 29 companies and 45 executives would be convicted. Subsequent parliamentary inquiries revealed that "white-collar crime" was by far the most costly form of crime for the United States' finances.GE is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. However its main offices are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in New York City, known now as the Comcast Building. It was formerly known as the GE Building for the prominent GE logo on the roof; NBC's headquarters and main studios are also located in the building. Through its RCA subsidiary, it has been associated with the center since its construction in the 1930s. GE moved its corporate headquarters from the GE Building on Lexington Avenue to Fairfield, Connecticut in 1974. In 2016, GE announced a move to the South Boston Waterfront neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, partly as a result of an incentive package provide by state and city governments. The first group of workers arrived in the summer of 2016, and the full move will be completed by 2018. Due to poor financial performance and corporate downsizing, GE sold the land it planned to build its new headquarters building on, instead choosing to occupy neighboring leased buildings.GE's tax return is the largest return filed in the United States; the 2005 return was approximately 24,000 pages when printed out, and 237 megabytes when submitted electronically. As of 2011, the company spent more on U.S. lobbying than any other company.In 2005, GE launched its "Ecomagination" initiative in an attempt to position itself as a "green" company.
GE is one of the biggest players in the wind power industry and is developing environment-friendly products such as hybrid locomotives, desalination and water reuse solutions, and photovoltaic cells. The company "plans to build the largest solar-panel-making factory in the U.S.", and has set goals for its subsidiaries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.On May 21, 2007, GE announced it would sell its GE Plastics division to petrochemicals manufacturer SABIC for net proceeds of $11.6 billion. The transaction took place on August 31, 2007, and the company name changed to SABIC Innovative Plastics, with Brian Gladden as CEO.In July 2010, GE agreed to pay $23.4 million to settle an SEC complaint without admitting or denying the allegations that two of its subsidiaries bribed Iraqi government officials to win contracts under the U.N. oil-for-food program between 2002 and 2003.In February 2017, GE announced that the company intends to close the gender gap by promising to hire and place 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020. The company is also seeking to have a 50:50 male to female gender representation in all entry-level technical programs.In October 2017, GE announced they would be closing research and development centers in Shanghai, Munich and Rio de Janeiro. The company spent $5 billion on R&D in the last year.On February 25, 2019, GE sold its diesel locomotive business to Wabtec.
CEO
As of October 2018, John L. Flannery was replaced by H. Lawrence Culp Jr. as chairman and CEO in a unanimous vote of the GE Board of Directors.
Charles A. Coffin (1913–1922)
Owen D. Young (1922–1939, 1942–1945)
Philip D. Reed (1940–1942, 1945–1958)
Ralph J. Cordiner (1958–1963)
Gerald L. Phillippe (1963–1972)
Fred J. Borch (1967–1972)
Reginald H. Jones (1972–1981)
Jack Welch (1981–2001)
Jeff Immelt (2001–2017)
John L. Flannery (2017–2018)
H. Lawrence Culp Jr. (2018–present)
Corporate recognition and rankings
In 2011, Fortune ranked GE the sixth-largest firm in the U.S., and the 14th-most profitable. Other rankings for 2011–2012 include the following:
#18 company for leaders (Fortune)
#82 green company (Newsweek)
#91 most admired company (Fortune)
#19 most innovative company (Fast Company).In 2012, GE's brand was valued at $28.8 billion. CEO Jeff Immelt had a set of changes in the presentation of the brand commissioned in 2004, after he took the reins as chairman, to unify the diversified businesses of GE.Tom Geismar later stated that looking back at the logos of the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, one can clearly judge that they are old-fashioned. Chermayeff & Geismar, along with colleagues Bill Brown and Ivan Chermaev, created the modern 1980 logo. They, in turn, argued that even now the old logos look out of date, earlier they were good. The changes included a new corporate color palette, small modifications to the GE logo, a new customized font (GE Inspira) and a new slogan, "Imagination at work", composed by David Lucas, to replace the slogan "We Bring Good Things to Life" used since 1979. The standard requires many headlines to be lowercased and adds visual "white space" to documents and advertising. The changes were designed by Wolff Olins and are used on GE's marketing, literature, and website. In 2014, a second typeface family was introduced: GE Sans and Serif by Bold Monday created under art direction by Wolff Olins.As of 2016, GE had appeared on the Fortune 500 list for 22 years and held the 11th rank. GE was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 28, 2018, after the value had dropped below 1% of the index's weight.
Businesses
GE's primary business divisions are:
GE Additive
GE Aerospace
GE Capital
GE Digital
GE Healthcare
GE Power
GE Renewable Energy
GE ResearchThrough these businesses, GE participates in markets that include the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (e.g. nuclear, gas and solar), industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. Through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Equipment Services, and GE Insurance it offers a range of financial services. It has a presence in over 100 countries.
General Imaging manufacturers GE digital cameras.Even though the first wave of conglomerates (such as ITT Corporation, Ling-Temco-Vought, Tenneco, etc.) fell by the wayside by the mid-1980s, in the late 1990s, another wave (consisting of Westinghouse, Tyco, and others) tried and failed to emulate GE's success.As of August 2015 GE is planning to set up a silicon carbide chip packaging R&D center in coalition with SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York. The project will create 470 jobs with the potential to grow to 820 jobs within 10 years.On September 14, 2015, GE announced the creation of a new unit: GE Digital, which will bring together its software and IT capabilities. The new business unit will be headed by Bill Ruh, who joined GE in 2011 from Cisco Systems and has since worked on GE's software efforts.
Former divisions
GE Industrial was a division providing appliances, lighting and industrial products; factory automation systems; plastics, silicones and quartz products; security and sensors technology, and equipment financing, management and operating services. As of 2007 it had 70,000 employees generating $17.7 billion in revenue. After some major realignments in late 2007, GE Industrial was organized in two main sub businesses:
GE Consumer & Industrial
Appliances
Electrical Distribution
Lighting
GE Enterprise Solutions
Digital Energy
GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms
Security
Sensing & Inspection TechnologiesThe former GE Plastics division was sold in August 2007 and is now SABIC Innovative Plastics.
On May 4, 2008, it was announced that GE would auction off its appliances business for an expected sale of $5–8 billion. However, this plan fell through as a result of the recession.The former GE Appliances and Lighting segment was dissolved in 2014 when GE's appliance division was attempted to be sold to Electrolux for $5.4 billion, but eventually sold it to Haier in June 2016 due to antitrust filing against Electrolux. GE Lighting (consumer lighting) and the newly created Current, powered by GE, which deals in commercial LED, solar, EV, and energy storage, became stand-alone businesses within the company, until the sale of the latter to American Industrial Partners in April 2019.The former GE Transportation division merged with Wabtec on February 25, 2019, leaving GE with a 24.9% holding in Wabtec.On July 1, 2020, GE Lighting was acquired by Savant Systems and remains headquartered at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio.
Environmental record
Carbon footprint
General Electric Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 2,080 Kt (-310 /-13% y-o-y). There has been a consistent declining trend in reported emissions since 2016.
Pollution
Some of GE's activities have given rise to large-scale air and water pollution. Based on data from 2000, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute listed the corporation as the fourth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States (behind only E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., United States Steel Corp., and ConocoPhillips), with more than 4.4 million pounds per year (2,000 tons) of toxic chemicals released into the air. GE has also been implicated in the creation of toxic waste. According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents, only the United States Government, Honeywell, and Chevron Corporation are responsible for producing more Superfund toxic waste sites.In 1983, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to compel GE to pay for the clean-up of what was claimed to be more than 100,000 tons of chemicals dumped from their plant in Waterford, New York, which polluted nearby groundwater and the Hudson River. In 1999, the company agreed to pay a $250 million settlement in connection with claims it polluted the Housatonic River (at Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and other sites with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances.In 2003, acting on concerns that the plan proposed by GE did not "provide for adequate protection of public health and the environment", EPA issued an administrative order for the company to "address cleanup at the GE site" in Rome, Georgia, also contaminated with PCBs.The nuclear reactors involved in the 2011 crisis at Fukushima I in Japan were GE designs, and the architectural designs were done by Ebasco, formerly owned by GE. Concerns over the design and safety of these reactors were raised as early as 1972, but tsunami danger was not discussed at that time. As of 2014, the same model nuclear reactors designed by GE are operating in the US; however, as of May 31, 2019, the controversial Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, has been shut down and is in the process of decommission.
Pollution of the Hudson River
GE heavily contaminated the Hudson River with PCBs between 1947 and 1977. This pollution caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river. In 1983 EPA declared a 200-mile (320 km) stretch of the river, from Hudson Falls to New York City, to be a Superfund site requiring cleanup. This Superfund site is considered to be one of the largest in the nation. In addition to receiving extensive fines, GE is continuing its sediment removal operations, pursuant to the Superfund orders, in the 21st century.
Pollution of the Housatonic River
From c. 1932 until 1977, GE polluted the Housatonic River with PCB discharges from its plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. EPA designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the Housatonic to be a Superfund site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, products manufactured by Monsanto, were the principal contaminants that were discharged to the river. The highest concentrations of PCBs in the Housatonic River are found in Woods Pond in Lenox, Massachusetts, just south of Pittsfield, where they have been measured up to 110 mg/kg in the sediment. About 50% of all the PCBs currently in the river are estimated to be retained in the sediment behind Woods Pond dam. This is estimated to be about 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) of PCBs. Former filled oxbows are also polluted. Waterfowl and fish who live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and can present health risks if consumed. In 2020 GE completed remediation and restoration of its 10 manufacturing plant areas within the city of Pittsfield. As of 2023 plans for cleanup of the river south of the city are not finalized.
Social responsibility
Environmental initiatives
The environmental work and research of GE can be seen as early as 1968 with the experimental Delta electric car built by the GE Research and Development Center led by Bruce Laumeister. The electric car led to the production shortly after of the cutting-edge technology of the first commercially produced all-electric Elec-Trak garden tractor, which was manufactured from around 1969 until 1975.On June 6, 2011, GE announced that it has licensed solar thermal technology from California-based eSolar for use in power plants that use both solar and natural gas.On May 26, 2011, GE unveiled its EV Solar Carport, a carport that incorporates solar panels on its roof, with electric vehicle charging stations under its cover.In May 2005, GE announced the launch of a program called "Ecomagination", intended, in the words of CEO Jeff Immelt, "to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger durable materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology". The announcement prompted an op-ed piece in The New York Times to observe that, "while General Electric's increased emphasis on clean technology will probably result in improved products and benefit its bottom line, Mr. Immelt's credibility as a spokesman on national environmental policy is fatally flawed because of his company's intransigence in cleaning up its own toxic legacy."GE has said that it will invest $1.4 billion in clean technology research and development in 2008 as part of its Ecomagination initiative. As of October 2008, the scheme had resulted in 70 green products being brought to market, ranging from halogen lamps to biogas engines. In 2007, GE raised the annual revenue target for its Ecomagination initiative from $20 billion in 2010 to $25 billion following positive market response to its new product lines. In 2010, GE continued to raise its investment by adding $10 billion into Ecomagination over the next five years.GE Energy's renewable energy business has expanded greatly, to keep up with growing U.S. and global demand for clean energy. Since entering the renewable energy industry in 2002, GE has invested more than $850 million in renewable energy commercialization. In August 2008, it acquired Kelman Ltd, a Northern Ireland-based company specializing in advanced monitoring and diagnostics technologies for transformers used in renewable energy generation and announced an expansion of its business in Northern Ireland in May 2010. In 2009, GE's renewable energy initiatives, which include solar power, wind power and GE Jenbacher gas engines using renewable and non-renewable methane-based gases, employ more than 4,900 people globally and have created more than 10,000 supporting jobs.GE Energy and Orion New Zealand (Orion) have announced the implementation of the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers. GE's ENMAC Distribution Management System is the foundation of Orion's initiative. The system of smart grid technologies will significantly improve the network company's ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to restore power faster when outages occur.
In June 2018, GE Volunteers, an internal group of GE employees, along with Malaysian Nature Society, transplanted more than 270 plants from the Taman Tugu forest reserve so that they may be replanted in a forest trail which is under construction.
Educational initiatives
GE Healthcare is collaborating with the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina to offer an integrated radiology curriculum during their respective MD Programs led by investigators of the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study. GE has donated over one million dollars of Logiq E Ultrasound equipment to these two institutions.
Marketing initiatives
Between September 2011 and April 2013, GE ran a content marketing campaign dedicated to telling the stories of "innovators—people who are reshaping the world through act or invention". The initiative included 30 3-minute films from leading documentary film directors (Albert Maysles, Jessica Yu, Leslie Iwerks, Steve James, Alex Gibney, Lixin Fan, Gary Hustwit and others), and a user-generated competition that received over 600 submissions, out of which 20 finalists were chosen.Short Films, Big Ideas was launched at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in partnership with cinelan. Stories included breakthroughs in Slingshot (water vapor distillation system), cancer research, energy production, pain management and food access. Each of the 30 films received world premiere screenings at a major international film festival, including the Sundance Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. The winning amateur director film, The Cyborg Foundation, was awarded a US$100,000 prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. According to GE, the campaign garnered more than 1.5 billion total media impressions, 14 million online views, and was seen in 156 countries.In January 2017, GE signed an estimated $7 million deal with the Boston Celtics to have its corporate logo put on the NBA team's jersey.
Charity
On March 3, 2022, GE published an international memo pledging to donate $4.5 million to Ukraine amid Russian invasion. According to the memo, $4 million will be used for medical equipment, $400,000 for emergency cash for refugees and $100,000 will go to Airlink, a NGO that helps communities in crisis.
Political affiliation
In the 1950s, GE sponsored Ronald Reagan's TV career and launched him on the lecture circuit. GE has also designed social programs, supported civil rights organizations, and funded minority education programs.
Notable appearances in media
In the early 1950s, Kurt Vonnegut was a writer for GE. A number of his novels and stories (notably Cat's Cradle and Player Piano) refer to the fictional city of Ilium, which appears to be loosely based on Schenectady, New York. The Ilium Works is the setting for the short story "Deer in the Works".
In 1981, GE won a Clio award for its :30 Soft White Light Bulbs commercial, We Bring Good Things to Life. The slogan "We Bring Good Things to Life" was created by Phil Dusenberry at the ad agency BBDO.GE was the primary focus of a 1991 short subject Academy Award-winning documentary, Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment, that juxtaposed GE's "We Bring Good Things To Life" commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been affected by the company's activities involving nuclear weapons.GE was frequently mentioned and parodied in the NBC comedy sitcom 30 Rock from 2006 to 2013. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch even cameoed as himself appearing in the season four episode "Future Husband". The episode is a satirical reference to the real-world acquisition of NBC Universal from General Electric by Comcast in November 2009.In 2013, GE received a National Jefferson Award for Outstanding Service by a Major Corporation.
See also
GE Technology Infrastructure
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
List of assets owned by General Electric
Phoebus cartel
Top 100 US Federal Contractors
References
Further reading
Carlson, W. Bernard. Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric, 1870–1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).
Woodbury, David O. Elihu Thomson, Beloved Scientist (Boston: Museum of Science, 1944)
Haney, John L. The Elihu Thomson Collection American Philosophical Society Yearbook 1944.
Hammond, John W. Men and Volts: The Story of General Electric, published 1941, 436 pages.
Mill, John M. Men and Volts at War: The Story of General Electric in World War II, published 1947.
Irmer, Thomas. Gerard Swope. In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute.
External links
Official website
Business data for General Electric: |
hp inc. | HP Inc. is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that develops personal computers (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D printing solutions. It was formed on November 1, 2015, as the legal successor of the original Hewlett-Packard after the company's enterprise product and business services divisions were spun off as a new publicly traded company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.HP is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the S&P 500 Index. It is the world's 2nd largest personal computer vendor by unit sales as of January 2021, after Lenovo. In the 2023 Fortune 500 list, HP is ranked 63rd largest United States corporation by total revenue.
History
Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and David Packard, who both graduated with degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1935. The company started off in the HP Garage in Palo Alto, California. On November 1, 2015, Hewlett-Packard was split into two companies. Its personal computer and printer businesses became HP Inc., while its enterprise business became Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The split was structured so that Hewlett-Packard changed its name to HP Inc. and spun off Hewlett-Packard-Packard Enterprise as a new publicly traded company. HP Inc. retains Hewlett-Packard's pre-2015 stock price history and its former stock ticker symbol, HPQ, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise trades under its own symbol, HPE.
As HP Inc.
In May 2016, HP introduced a new PC gaming sub-brand known as Omen (reusing trademarks associated with VoodooPC), including gaming laptops and desktops (with the latter offering options such as CPU water cooling and Nvidia's GTX 1080 graphics, and promoted as VR-ready), and other accessories (such as monitors) designed to cater to the market.In November 2017, HP acquired Samsung Electronics' printer division for $1.05 billion.In February 2021, HP announced its acquisition of Kingston's gaming division HyperX for $425 million. The deal only includes computer peripherals branded as HyperX, not memory or storage.
The sale was completed in June 2021.In February 2022, HP announced it had acquired the Edinburgh-based packaging development company, Choose Packaging, in an effort to strengthen its capabilities in the sustainable packaging vertical.In March 2022, HP announced the acquisition of the California-headquartered communications software and hardware provider Poly Inc. in an all-cash transaction. HP said the cash amount agreed was $40 per share, which implied a total enterprise value of $3.3bn, inclusive Poly's net debts.
Attempted merger with Xerox
On November 5, 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that print and digital document company Xerox was contemplating acquiring HP. The company unanimously rejected two unsolicited offers, including a cash-and-stock offer at $22 per-share. HP stated that there was "uncertainty regarding Xerox’s ability to raise the cash portion of the proposed consideration" (especially given that Xerox is a smaller company in terms of market cap than HP), and noted the company's aggressiveness. On November 26, 2019, Xerox issued a public letter defending allegations by HP that its offer was "uncertain" and "highly conditional", and declared its intent to "engage directly with HP shareholders to solicit their support in urging the HP Board to do the right thing and pursue this compelling opportunity."Xerox stated in January 2020 that it would propose the replacement of HP's board of directors during its next shareholder meeting in April 2020. In a statement to TechCrunch, HP disclosed a belief that Xerox's bid was being "driven by" activist shareholder Carl Icahn. Xerox raised its bid to $24 per-share in February 2020.On February 21, 2020, HP instituted a shareholder rights plan to fend off Xerox's pursuit of a hostile takeover. Four days later, HP announced that, if shareholders rejected the Xerox purchase, it planned on offering $16 billion in capital return between fiscal 2020 and 2022, including $8 billion in additional share buybacks and raising its "target long-term return of capital to 100% of free cash flow generation". HP criticized Xerox's bid as a "flawed value exchange" based on "overstated synergies". On March 5, 2020, HP rejected an offer at $24 per-share.On March 31, 2020, Xerox rescinded its bid to buy HP Inc, citing that "the current global health crisis and resulting macroeconomic and market turmoil" had "created an environment that is not conducive to Xerox continuing to pursue an acquisition of HP Inc."
Products and operations
HP develops personal computers (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D Printing solutions.: 5–6 In fiscal year 2022, total revenue of US$63 billion included US$29.2 billion from the sale of notebook computers, US$10.7 billion from the sale of desktop computers, US$11.8 billion from the sale of printer supplies, US$4.2 billion from the sale of commercial printers, and US$2.9 billion from the sale of consumer printers.: 45–46 Over 65 percent of revenue in 2022 came from customers outside of the United States.: 14
Product lines
Desktop computers
Envy
Pro
ProOne
Omen
PavilionBusiness/enterprise portable computers
EliteBook: mainstream and high-end business laptops
ProBook: budget or small-business laptops
ZBook: workstation-class laptops for professionalsConsumer laptops and notebooks
Spectre: high-end sleek laptops
Envy: high-end laptops
Pavilion: mainstream and family laptops
HP (no name): budget laptops
Omen: laptops for gaming
Stream: low-end small laptops
Chromebook: low-end Chrome OS laptopsPrinters
DeskJet: small home printers
Envy: medium home printers
Envy Inspire: medium home or office printers
Smart Tank: medium home office printers
OfficeJet: large printers for office
LaserJet: large printers for office or medium office
Audio partner
In March 2015, HP announced that Bang & Olufsen would become the company's new premium audio partner for its computers and other devices. The partnership replaced the one with Beats Electronics which ended upon its acquisition by Apple Inc.
Controversies
Blocking third-party ink cartridges
In 2016, HP introduced firmware in its printers that disabled the printers if users used ink or toner cartridges which did not contain “new or reused HP chips or electronic circuitry.” As a result, HP faced scathing criticism (such as that from the Electronic Frontier Foundation) and paid millions in class-action lawsuits, such as to certain customers in the US ($1.5 million), Canada ($700,000 CAD), Australia, and Europe ($1.350 million), but without admitting wrongdoing. HP's stated that the firmware was intended to provide "the best consumer experience" and "protect" customers from "counterfeit and third-party ink cartridges that do not contain an original HP security chip and that infringe on our IP."In 2023, PC World reported that HP printers still prevent users from using third-party ink.
Disabling all-in-one printers
In 2023, HP was sued over allegations that it intentionally designed its all-in-one printers not to perform scanning or faxing when they were low on ink.
Loss of company archives under Keysight
A large part of Hewlett-Packard's historical company archives (consisting of over 100 boxes of correspondence and documents from the two founders) were acquired by Keysight Technologies at the time of its foundation in 2014. These archives were completely lost when the 2017 Tubbs wildfire incinerated two buildings on the headquarters campus of Keysight in Santa Rosa, California. A former HP employee who had previously been in charge of the archives commented that "a huge piece of American business history is gone", and Keysight disputed criticism that the archives had been inadequately protected.
Xinjiang region
In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including HP Inc, of being potentially connected to forced Uyghur labor in the Chinese Xinjiang province.In 2022, in response to the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, HP responded, "HP is committed to respecting human rights across our global supply chain and we prohibit the use of involuntary labor of any kind. HP also commits to respecting fundamental rights and freedoms defined in the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in an approach consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) as outlined in our Human Rights Policy."
Carbon footprint
HP reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2020, at 254 Kt (−34 /-11.8% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions 60% by 2025 from a 2015 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.According to a press release issued on April 20, 2021, HP seeks to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the HP value chain by 2040, beginning with their Supplies business achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. "Climate change is a defining challenge of our generation that demands immediate action and investment," said Enrique Lores, HP Inc. President and CEO. "Now is a time for bold moves and ambitious goals that will protect our planet and create new sources of innovation and growth across the global economy. By driving toward net-zero carbon emissions across our entire value chain by 2040, product circularity and a forest positive framework, we will accelerate our progress and advance HP’s aspiration to become the world’s most sustainable and just technology company."
See also
HP Labs
List of largest technology companies by revenue
References
External links
Official website Business data for HP Inc.: |
phosagro | PhosAgro is a Russian chemical holding company producing fertilizer, phosphates and feed phosphates. The company is based in Moscow, Russia, and its subsidiaries include Apatit, a company based in the Murmansk Region and engaged in the extraction of apatite rock. The company is Europe's largest producer of phosphate-based fertilisers.
Ownership history
The original owner of Phosagro's assets (most notably Apatit, a Soviet era mining company) is now an exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky's via his company, Menatep. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested for tax evasion and fraud and the charges against him were ostensibly connected to Menatep's purchase of shares in Apatit. However, some may have seen the charges as punishment for publicly clashing with Vladimir Putin. During Khordorkovsky's trial, the state seized Menatep's stake Apatit. In 2004, Andrey Guryev, who at the time ran Apatit on behalf of Khordorkovsky's Manatep and was also a Russian senator, wrote a message to Khordorkovsky in prison to convince him to sell his remaining 50% stake in Phosagro to Guryev. Khordorkovsky sold his shares to Guryev for a low price.In July 2011, Phosagro raised $538 million in a London IPO.In 2012, Phosagro paid $344 million at a state tender to buy back a 26.7% share in Apatit, bringing the company's ownership to 76%.As of 2012, Andrey Guryev and his family owned 5.47% of Phosagro via various trusts.PhosAgro is 19.35% owned by Vladimir Litvinenko, who oversaw Vladimir Putin's plagiarized doctoral thesis in 1996.
Subsidiaries
Apatit
Ammophos
Cherepovetsky Azot
BMU (Balakovskyie Mineralnyie Udobrenia)
PhosAgro-Trans it is planned to rename all these companies with the names of the owners
Carbon footprint
PhosAgro reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 5,961 Kt (+113/+1.9% y-o-y). There is little evidence of a consistent declining trend as yet.
United Kingdom controversy
In June 2017, Igor Sychev, a former head of tax department of Phosagro, presented a claim against Phosagro to the London High Court of Justice. In his claim he demanded 1% of the company's shares or their value in cash (approximately $55 million, and also $8 million in cash to serve as his remuneration for having previously defended PhosAgro interests in court).According to Sychev's statement, the conflict started after he didn't receive the agreed remuneration for defending Phosagro's interests in court.
The defendants in the London court case are Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro's Vice president of the Board of directors, and another member of the board Igor Antoshin, together with some offshore companies based in Seychelles and Belize. A London judge has given permission to open proceedings against the defendants.In October 2019, another lawsuit was launched against Phosagro in the London High Court. Alexander Gorbachev, a Russian businessman and former senior executive at Phosagro, is suing the company for what he alleges is his rightful share of the business, a stake that is worth £1 billion at today's market value. The full trial will be heard in the High Court in 2020-2021.
References
External links
Media related to PhosAgro at Wikimedia Commons
Official website
PhosAgro on Facebook
PhosAgro on Twitter
PhosAgro's channel on YouTube
Website of Igor Sychev |
the home depot | The Home Depot, Inc., often simply referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States. In 2021, the company had 490,600 employees and more than $151 billion in revenue. The company is headquartered in incorporated Cobb County, Georgia, with an Atlanta mailing address.It operates many big-box format stores across the United States (including the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands); all 10 provinces of Canada; and all 32 Mexican states and Mexico City. MRO company Interline Brands (now The Home Depot Pro) is also owned by The Home Depot, with 70 distribution centers across the United States. It has been involved in several controversies, primarily involving the security and safety of its consumers.
It is the sixth largest United States–based employer globally.
History
1978–1999
The Home Depot was co-founded by Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, Pat Farrah, and Ken Langone in 1978. The Home Depot's proposition was to build home-improvement superstores, larger than any of their competitors' facilities. Investment banker Ken Langone helped Marcus and Blank to secure the necessary capital.
Bernie and I founded The Home Depot with a special vision – to create a company that would keep alive the values that were important to us. Values like respect among all people, excellent customer service and giving back to communities and society
On June 22, 1979, the first two stores, built in spaces leased from J. C. Penney that were originally Treasure Island "hypermarket" (discount department and grocery) stores, opened in metro Atlanta (in Doraville and on Memorial Drive in Decatur, both near I-285). On September 22, 1981, The Home Depot went public on the NASDAQ, raising $4.093 million. The Home Depot joined the New York Stock Exchange on April 19, 1984.The Home Depot began to branch out of Georgia to Florida in 1981 with stores opening in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale. By 1984, The Home Depot was operating 19 stores with sales of over $256 million. To enter the Dallas market The Home Depot acquired Bowater Home Center from Bowater Inc. on October 31, 1984, for $40 million. The increased expansion of The Home Depot in the mid-1980s created financial difficulties with earnings falling by 42% and debt rising to $200 million. The financial difficulties of The Home Depot also caused the stock price to fall. To curb The Home Depot difficulties it opened only 10 stores in 1986 with a stock offering 2.99 million shares at $17 per share which helped The Home Depot to restructure its debts.
In 1989, The Home Depot became the largest home improvement store in the United States, surpassing Lowe's. In the 1990s The Home Depot searched for ways to redefine its marketplace. An installation program for quality home improvement items, such as windows or carpets, was launched in 1991 called the EXPO with success. A 480-page book Home Improvement 1-2-3 was published in 1995. The Canadian hardware chain Aikenhead's Hardware was acquired by The Home Depot in 1994 for $150 million with a 75% share. All of the Aikenhead's Hardware stores were later converted to The Home Depot stores. By 1995, sales reached $10 billion while operating 350 stores.
Former General Electric executive Robert Nardelli became CEO and president of The Home Depot in 2000.
2000–2007
San Diego maintenance and repair supplies company Maintenance Warehouse was purchased by The Home Depot in 1997 for $245 million. Maintenance Warehouse was a leading direct-mail marketer of maintenance, repair and operations supplies that could reach customers out of reach by The Home Depot. Atlanta-based company Apex Supply was acquired by The Home Depot in 1999. Apex Supply is a wholesale distributor of plumbing, HVAC, industrial pipe and fittings. Apex Supply and Maintenance Warehouse were rebranded in 2004 as "The Home Depot Supply."In 2004, Home Depot employees at a suburban Detroit store in Harper Woods, Michigan, rejected a bid to be represented by a labor union, voting 115 to 42 against joining the United Food and Commercial Workers. If the union had won, the Michigan store would have been the first Home Depot to have union representation.Your Other Warehouse, a large plumbing distributor with a focus on special order fulfillment, was acquired by The Home Depot in 2001. Your Other Warehouse also supplied two divisions of The Home Depot and the EXPO Design Centers. The "EXPO Design Center" division was reorganized in 2001 with three divisions based in the Northeast at South Plainfield, New Jersey, the West at Orange, California, and the Southeast at Atlanta, Georgia.The Home Depot entered the Mexican market in 2002 with the acquisition of the home improvement chain Del Norte. In addition, The Home Depot had begun construction of stores in Mexicali and Tijuana. In the same year the Home Depot Landscape Supply was launched to integrate professional landscapers and upscale plants into a plant nursery retail chain. Home Depot Landscape Supply lasted only five years with only a few stores each in metro Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth. The Home Depot decided to close all Home Depot Landscape Supply stores in late 2007.In September 2005, Home Depot Direct launched its online home-furnishings store, 10 Crescent Lane, shortly followed by the launch of "Paces Trading Company," its online lighting store. In mid-2006, the Home Depot acquired Home Decorators Collection, which was placed as an additional brand under its Home Depot Direct division.
In 2006, the Home Depot acquired Hughes Supply the largest home retailer in the United States for $3.2 billion. Hughes Supply was integrated into The Home Depot Supply to better serve business-to-business customers. The Home Depot Supply rebranded under the new name HD Supply in January 2007. Five months later The Home Depot sold HD Supply to a consortium of three private equity firms, The Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (with each agreeing to buy a one-third stake in the division).
2007–present
On January 2, 2007, the Home Depot and Robert Nardelli mutually agreed on Nardelli's resignation as CEO after a six-year tenure. Nardelli resigned amid complaints about his heavy-handed management and whether his pay package of $123.7 million (excluding stock option grants) over the previous five years was excessive, considering the stock's poor performance versus its competitor Lowe's. His severance package of $210 million was criticized because when the stock went down, his pay went up.His successor, Frank Blake, previously served as the company's vice chairman of the board and executive vice president. Blake agreed to a much more conservative compensation package than Nardelli, which is very heavily dependent upon the success of the company. Although a longtime deputy to Nardelli at GE and Home Depot, Blake was said to lack Nardelli's hard edge and instead preferred to make decisions by consensus. Indeed, Blake repudiated many of his predecessor's strategies, and it has been reported that the two men have not spoken since Nardelli departed Home Depot.In 2008 and 2009, with the downturn in the housing market, The Home Depot announced the layoff of several thousand associates, as well as the closing of 54 stores nationwide, including the entire EXPO Design Center chain. Associates at EXPO were allowed to re-apply for Home Depot jobs after the layoffs, and did not lose any tenure if hired back. In the year of February 2009, sales totaled $71.288 billion, more than $20 billion down from the peak of two years earlier due to the sale of HD Supply and falling revenue at the retained business. In 2012, they proceeded to close the big-box style stores that they had in China, however smaller stores that specialized in custom products and that focused on more intimate interactions between customers and associates remain open there.In 2013, The Home Depot established two large distribution centers in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
In August 2014, it was announced that Frank Blake would step down as CEO and would be replaced by 57-year-old Craig Menear. The change occurred on November 1, 2014. Blake continued with the company as chairman. Menear joined The Home Depot in 1997, and served in various management and vice-presidential positions, until 2003, including merchandising vice president of hardware, merchandising vice president of the Southwest Division, and divisional merchandise manager of the Southwest Division. He subsequently served as senior vice president of merchandising from August 2003 to April 2007. He then served as an executive vice president of merchandising from April 2007 to February 2014. Until becoming CEO, Menear served as president of U.S. Retail from February 2014 to November 1, 2014.The company had a data breach in September 2014. One major reason for the data breach was the practice of entering credit card numbers directly into computers at the service-desk and pro-desk, and in specialty departments including flooring, kitchen cabinets, appliances, and millwork, rather than using POS credit card terminals directly. The practice was stopped, and Home Depot offered a year of free credit monitoring through AllClearID for any customers who requested it. There were also reports of credit card numbers being stolen when used to make purchases on Homedepot.com.
On July 22, 2015, Home Depot acquired Interline Brands from P2 Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs' private equity arm, and the management of Interline Brands for $1.6 billion. Interline Brands became fully integrated with The Home Depot in August 2016 with the Interline Brands website merging with The Home Depot website. The subsidiaries of Interline Brands are now companies of The Home Depot.In 2017, Home Depot acquired the online presence of The Company Store from Hanover Direct. The Company Store was founded in 1911, operating primarily as catalog and online sales, but with five physical locations. The five physical locations were not included in the deal.In January 2022, The Home Depot announced Craig Menear would be stepping down as the CEO and president effective March 1, 2022, while continuing to serve as the chairman of the board. He was replaced by former executive vice president Ted Decker.In February 2023, Home Depot announced that it would spend $1 billion to raise hourly employee wages.
Finances
As of 2020, Home Depot is ranked #26 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.For the Q2 of 2020, the company reported sales of $38.1 billion, which represented a growth of 23.4% from the same period, the previous year. The net earnings for the period of three months (ending August 2) rose 27% up to $4.3 billion. The growth in the sales was a result of Americans staying at home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Q3 for 2020, ending November 1, Home Depot reported a revenue of $33.5 billion; it represents a year-on-year increase of 24 per cent.
Carbon footprint
The Home Depot reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 1,821 Kt (-127 /-6.5% y-o-y). Reported emissions have been on a declining trend since 2016.
Mascot
The Home Depot's mascot has been Homer D. Poe since 1981 when he was first used in advertising. Gwyn Raker, the illustrator, says, "I designed him to be a funny guy next door who wasn't intimidating." The Homer Fund, a for-associate charity, is named after the mascot, who since its creation, has been a part of Home Depot culture ever since. This includes signage, advertising, awards, and even a life-size costume for stores to rent out. Homer has a wife, named Daisy.
Operation
Home Depot stores average 105,000 ft2 (9,755 m2) in size and are organized warehouse-style, stocking a large range of supplies. Home Depot's two largest stores are located in Vauxhall, New Jersey, which encompasses 217,000 ft2 of space, and in Anaheim Hills, California, where it encompasses 204,000 ft2. The company color is a bright orange (PMS 165, CMYK 60M100Y, HEX FF6600), on signs, equipment and employee aprons.
Contractors
Contractors make up only five percent of Home Depot's customers but they account for 45 percent of the companies $132 billion in annual sales. To address these contractor customers the company is building new flatbed distribution centers designed specifically to cater to builders that roll up in a contractor flatbed trucks.
Marketing
The Home Depot announced the new slogan "How Doers Get More Done" on December 5, 2019, replacing the previous slogan "More saving. More doing." which was introduced in the March 18, 2009, circular, replacing "You can do it. We can help." which had been used since 2003. Other slogans used in the past 25 years include "The Home Depot, Low prices are just the beginning" in the early 1990s and "When you're at the Home Depot, You'll feel right at home" in the late 1990s and "The Home Depot: First In Home Improvement!" from 1999 to 2003.
US Stores division
Long-time employee Marc Powers became the head of Home Depot's US stores division in 2014. He took the place of Marvin Ellison, who left to become the chief executive of J.C. Penney. In January 2016, Home Depot announced the departure of Powers as division head, to be replaced by another veteran employee, Ann-Marie Campbell, one of Powers' deputies. The change in leadership is effective as of February 1, 2016. Ms. Campbell has been employed by Home Depot for over 30 years, beginning as a cashier in a branch in South Florida. Her most recent role was as president of Home Depot's Southern division.
Distribution centers
The Home Depot has over 90 distribution centers throughout the United States to serve over 2,000 The Home Depot stores.
Online
The domain homedepot.com attracted at least 120 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com survey. In the US HomeDepot.com has 5 Call centers located in Kennesaw, GA; Atlanta, GA; Marietta, GA; Ogden, Utah and Tempe, AZ. Home Depot online offers in-store pickup and online returns.
Fuel centers
In 2006, The Home Depot started testing fuel centers at some of its stores. The first two "Home Depot Fuel" convenience stores (C-Store) were located in Tennessee. Four additional prototype stores were built in Acworth, Georgia; Smyrna, Tennessee; Greensboro, Georgia; and Winchester, Tennessee. In 2012, Home Depot VP of Corporate Communication Stephen Holmes stated that the company had no plans for additional fuel centers or growth in that area.
Rental vehicles
The Home Depot offers rental vans and trucks at most of its locations.
Subsidiaries and private brands
Wholly owned subsidiaries
Blinds.com
Blinds.com is an e-commerce retailer of window blinds and window coverings. Blinds.com was founded by Jay Steinfeld in 1993. By 2006, the company was named #186 on the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, as well as the 10th fastest-growing e-commerce company on the list. In 2009, Blinds.com was given the Marketer of the Year Award by the American Marketing Association, in recognition of its innovative marketing strategy. In response to demand for window coverings that could be installed quickly and easily, CMO Daniel Cotlar led a partnership with a manufacturing vendor to design a window shade that could be installed without tools or adhesive. This led to the company's patent-pending Instafit shade product. In January 2014, Blinds.com was acquired by The Home Depot.
Compact Power Equipment Inc.
Power equipment rental company that prior to 2017 provided equipment to rental departments in over 1,000 Home Depots in North America. Acquired by The Home Depot on July 6, 2017.
Interline Brands
Interline Brands (renamed in 2018 as The Home Depot Pro) has over 90 distribution centers throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico that serve customer needs for MRO supplies.The brands of Interline Brands include:
Wilmar Industries (MRO)
Barnett (MRO, contractor supplies)
Maintenance USA (MRO)
SupplyWorks (janitorial, packaging, MRO)
US Lock (keys, security devices)
Hardware Express (hardware supplies)
Leran Gas Products (propane accessories)
The Company Store
Online seller of textile and textile goods for the home decor market. Originally founded in 1911 as a purveyor of home furnishings, its online division—only—was acquired by THD in 2017.
Redbeacon
Online contractor referral service founded in 2009; now called THD Pro Referral.
HD Supply
HD Supply is an industrial supply and distribution company. The company, formerly called The Maintenance Warehouse, provided infrastructure and construction support services for businesses throughout North America. Renamed as HD Supply, the business was re-acquired by THD in December 2020.
Exclusive brand names
The Home Depot exclusively carries several major brands, including:
Chem-Dry (carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, tile and grout services)
Behr paints
Homelite (outdoor and power tools)
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (outdoor furniture, indoor organization)
Ryobi and Ridgid (power tools)
American Woodmark cabinetry
Thomasville Furniture Industries cabinetry
House brands
Additionally, the retailer sells the following house brands, though it does not manufacture any of the goods itself:
Commercial Electric
Glacier Bay (kitchen sinks, faucets, etc.)
Hampton Bay (ceiling fans, lighting fixtures, outdoor furniture)
HDX, a low-cost brand introduced in February 2012, replacing the Workforce brand The quality of products sold under the brand has an overall negative review from Consumer Reports (2017), and mixed reviews on individual products (2022).
Home Decorators Collection
Husky (tools)
Everbilt
Corporate affairs
Philanthropy
The Home Depot Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the company created in 2002. It has contributed over $200 million in time, labor, money, and supplies to a number of causes, including Habitat for Humanity, California-based City of Hope National Medical Center, and playground construction organization KaBOOM! Home Depot supports the U.S. Military community with a 10% military discount. Since 1993, the "Team Depot" program has provided grants to veteran-based organizations and has workers from a local store do volunteer work that would benefit veterans.The Home Depot has partnered with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency's Ready Georgia campaign, leading both supplies and facility use to this statewide effort to increase emergency preparedness among Georgia's children. The company also provided ready kits and other prizes for an art and essay contest for Georgia elementary school students.In 2005, The Home Depot was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.In March 2018, the company donated $50 million to train 20,000 people as construction workers over the next decade. The Home Builders Institute will use the money to train veterans and U.S. Army soldiers, high school students, and disadvantaged youth. The financial support from Home Depot was to help address the needs of the shortage of construction workers.
Environmental record
The Home Depot has stated on their website that they have a commitment "we continue to lead by example, demonstrating to the world that sustainability business practices are not only possible, they are good for business." The Home Depot introduced a label on nearly 3,000 products in 2007. The label promotes energy conservation, sustainable forestry, and clean water. Home Depot executives said that as the world's largest buyer of construction material, their company had the power to persuade thousands of suppliers, homebuilders, and consumers to follow its lead on environment sustainability. "Who in the world has a chance to have a bigger impact on this sector than Home Depot?" asked Ron Jarvis, vice president for environmental innovation at Home Depot. This program is following The Home Depot's promise in the late 1990s to eliminate the number of sales of lumber from endangered forests in countries including Chile and Indonesia. Home Depot has since worked with environmental groups to create a variety of green programs. For example, Home Depot planted thousands of trees at its headquarters in Atlanta to offset carbon emissions. In 2007, The Home Depot Foundation (the company's charitable foundation) committed to investing $100 million over the next decade to build over 100,000 green affordable homes and plant 3,000,000 trees.
Additionally, The Home Depot promotes compact fluorescent light bulbs in its stores. As part of this effort, the company created the largest recycling program in the United States for the bulbs.
In March 2013, Home Depot locations in Canada stopped accepting compact fluorescent light bulbs for recycling.
Television
In 2002, The Home Depot joined PBS as a sponsor of This Old House and Ask This Old House.
In 2003, The Home Depot became a sponsor for Trading Spaces.
Sports
Company co-founder Arthur Blank purchased the Atlanta Falcons franchise of the National Football League in February 2002; Blank later acquired an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer, Atlanta United FC, in April 2014 with the soccer club beginning play in March 2017. The Home Depot made no formal association with the Falcons until April 2017, when The Home Depot acquired the naming rights to the 11-acre (44,520 m2) park adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Home Depot Backyard occupies the site of the former Georgia Dome, and serves as parking and tailgating space during Falcons' and Atlanta United FC home games and public use greenspace during non-event days. The park opened on September 11, 2018.
Since 1991, the company has become a large supporter of athletics, sponsoring the United States and Canadian Olympic teams, and launching a program which offered employment to athletes that accommodates their training and competition schedules. The Home Depot ceased to be a sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Team in 2005 and ended a sponsorship program for the United States Olympic team in 2009.The Home Depot was a major sponsor for Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR from 1999 to 2014. Their arrival into the series coincided with Tony Stewart leaving the Indy Racing League to join the NASCAR Cup Series. Stewart drove The Home Depot-sponsored No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing until 2008, winning 2 of his 3 series championships in the car, and was succeeded by Joey Logano, who took the car to victory lane twice. After Matt Kenseth joined the team, The Home Depot's status as the No. 20's primary sponsor was taken over by Dollar General, but the company still served as its most frequent secondary sponsor through its Husky Tools division. On June 23, 2014, the company announced it would end its NASCAR sponsorship after 2014.
The Home Depot was the title sponsor of The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, home to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer; the venue was formerly the home of Chivas USA of MLS, which folded in 2014, and the Los Angeles Riptide of Major League Lacrosse, which folded in 2008. The venue is now called Dignity Health Sports Park.
In 2006, The Home Depot partnered with Duke University's Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering to create "The Home Depot Smart Home". The smart home is a live-in laboratory for ten upper-class engineering students that allows them to immerse themselves in the work. The goal of the project is to help provide innovative solutions for the home in areas such as security and home monitoring, communications, energy efficiency, entertainment, environment, and health.In January 2007, The Home Depot became the official home improvement sponsor of ESPN's College Gameday.
Politics
Seventy-three percent of The Home Depot's campaign contributions went to Republican candidates in the 2005–2006 US elections. "Home Depot's PAC gives money based on a candidate's voting record, committee assignment and leadership position," said company spokesman Jerry Shields. The CEO in this period was Bob Nardelli, a friend of U.S. President George W. Bush. Nardelli hosted a garden reception/fundraiser for Bush at his Atlanta home on May 20, 2004.According to the watchdog group Documented, in 2020, The Home Depot contributed $125,000 to the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association.In April 2021, black faith leaders in Georgia called for a nationwide boycott of The Home Depot after the company did not take a stand against the Election Integrity Act of 2021. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp criticized the boycott, saying "this insanity needs to stop" and contending that it "puts partisan politics ahead of people's paychecks."
Outside the US
Canada
Home Depot Canada is the Canadian unit of the Home Depot and one of Canada's top home improvement retailers. The Canadian operation consists of 182 stores and employs over 28,000 people in Canada. Home Depot Canada has stores in all ten Canadian provinces and serves territorial Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon through electronic means (Online Sales). The Canadian head office is located in Toronto.
The Canadian unit was created with the purchase of Aikenhead's Hardware. Home Depot management had an ambitious plan to overtake its biggest competitor, RONA, which has about four times as many stores. However, some of RONA's stores are smaller than the typical Home Depot store. In terms of big box stores, the Home Depot has more stores than RONA (not including other Rona banners such as Réno-Dépôt or Cashway). As of 2007, RONA pulled ahead of The Home Depot in total retail sales, due to aggressive consolidation efforts by RONA, combined with the loss of The Home Depot's industrial supply division, HD Supply, in July 2007. The Home Depot now faces competition from Lowe's as they have moved into the Canadian market effective the end of 2007; Lowe's now has 35 outlets in Canada. In 2016, RONA was purchased by Lowes increasing its total store count to over 500 units.
In Quebec, where it has 22 stores, The Home Depot is branded simply Home Depot (using English words but without the definite article "The").
The Canadian operation is a participant in the voluntary Scanner Price Accuracy Code managed by the Retail Council of Canada.
Mexico
The Home Depot operates 126 stores and has become one of the largest retailers in Mexico since it entered the market in 2001. The Home Depot increased its presence in Mexico in 2004, with the acquisition of Home Mart, the second largest Mexican home improvement retailer.The Home Depot Mexico employs more than 15,000 associates throughout the country and as of the end of 2016, it had a record of 50 consecutive quarters with posted growth.
China
In December 2006, The Home Depot announced its acquisition of the Chinese home improvement retailer The Home Way. The acquisition gave The Home Depot an immediate presence in China, with 12 stores in six cities.
In April 2011, Home Depot shut its last Beijing store, the fifth Home Depot to close in China in the previous two years. In September 2012, The Home Depot announced it was closing all big box stores in China. The Home Depot retained two specialty stores in China, a Home Decorators Collection Store and a paint and flooring store.As of September 16, 2012, all seven of the box stores in China had been shut down. The Home Depot has no immediate plans to further expand its specialty stores in China. The company is taking a "wait-and-see" attitude towards the Chinese market, but does not want to completely pull out because re-entry into the market would be very costly.
The Home Depot's lack of success in China has been attributed to the disconnect between The Home Depot's do-it-yourself ethos and Chinese culture. In 2012, The Home Depot conceded that it misread the country's appetite for do-it-yourself products. As a spokeswoman for the company said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, "The market trend says this is more of a do-it-for-me culture." Some have speculated that The Home Depot could have offered a do-it-for-me model to Chinese consumers. Chinese consumers prefer to see a finished product, such as a renovated room, rather than light bulbs and lumber. The same issue does not exist outside of China, especially in Canada, where Chinese Home Depot advertisements and store signage can be found in areas with large Chinese demographics.
United Kingdom
There were reports that The Home Depot was interested in acquiring B&Q, the largest DIY retailer in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and China. Speculation of a takeover began in 1999 when the retailer Asda was purchased by Walmart. The Home Depot would have to acquire Kingfisher plc, B&Q's parent company, to acquire B&Q. Kingfisher consists of several European DIY chains; however, the Home Depot was only interested in B&Q operations and says that it would dispose of the Castorama chain which operates in France, Italy, Poland and Russia. Talks ending in 2005 did not result in any takeover deal.
South America
In 1993, Home Depot opened its first and only store in Peru, however, low sales and weak promotion for the brand led to its closure the following year. In 1997, Home Depot entered the Chilean and Argentine markets. While the venture was viewed with great optimism by founders Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank, it eventually proved unprofitable. In October 2001, Chilean partners Falabella bought out Home Depot's share of the five Chilean Home Center stores and rebranded them Home Store. In 2003, after merging with Sodimac, all stores adopted that brand. The company has since expanded across Latin America very profitably and successfully. It's currently the largest home improvement company in South America. In 2002, Argentina's Home Depots were bought out by Chilean company Cencosud and rebranded Easy stores, a company that has also expanded across South America. It's the second largest home improvement company in South America.
Controversies
Whistleblower case
The Home Depot was embroiled in whistleblower litigation brought under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) law. In July 2005, former employee Michael Davis, represented by attorney Mark D. Schwartz, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Home Depot, alleging that his discharge was in retaliation for refusing to make unwarranted back charges against vendors. Davis alleges that the Home Depot forced its employees to meet a set quota of back charges to cover damaged or defective merchandise, forcing employees to make chargebacks to vendors for merchandise that was undamaged and not defective. The Home Depot alleges that it fired Davis for repeatedly failing to show up for work.
The trial initially was concluded in June 2006, but in April 2007, U.S. Department of Labor Judge Pamela Lakes Wood ordered the case reopened after the Home Depot's law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld revealed that the retail giant's in-house counsel had told them that two Home Depot employees who testified at the trial had lied. Akin Gump sent Wood a letter on September 29, 2006, in which the law firm requested that the testimony be stricken. In response to Akin Gump's revelation, Davis' attorney, Schwartz, asked for the case to be reopened to permit further questioning of the witnesses. On April 6, 2007, Wood ordered the case to be reopened.
The Home Depot has settled the dispute in a stipulation of settlement dated March 28, 2008. In the settlement, The Home Depot changed some of its corporate governance provisions. The Home Depot also agreed to pay the plaintiff's counsel $6 million in cash and $8.5 million in common stock.
Patent law controversy
Powell v. Home Depot USA, Inc. (2008cv61862) (2011) was a decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida concerning patent infringement on a "safe hands" device that Michael Powell, an independent contractor for Home Depot, created in response to injuries to the hands of associates using in-store radial arm saws. The district court jury returned a verdict in favor of Powell.
In 2011, Home Depot appealed against the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, challenging the district court's denial of its renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issues of infringement, willfulness, and damages. They also challenged the district court's claim construction, inequitable conduct, and attorney fees determinations. The appellate court found no inequitable conduct and insufficiently egregious misconduct on the part of Powell's attorney.
Tilt-up construction design of stores
In the wake of the 2011 Joplin tornado in which the walls of a Home Depot collapsed after being hit by an EF5 tornado, The Kansas City Star, citing engineers, criticized Home Depot's practice of using tilt-up construction in hundreds of its big-box stores (other nearby big-box stores in Joplin, including a Walmart and Academy Sports + Outdoors, which had concrete block construction, lost their roofs but the walls remained intact). In tilt-up construction, the concrete is poured onsite, lifted into place, and then attached to the roof. The engineers told the Star that the practice, while normally safe and efficient, is dangerous in major storms because once the roof is lifted (as happened in Joplin) the walls collapse in a domino effect. Seven people were killed in the front of the store when the 100,000-pound walls collapsed on them, while 28 people in the back of the store survived when those walls collapsed outward. Only two of the slab walls in the Home Depot survived. In contrast, three people died in the Walmart but 200 survived. Engineers noted that when concrete block construction fails, structural elements break in pieces and usually not in huge slabs. Home Depot said it fundamentally disagreed with the engineers quoted by the Star and said it would use tilt-up construction when it rebuilds the Joplin store.
Payment-system breach
On September 2, 2014, security news reporter Brian Krebs reported that he was seeing evidence of credit card numbers linked to Home Depot purchases being sold online, which he concluded to suggest that The Home Depot's payment systems were breached by hackers. On September 8, 2014, Home Depot confirmed that their payment systems were compromised. According to their press release, this breach affected any customers who made purchases at any Home Depot store from April 2014 to September 2014. Home Depot offered its affected customers a free one-year credit monitoring service from AllClear ID. Also in their press release, they made sure to emphasize that there was no evidence to suggest that online customers were affected by the breach. On September 18, 2014, Home Depot released a statement saying that the hackers obtained a total of 56 million credit card numbers as a result of the breach. Since the breach, Home Depot has rolled out new encryption technology for its cash registers and self-checkout systems to protect customers. A class-action lawsuit was filed against the company.
In March 2016, Home Depot agreed to pay at least $19.5 million to compensate the more than 50 million consumers affected. The settlement terms included a $13 million fund to reimburse shoppers and a $6.5 million fund for cardholder identity protection services.
EEOC disability discrimination suit
In September 2012, Home Depot agreed to pay $100,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for the alleged failure to provide a reasonable accommodation for a cashier with cancer at its Towson, Maryland, store and then for purportedly firing her because of her condition.
Lead paint
In December 2020, The Home Depot was fined $20.75 million for lead paint violations. Home Depot were accused of hiring contractors for their home renovation services who did not use proper lead abatement procedures during renovation projects.
See also
Menards, privately held American chain of home improvement centers that competes with The Home Depot in the Midwestern United States.
References
External links
Home Depot, Inc.; (corporate website)
Home Depot USA; (retail website)
'How I Built This'; podcast – live episode! The Home Depot: Arthur Blank – audio interview with co-founder
"Hampton Bay".
Business data for The Home Depot: |
the hershey company | The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world; it also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milkshakes, as well as other products. The Hershey Company was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, originally established as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. The Hershey Trust Company owns a minority stake but retains a majority of the voting power within the company.Hershey's chocolate is available in 60 countries. It has three large distribution centers with modern labor management systems. In addition, Hershey is a member of the World Cocoa Foundation. It is also associated with the Hersheypark Stadium and the Giant Center.
The Hershey Company has no affiliation to Hershey Creamery Company, though both companies were founded in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the same year. The companies have had a tumultuous relationship marked by multiple lawsuits over trademark issues. In the mid-1990s, the companies settled their most recent legal battles out of court, with Hershey Creamery Company agreeing to add a disclaimer to its ice cream products to note that it is not affiliated with The Hershey Company.
History
19th century
After an apprenticeship to a Lancaster confectioner in 1873, Milton S. Hershey opened a candy shop in Philadelphia. The venture failed, and so did a subsequent one in Chicago. After a third failed business attempt in New York City, Hershey returned to Pennsylvania, where he founded the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1883. The Hershey Chocolate Company was founded in 1884 as a subsidiary of Lancaster Caramel Company.
In 1896, Hershey built a milk-processing plant so he could create and refine a recipe for his milk chocolate candies. In 1899, he developed the Hershey process, which is less sensitive to milk quality than traditional methods. In 1900, he began manufacturing the Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar.
20th century
The use of fresh milk in caramels proved successful, and in 1900, after seeing chocolate-making machines for the first time at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Hershey sold his caramel company for $1,000,000 (equal to $35,176,000 today), and concentrated on chocolate. To people who questioned him, he said, "Caramels are just a fad, but chocolate is a permanent thing."
In 1903, Hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania, later known as Hershey, Pennsylvania. The town was an inexpensive place for the workers and their families to live, though the factory was built without windows, so that employees would not be distracted. To increase employee morale, Hershey provided leisure activities and created what would later become Hersheypark. The milk chocolate bars from this plant proved popular, and the company grew rapidly.
In 1907, he introduced a new candy: bite-sized, flat-bottomed, conical pieces of chocolate that he named Hershey's Kiss. At first, each was wrapped by hand in a square of aluminum foil. The introduction of machine wrapping in 1921 sped up the process and added a small paper ribbon to the top of the package, indicating that it was a genuine Hershey product. Today, over 70 million candies are produced daily.Other products introduced included Mr. Goodbar (peanuts in milk chocolate) in 1925, Hershey's Syrup in 1926, semi-sweet chocolate chips (a mixture of milk and dark chocolate) in 1928, and the Krackel bar with crisped rice in 1938.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Harry Burnett Reese invented Reese's Peanut Butter Cups after founding the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1923. Reese died on May 16, 1956, in West Palm Beach, Florida, leaving the company to his six sons. On July 2, 1963, the H.B. Reese Candy Company merged with the Hershey Chocolate Corporation in a tax-free stock-for-stock merger. In 1969, only six years after the Reese/Hershey merger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups became The Hershey Company's top seller. As of September 20, 2012, Reese's was the best-selling candy brand in the United States, with sales of $2.603 billion, and the fourth-best-selling brand globally, with sales of $2.679 billion.
In 2022, after 59 years of stock splits, the original 666,316 shares of Hershey common stock received by the Reese family represented 16 million Hershey shares valued at more than $3.6 billion, paying annual cash dividends of $66.3 million.
Unionization
In the late 1930s, Hershey confronted labor unrest as a Congress of Industrial Organizations-backed union attempted to organize the factory workers. A failed sit-down strike in 1937 ended in violence; loyalist workers and local dairy farmers beat many of the strikers as they attempted to leave the plant. By 1940, an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor successfully organized Hershey's workers under the leadership of John Shearer, who became the first president of Local Chapter Number 464 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union. Local 464 now represents the Hershey workforce.
M&M's
Shortly before World War II, Bruce Murrie, son of long-time Hershey's president William F.R. Murrie, struck a deal with Forrest Mars to create hard sugar-coated chocolate that would be called M&M's (for Mars and Murrie). Murrie had a 20% interest in the product, which used Hershey chocolate during World War II rationing. In 1948, Mars bought out Murrie and became one of Hershey's main competitors.
Kit Kat and Rolo
In 1969, Hershey received a license from UK-based Rowntree's to manufacture and market Kit Kat and Rolo in the United States. After Hershey's competitor Nestlé acquired Rowntree's in 1988, it was still required to honor the agreement, and so Hershey continues to make and market the products in the U.S. The license would revert to Nestlé if Hershey were sold. This became a sticking point in Hershey's failed attempt to attract a serious buyer in 2002, and even Nestlé rejected Hershey's asking price, feeling that the economics would not work.
Cadbury
In 1988, Hershey's acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute many Cadbury-branded products in the United States (except gum and mints, which are part of Mondelēz International). In 2015, they sued a British importer to halt imports of British Cadbury chocolate, which reportedly angered consumers. A merger between Mondelēz and Hershey's was considered but abandoned in 2016 after Hershey's turned down a $23 billion cash-and-stock bid.
20th century sales and acquisitions
In 1977, Hershey acquired Y&S Candies (based in nearby Lancaster), makers of Twizzlers licorice candies, founded in 1845.
In 1986, Hershey's made a brief foray into cough drops when it acquired the Luden's cough drops brand. In 2001, the brand was sold to Pharmacia, now part of Pfizer, and Luden's later was acquired by Prestige Brands. Hershey's kept Luden's 5th Avenue bar.
In 1996, Hershey purchased the American operations of the Leaf Candy Company from Huhtamäki. In 1999, the Hershey Pasta Group was divested to several equity partners to form the New World Pasta company, which is now part of Ebro Foods.
21st century
On July 25, 2002, Hershey Trust Company announced that it sought to sell its controlling interest in the Hershey Foods Corporation. The value of Hershey stock rose 25% in a single day, with over 19 million shares traded. Over the following 55 days, criticism of the intended sale from media, the Pennsylvania Attorney General, the Hershey, and Dauphin County Orphans' Court senior judge, led the company to abandon its attempt to sell the company. Seven Hershey trustees who voted to sell Hershey Foods on September 17, 2002, for US$12.5 billion to the Wrigley Company, which is now part of Mars, Incorporated, were removed by Pennsylvania's Attorney and the Dauphin County Orphans' Court judge. Ten of the 17 trustees were forced to resign and four new members who lived locally were appointed. Former Pennsylvania Attorney General LeRoy S. Zimmerman became the new chairman of the reconstituted Milton Hershey School Trustees. Zimmerman publicly committed to having the Milton Hershey School Trust always maintain its ownership of The Hershey Company.
In December 2004, Hershey acquired the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. from The Shansby Group.
In 2005, Krave Jerky was founded by Jon Sebastiani after he trained for a marathon and looked for a healthy source of energy. Alliance Consumer Growth, a private equity group, invested in Krave Jerky in 2012. Hershey's purchased the company in 2015 for $240 million. Hershey would later in 2020 sell Krave Jerky to Sonoma Brands, the food industry incubator founded by Sebastiani in 2016.In July 2005, Hershey acquired the Berkeley, California-based boutique chocolate-maker Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. In November 2005, Hershey acquired Joseph Schmidt Confections, the San Francisco-based chocolatier, and in November 2006, Hershey acquired Dagoba Organic Chocolate, a boutique chocolate maker based in Ashland, Oregon.
In June 2006, Philadelphia city councilman Juan Ramos called for Hershey's to stop marketing "Ice Breakers Pacs", a kind of mint, due to the resemblance of its packaging to a kind that was used for illegal street drugs.In September 2006, ABC News reported that several Hershey chocolate products were reformulated to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil as an emulsifier. According to the company, this change was made to reduce the costs of producing the products instead of raising their prices or decreasing the sizes. Some consumers complained that the taste was different, but the company stated that in the company-sponsored blind taste tests, about half of consumers preferred the new versions. As the new versions no longer met the Food and Drug Administration's official definition of "milk chocolate", the changed items were relabeled from stating they were "milk chocolate" and "made with chocolate" to "chocolate candy" and "chocolatey."In December 2011, Hershey reached an agreement to acquire Brookside Foods Ltd., a privately held confectionery company based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. In April 2015, the Hershey chocolate plant on East Chocolate Avenue in Hershey, Pennsylvania was demolished to make way for mixed-use development. In 2016, Hershey acquired barkTHINS, a New York-based chocolate snack foods company that expected to generate between $65 million and $75 million in revenue for that year, for $290 million.An August 2016 attempt to sell Hershey to Mondelez International was abandoned following objections by the Hershey Trust.In 2017, Hershey acquired Amplify Snack Brands, the Austin, Texas-based manufacturer of SkinnyPop in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.6 billion. In September 2018, Hershey announced the purchase of Pirate Brands from B&G Foods for $420 million in an all-cash deal. These acquisitions marked Hershey's expansion into non-confectionery products.
In August 2019, Hershey announced it would purchase protein bar maker One Brands LLC for $397 million. In October 2019, Hershey announced a collaboration with Yuengling to produce a limited release collaboration beer titled Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter, becoming Hershey's first licensed beer partnership. In June 2021, Hershey acquired Lily's for $425 million. In November 2021, Hershey announced plans to acquire Dot's Pretzels, and their co-packer, Pretzel INC for $1.2B.
In 2023, the company entered the field of plant-based chocolate concocted with dairy alternatives. The snacks are marketed as Plant Based Extra Creamy and Plant Based Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Brands
Hershey brands are mostly chocolate or candy-based, and The Hershey Company also manufactures gum. Its main markets are the U.S. and Canada.
Milton Hershey School (MHS)
Unable to have children of his own, Milton S. Hershey, founder of The Hershey Company, founded the Hershey Industrial School in 1909 for white orphaned boys. In 1918, three years after the death of his wife, Milton Hershey donated around $90 million to the boarding school in trust, as well as 40% of the Hershey Company's common stock. The school's initial purpose was to train young men in trades but eventually shifted to focus on preparation for college. The Hershey Trust Company has exercised voting rights for the school and has been a trustee since its founding.Many of its designs resemble Hershey chocolate products, such as the Hershey Kisses street lights. Milton Hershey was involved in the school's operations until his death in 1945. The Hershey Industrial School was renamed the Milton Hershey School in 1951.
Manufacturing plants
The first plant outside Hershey opened on June 15, 1963, in Smiths Falls, Ontario, and the third opened on May 22, 1965, in Oakdale, California. In February and April 2007, Hershey's announced that the Smiths Falls and Oakdale plants would close in 2008, being replaced in part by a new facility in Monterrey, Mexico. The Oakdale factory closed on February 1, 2008. Hershey chocolate factory in São Roque, Brazil, was opened in August 2002. Hershey's Asia operations were largely supplied by their plant in Mandideep, India.Hershey also has plants in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Memphis, Tennessee, Robinson, Illinois, and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Visitors to Hershey can experience Hershey's Chocolate World visitors center and its simulated tour ride. Public tours were once operated in the Pennsylvania and California factories, which ended in Pennsylvania in 1973 as soon as Hershey's Chocolate World opened, and later in California following the September 11, 2001, attacks, due to security concerns.On September 18, 2012, Hershey opened a new and expanded West Hershey plant. The plant was completed at a budget of $300 million.On March 9, 2018, Hershey broke ground to expand its Kit Kat manufacturing facility in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania. The expansion project has a $60 million budget and is expected to create an additional 111 jobs at the facility.On August 17, 2023, it was announced that Hershey repurchased their plant in Smiths Falls, Ontario for $53 million. The plant was previously owned by cannabis company Canopy Growth.
Product recalls
In July 1998, a number of 100 g (3.5 oz) milk chocolate bars being sold for fundraising events were recalled because they may have contained traces of almonds not listed in the ingredients.
In November 2006, the Smiths Falls production plant in Ontario temporarily shut down and several products were voluntarily recalled after concerns over Salmonella contamination possibly found in soy lecithin within their production line. It was believed that most of the products involved in the recall never made it to the retail level.
Decarbonization
In October 2022, the company's Scope 1 and 2 emissions were "48% lower than they were in 2018". Scope 3 emissions had gone down 18%.These reductions were achieved by investments in three solar farms.
Carbon footprint
Within the confectionery industry, many essential ingredients are only able to grow in specific areas of the world. This makes them more susceptible to the negative impacts of climate change and increasing temperatures. Confectionery agriculture greatly impacts the environment. The emissions from the anaerobic decomposition of the cocoa pod husk contributes to the carbon footprint of agriculture. Producing cocoa using agroforestry method has negative effects that include the harmful composition of cocoa pod husks. However, different types of agricultural management have different levels of negative impacts on the environment. Even when using the improved methods of agriculture for cocoa, the transportation of the product reduces the benefits achieved from that method. Growing cocoa, specifically sugar confectionary products, is water intensive, resulting in water depletion. Additionally, packaging materials contribute to negative environmental effects.In order to address these environmental concerns, Hershey Company made a commitment to environmental and climate change goals. The company's goals are in line with the principles of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG). Included in their commitment is an environmental policy called Our Shared Goodness Promise which provides direction for Hershey's decisions that ultimately affect the environment. One of its main goals is to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHGs by 50% and reduce Scope 3 GHGs by 25%. To help reach this goal, Hershey turned its focus towards energy efficiency policies. Every Hershey location has an "Energy Champion" to ensure energy goals are met. On top of energy efficiency, Hershey has also committed to improving their packaging. Implementing more sustainable packaging will help the company reach their Scope 3 GHGs goal. They have set a goal to lower packaging weight by 25 million pounds by 2030 to decrease the environmental impact of their materials. Previously, Hershey reached their goal of reducing packaging weight 5 years before their target year. Going one step further, Hershey committed to switch their plastic packaging over to sustainable materials that can be recycled by 2030 through elimination and redesign. Hershey is working with Ecom, Ghana's Nature Conservation Research Center, the Ghana Forestry Commission, and the Ghana Cocoa Board to work against deforestation. This collaboration will push Hershey towards reaching their Scope 3 GHG goal. They are putting their focus on suppliers that deal with the primary products that contribute to deforestation. If any of their suppliers do not comply with this No Deforestation goal, they will cut ties.
Philanthropy
Hershey has made large contributions to education. One of their most notable contributions was to the honors program at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The program was established in 1999 and is funded partially through the endowment.
In 2015, Hershey announced a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative to help build a sustainable supply chain to support basic nutrition for children in Ghana.Hershey's long-term focus on children and families has yielded long-standing partnerships with organizations such as Children's Miracle Network, Ronald McDonald House, and United Way (UW). In 2016, the company donated more than $486,200 to those organizations.
Criticism
Hershey has been criticized for not having programs to ensure sustainable and ethical cocoa purchases, lagging behind its competitors in fair trade measures.The "Raise the Bar, Hershey!" campaign was launched in September 2010 by Global Exchange, Green America, the Oasis Trust, and the International Labor Rights Forum. The purpose of the Raise the Bar Campaign was to pressure Hershey to commit "to take immediate action to eliminate forced and child labor ... from Hershey's cocoa supply"; "to sourcing 100% Fair Trade Certified cocoa beans by 2012 for at least one of its top five selling chocolate bars ... making at least one additional top five selling bar 100% Fair Trade Certified every two years thereafter"; and that "the majority of Hershey's cocoa across all products will be Fair Trade Certified by 2022". The pressure was particularly directed at Whole Foods Market, which announced on October 3, 2012, that it would cease carrying Hershey's Scharffen Berger line. The Campaign stated, "Whole Foods' decision follows more than 40 natural food retailers and coops publicly expressing concern about carrying Scharffen Berger and Dagoba products as a consequence of the giant chocolate maker's refusal to address child labor in its supply chain". The same day, Hershey's announced it would "source 100 percent certified cocoa for its global chocolate product lines by 2020 and help to accelerate its programs to help eliminate child labor in the cocoa regions of West Africa".In 2019, Hershey announced that they could not guarantee that their chocolate products were free from child slave labor, as they could trace only about 50% of their purchasing back to the farm level. According to The Washington Post, the commitment made in 2001 to eradicate such practices within four years had not been kept, neither at the due deadline of 2005, nor within the revised deadlines of 2008 and 2010, and that the result was not likely to be achieved for 2020.In 2021, Hershey was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from Mali who alleged that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. The suit accused Hershey, Nestlé, Cargill, Mars, Incorporated, Olam International, Barry Callebaut, and Mondelez International of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in 2022.In December 2022, Hershey was subjected to a lawsuit over the amount of lead and cadmium in the company's products, especially the Special Dark bar, the 70% Lily Bar, and the 85% Lily Bar. The lawsuit alleges that the company failed to warn consumers about the amount of metal in the bars and is based on findings published by the Consumer Reports magazine in the United States.
Perception outside the U.S.
The presence of butyric acid in Hershey's chocolate, due to the use of controlled lipolysis in the production process, results in a flavour unfamiliar to those accustomed to chocolate from other parts of the world. In the UK, this has often been compared to the smell and taste of vomit.
Gallery
Additional sources
Brenner, Joël Glenn (2000). The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey & Mars. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0457-5.*Our History | HERSHEY'S
History | The Hotel Hershey
Official Hershey's chocolate and candy site
See also
List of products manufactured by The Hershey Company
List of food companies
Pennsylvania chocolate workers' strike, 1937
References
External links
Official website
Business data for The Hershey Company: |
china shenhua energy | China Shenhua Energy Company Limited, also known as Shenhua, China Shenhua, or Shenhua Energy (Chinese: 神华能源; pinyin: Shénhuá Néngyuán), is the largest state-owned coal mining enterprise in Mainland China, and in the world. It is a subsidiary of Shenhua Group. It mines, refines, and sells coal, and generates and sells electric power in the People's Republic of China. It operates coal mines as well as an integrated railway network and a seaport that are primarily used to transport its coal. It also operates power plants in the PRC which are engaged in the generation and sales of coal-based power to provincial and regional electric companies. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, China Shenhua Energy was ranked as the 168th -largest public company in the world.
History
On August 15, 2005, China Shenhua Energy became a constituent of Hang Seng China Enterprises Index.
On August 23, 2007, China Shenhua Energy announced that it will issue not more than 1.8 billion A-share to provide rooms for its parent company, China Shenhua Group, to inject the capital into it for its long-term development.
On October 9, 2007, China Shenhua Energy listed A share in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The closed price at the first trading day was RMB$69.3, 87% higher than its IPO price, RMB 36.99.
On November 7, 2007, Hang Seng Index Services Company announced that China Shenhua would have been Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock since December 10, 2007.
In September 2009, Shenhua announced that over four years they will invest US$39.5 billion in coal to increase their production.In September 2010, the company agreed to an extensive cooperation contract with Mitsui & Co., encompassing shipping, overseas mine development, coal usage and chemical manufacturing.In December 2010, Shenhua invested $2 billion in the construction of a railway; financing 35% with its own capital.In July 2011, Shenhua acquired a 40% stake in Mongolia's biggest coal project, with a Russian syndicate controlling 36% and Peabody Energy owning the remaining 24%.
Carbon footprint
China Shenhua Energy Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 134,900 Kt (-22,500 /-14.3% y-o-y). This follows a sharp decline in emissions in 2019.
See also
Coal power in China
References
External links
Official website
神華入國企指數成份股(in Chinese)
神華能源力爭年底發行18億股A股(in Chinese)
預期上限 神華A股首日漲87%(in Chinese)
HSI SERVICES ANNOUNCES INDEX REVIEW RESULTS |
therm | The therm (symbol, thm) is a non-SI unit of heat energy equal to 100,000 British thermal units (BTU), and approximately 105 megajoules, 29 kilowatt-hours, 25200 kilocalories and 25.2 thermies. One therm is the energy content of approximately 100 cubic feet (2.83 cubic metres) of natural gas at standard temperature and pressure. However, the BTU is not standardised worldwide, with slightly different values in the EU, UK, and USA, meaning that the energy content of the therm also varies by territory.
Natural gas meters measure volume and not energy content, and given that the energy density varies with the mix of hydrocarbons in the natural gas, a 'therm factor' is used by natural gas companies to convert the volume of gas used to its heat equivalent, usually being expressed in units of 'therms per CCF' (CCF is an abbreviation for 100 cubic feet). Higher than average concentration of ethane, propane or butane will increase the therm factor and the inclusion of non-flammable impurities, such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen will reduce it. The Wobbe Index of a fuel gas is also sometimes used to quantify the amount of heat per unit volume burnt.
Definitions
Therm (EC) ≡ 100000 BTUISO= 105506000 joules
≈ 29.3072 kWh
The therm (EC) is often used by engineers in the US.
Therm (US) ≡ 100000 BTU59 °F= 105480400 joules
≈ 29.3001111111111 kWh.
Therm (UK) ≡ 105505585.257348 joules≡ 29.3071070159300 kWh
Decatherm
A decatherm or dekatherm (dth or Dth) is 10 therms, which is 1,000,000 British thermal units or 1.055 GJ. It is a combination of the prefix for 10 (deca, often with the US spelling "deka") and the energy unit therm. There is some ambiguity, as "decatherm" uses the prefix "d" to mean 10, where in metric the prefix "d" means "deci" or one-tenth, and the prefix "da" means "deca", or 10, though decatherm may use a capital "D". The energy content of 1,000 cubic feet (28 m3) natural gas measured at standard conditions is approximately equal to one dekatherm.
This unit of energy is used primarily to measure natural gas. Natural gas is a mixture of gases containing approximately 80% methane (CH4) and its heating value varies from about or 10.1 to 11.4 kilowatt-hours per cubic metre (975 to 1,100 Btu/cu ft), depending on the mix of different gases in the gas stream. The volume of natural gas with heating value of one dekatherm is about 910 to 1,026 cubic feet (25.8 to 29.1 m3). Noncombustible carbon dioxide (CO2) lowers the heating value of natural gas. Heavier hydrocarbons such as ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), and butane (C4H10) increase its heating value. Since customers who buy natural gas are actually buying heat, gas distribution companies who bill by volume routinely adjust their rates to compensate for this.The company Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation, a natural gas pipeline company, started to use the unit dekatherm in about 1972. To simplify billing, Texas Eastern staff members coined the term dekatherm and proposed using calorimeters to measure and bill gas delivered to customers in dekatherms. This would eliminate the constant calculation of rate adjustments to dollar per 1000 cubic feet rates in order to assure that all customers received the same amount of heat per dollar. A settlement agreement reflecting the new billing procedure and settlement rates was filed in 1973. The Federal Power Commission issued an order approving the settlement agreement and the new tariff using dekatherms later that year, Other gas distribution companies also began to use this process.In spite of the need for adjustments, many companies continue to use cubic feet rather than dekatherms to measure and bill natural gas.
Usage
United Kingdom regulations were amended to replace therms with joules with effect from 1999, with natural gas usually retailed in the derived unit, kilowatt-hours. Despite this, the wholesale UK gas market trades in therms. In the United States, natural gas is commonly billed in CCFs (hundreds of cubic feet) or therms.
Carbon footprint
According to the EPA burning one therm of natural gas produces on average 5.3 kg (11.7 lb) of carbon dioxide.
See also
Barrel of oil equivalent
Conversion of units § Energy
A Cubic Mile of Oil
== References == |
zijin mining | Zijin Mining Group Co., Limited is a multi-national mining company headquartered in Mainland China.
Background
Zijin is a Shanghai Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed mining company principally engaged in the prospecting, exploration, and mining of gold, copper, and other mineral resources with operations in 11 countries. Its largest shareholder Shanghang Minxi Xinghang State-Owned Property Investment Company, which holds 24% of Zijin, is owned by the government of Shanghang County, Fujian Province, where Zijin's head office is located. Zijin is one of the largest gold, copper and zinc producers in China.
Activities
In 2006, Zijin had 49.28 tons of the gold output and the gold produced from mining reached 20.70 tons, respectively accounting for 20.53% of China's total gold production and 11.51% of the gold produced from mining in China in the same year. In 2010 gold output had reached 69 tons but was expected to be only 37 tons in 2018, slightly less than the previous year.In December 2019, Reuters reported that Zijin had agreed to buy Canadian miner Continental Gold Inc. for C$1.3 billion. The company claimed that Continental's principal asset, the Buritica project, had gold reserves of 165.47 tons and an inferred reserve of 187.24 tons.
Equity Investments
Reference from the official website.
In October 2021 Zijin acquired junior lithium explorer Neo Lithium Corp. for C$960 million.
Incidents
Major acid spill
On July 3 and July 16, 2010 acid waste escaped the Fujian province copper plant and into the Ting River. The accident was said to be the size of the BP deepwater oil spill. The copper plant manager, deputy manager and head of environment were detained because the company waited nine days before revealing the incident.
Fatalities at dam collapse
In September 2010, four people were killed when a dam collapsed at the Xinyi Yinyan tin mine, following heavy rain. The dam collapse was said to be caused by rainfall generated by a typhoon occurring only once in more than 200 years.
Criticism
Air pollution in Bor, Serbia
Several protests have been held in Bor in eastern Serbia over excessive air pollution that has been intensified since Zijin took over copper miner Rudarsko-Topioničarski Basen (RTB) in late 2018. Since January 2019, Bor has been struggling with excessive air pollution, with sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels topping 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter, up from the maximum allowed 350. Protesters demanded that the city government urgently adopt a plan so that the line ministry and state inspectorates can react to the alarming pollution levels in Bor. As early as April 2019, the inspector had ordered the company to take action against air pollution of the environment, human health and the environment, because it emitted excessive SO2. Zijin then explained in a letter to the Ministry of Environment that the power outage had caused pollution. However, control a few months later, in August, showed another omission – Zijin did not have a system for wet dust removal during the transportation of tailings on the Bor mine, which also threatened human health and the environment. Zijin was ordered to solve the problem, and the company later told the Ministry that a dust suppression system had been installed, which was put to trial. In November 2019, CINS sought an interview with Zijin on the topic of air pollution, to which the company responded with a press release. It says that by the end of the year, the company will have a total of five SO2-neutralized dust spray machines. Documentation obtained by CINS shows that by that time, two of the machines purchased had been in operation for about two months, but pollution data showed that it had no significant effect on the reduction of sulfur dioxide.
Carbon footprint
Zijin Mining Group reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 5,322 Kt (+1,279/+32% y-o-y). The growth accelerated relative to the long-term trend (+26% CAGR) observed since 4Q'17.
See also
Gold mining in China
References
External links
Official website |
cleveland-cliffs | Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America.
Operations
Cleveland-Cliffs manages and operates four iron ore mines in Minnesota and two mines in Michigan, one of which, the Empire Mine, has been indefinitely idled. These mines produce various grades of iron ore pellets, including standard and fluxed, for use in blast furnaces as part of the steelmaking process as well as Direct Reduced (DR) grade pellets for use in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) applications. Since the mines are located near the Great Lakes, the majority of the pellets are transported by rail to loading ports for shipments via vessel to steelmakers in North America. During 2020, 2019 and 2018, the company sold 12 million, 19 million and 21 million long tons of iron ore product, respectively, to third parties.The company operates a Hot-Briquetted Iron (HBI) facility in Toledo, Ohio. HBI is a form of DRI that can be used as an alternative to scrap iron. When used as a feedstock, HBI can enable an electric arc furnace to produce more valuable grades of steel.It also operates three coke-making facilities in Monessen, Pennsylvania, Warren, Ohio, and Follansbee, West Virginia, with an annual capacity of 3.9 million tons, as well as a coal mine in Princeton, West Virginia.
The company operates many fully-integrated steel mills and finishing facilities in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and North Carolina. It has annual production capacity of approximately 23 million net tons of raw steel.
History
19th century
The firm's earliest predecessor was the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, founded in 1847 and chartered as a company by Michigan in 1850. Samuel Mather and six Ohio-based associates had learned of rich iron-ore deposits recently discovered in the highlands of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Soon afterwards, the first Soo Locks opened in 1855, allowing iron ore to be shipped from Lake Superior to Lake Erie.
Technological improvements, such as the Bessemer process, made it possible for the North American Great Lakes to produce steel on an industrial scale. The south shore of Lake Erie was near a supply of coal, making that region an efficient point for the construction of steel mills.
The company's request for government intervention quashed the Upper Peninsula miners' strike of 1865.In the late 1800s, the company expanded via acquisitions to gain market share. The former Cleveland Iron Mining Co. was a survivor of this shakeout, purchasing many of its competitors. One key merger in 1890, with Jeptha Wade's Cliffs Iron Company led the combined firm to change its name to the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company.
The company invested substantially to improve the logistics of iron-ore transport. In 1892, the firm built the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad to carry iron ore from the mines directly to company-owned docks on Lake Superior.
20th century
William G. Mather, the son of Samuel, guided Cleveland-Cliffs as president and later as chairman of the board from 1890 to 1947, participating in the transition from the hard-rock iron ore of Upper Michigan to the soft hematite of Minnesota's Mesabi Range and adjacent lodes.
Under Mather, Cleveland-Cliffs was a leader in the development of the classic-type lake freighter, a bulk-cargo vessel especially designed to carry Great Lakes commodities. The 618-foot-long (188 m) SS. William G. Mather, launched in 1925, is a surviving example of this ship type. For almost a century, the black-hulled Cleveland-Cliffs ships were familiar sights on the upper lakes.
Demand for American iron ore hit peaks during World War I, World War II, and the post-World War II consumer boom. In 1933, Edward Greene (the son-in-law of Jeptha Homer Wade II) replaced William G. Mather as the head of the company. The Mather A Mine opened in the early 1940s and the Mather B shaft in the 1950s. As the Cold War continued, reserves of mineable hematite dwindled in northern Minnesota and Cleveland-Cliffs returned some of its focus to its traditional areas of interest around the Marquette Iron Range, where new deposits of magnetite were opened. The first pellet plant was built at Eagle Mills in 1954, followed by the first grate/kiln plant at the Humboldt Mine in 1960. The Republic Mine was converted from a shaft mine to an open pit and concentrator in 1956 and a two-kiln pellet plant was added in 1962. The Empire Mine opened in 1963 and was expanded in the mid- and late-1970s; the Pioneer Pellet Plant was opened in 1965 to pelletize the underground ore from the Mather B Mine in Negaunee, Michigan. In 1974, the Tilden Mine opened in Ishpeming, Michigan. This mine was and is the only mine in the world with the ability to produce both hematite and magnetite pellets.In 1970, a high-grade iron-ore mine was opened at Pannawonica in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a 200 km (120 mi) rail line to processing facilities at Cape Lambert for which the residential township of Wickham was built. A pellet plant was built but ceased operation before 1980, following a sharp increase in the cost of diesel fuel.
During the 1970s, Cleveland-Cliffs had large interests in uranium and shale oil fields, as well as the oil and gas drilling industries. It also had holdings in the forest products industry. This interests were sold in the 1980s when the company refocused its efforts on its core iron ore business.After the recessions of 1974–1975 and 1981–1983, Cleveland-Cliffs shrank its operations, closing the Mather B Mine and the Pioneer Pellet Plant and associated Ore Improvement Plant in 1979. The Humboldt Pellet Plant closed in 1981 and the Republic Mine was idled in 1981 and closed for good in 1996, when Cliffs began turning the associated tailings ponds into compensatory wetlands for its other properties. Over half of the Marquette Iron Range employees were laid off and, in 1984, Cliffs withdrew from the Great Lakes shipping industry.
In 1994, the company acquired Northshore Mining in Silver Bay, Minnesota.
21st century
In 2001, the company cut its dividend by 73% due to low prices. In 2002, Ling-Temco-Vought, a partner in the Empire Mine managed by CCI, closed and the Empire Mine was idled for six months. President George W. Bush enacted the 2002 United States steel tariff that greatly benefitted domestically-produced steel. Benefitting from the tariff, the company embarked upon a strategy to expand globally and to diversify into other minerals, leading to the acquisitions of iron-ore properties in Brazil, Canada and Australia and coal properties in Australia and the US. In 2003, the company, in a joint venture with Laiwu Steel, purchased the assets of bankrupt Eveleth Mines and formed United Taconite. In 2008, it acquired the full ownership for $100 million in cash and 1,529,619 common shares.In June 2007, the company acquired PinnOak, its first domestic coal company, which mined coal in Alabama and West Virginia and once belonged to U.S. Steel. Due to its venture into coal, the company changed its name from Cleveland-Cliffs to Cliffs Natural Resources in October 2008. In 2008, the company agreed to acquire Alpha Natural Resources but called off the transaction in November 2008 due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It paid a $70 million breakup fee. In January 2010, the company acquired Freewest Resources Canada, giving it large chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire district in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario, Canada, for $550 million. In 2015, it sold those assets for $20 million. In May 2011, the company acquired Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines from Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation for C$4.9 billion. The acquisition included Bloom Lake iron ore mine in Quebec. On May 5, 2011, the company was added to the Fortune 500. Its ranking of 477 was based on the company's performance in 2010.
in July 2013, CEO Joseph Carrabba announced that he would retire by December 31, 2013. Lead director James Kirsch was elected non-executive chairperson in his stead. Gary Halverson, formerly interim chief operating officer of Barrick Gold, was appointed president and chief operating officer in October 2013, and president and chief executive officer in February 2014. At the 2014 annual general meeting, six new directors nominated by activist hedge fund Casablanca Capital were elected, giving the fund control of the board of directors. Lourenco Goncalves was appointed chairman, president and CEO of the company. The reconstituted Board moved to shift the company's strategic objectives from global diversification to a renewed focus on strengthening its U.S. iron ore business.
In December 2015, the company sold its remaining North American coal operations. Cliffs announced plans in early 2016 to close the Empire Mine near Marquette, Michigan, terminating the jobs of approximately 400 workers. The company announced on August 15, 2017, that it was returning to its former brand name, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. In August 2018, the company sold its Asia Pacific iron ore assets. It also sold its Australian assets.On March 13, 2020, the company acquired AK Steel Holding for $1.1 billion. In December 2020, the company acquired the United States operations of ArcelorMittal for approximately $1.4 billion, making it the largest producer of flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellets in North America.In February 2022, Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to pay a $3 million settlement related to Clean Water Act violations, including a cyanide and ammonia spill in August 2019 that killed thousands of fish and closed Lake Michigan beaches. After the settlement, Cleveland-Cliffs stated it would change its water testing and public announcement procedures.On July 28, 2023, Cleveland-Cliffs executives sent a proposal to US Steel CEO David Burnett, to acquire the company for a total enterprise value of $10 billion, in a cash and stock deal. The proposal has been endorsed by the United Steelworkers, but was rejected by US Steel on August 13.
Archives
Cleveland-Cliffs has deposited many of its pre-1981 papers in the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes at Bowling Green State University as well as Central Upper Peninsula Archives at Northern Michigan University.
Carbon footprint
Cleveland-Cliffs reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for December 31, 2020, at 32,200 Kt.
See also
Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum
Iron mining in the United States
References
External links
Business data for Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.: |
steel and tin cans | A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English), steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans require opening by cutting the "end" open; others have removable covers. They can store a broad variety of contents: food, beverages, oil, chemicals, etc. Steel cans are made of tinplate (tin-coated steel) or of tin-free steel. In some dialects, even aluminium cans are called "tin cans".Steel cans are highly recyclable, with around 65% of steel cans being recycled.
History
The tin canning process was conceived by the Frenchman Philippe de Girard, who had British merchant Peter Durand patent the idea in 1810. The canning concept was based on experimental food preservation work in glass containers the year before by the French inventor Nicholas Appert. Durand did not pursue food canning, but, in 1812, sold his patent to two Englishmen, Bryan Donkin and John Hall, who refined the process and product, and set up the world's first commercial canning factory on Southwark Park Road, London. By 1813 they were producing their first tin canned goods for the Royal Navy. By 1820, tin canisters or cans were being used for gunpowder, seeds, and turpentine.
Early tin cans were sealed by soldering with a tin–lead alloy, which could lead to lead poisoning.
In 1901 in the United States, the American Can Company was founded, at the time producing 90% of the tin cans in the United States.Canned food in tin cans was already quite popular in various countries when technological advancements in the 1920s lowered the cost of the cans even further.: 155–170, 265–280 In 1935, the first beer in metal cans was sold; it was an instant sales success.: 155–170, 265–280
Description
Most cans are right circular cylinders with identical and parallel round tops and bottoms with vertical sides. However, in cans for small volumes or particularly-shaped contents, the top and bottom may be rounded-corner rectangles or ovals. Other contents may suit a can that is somewhat conical in shape.
Fabrication of most cans results in at least one rim—a narrow ring slightly larger than the outside diameter of the rest of the can. The flat surfaces of rimmed cans are recessed from the edge of any rim (toward the middle of the can) by about the width of the rim; the inside diameter of a rim, adjacent to this recessed surface, is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the rest of the can.
Three-piece can construction results in top and bottom rims. In two-piece construction, one piece is a flat top and the other a deep-drawn cup-shaped piece that combines the (at least roughly) cylindrical wall and the round base. Transition between wall and base is usually gradual. Such cans have a single rim at the top. Some cans have a separate cover that slides onto the top or is hinged.
Two piece steel cans can be made by "drawing" to form the bottom and sides and adding an "end" at the top: these do not have side seams. Cans can be fabricated with separate slip-on, or friction fit covers and with covers attached by hinges. Various easy opening methods are available.In the mid-20th century, a few milk products were packaged in nearly rimless cans, reflecting different construction; in this case, one flat surface had a hole (for filling the nearly complete can) that was sealed after filling with a quickly solidifying drop of molten solder. Concern arose that the milk contained unsafe levels of lead leached from this solder plug.
Advantages of steel cans
A number of factors make steel cans ideal containers for beverages. Steel cans are stronger than cartons or plastic, and less fragile than glass, protecting the product in transit and preventing leakage or spillage, while also reducing the need for secondary packaging.Steel and aluminium packaging offer complete protection against light, water and air, and metal cans without resealable closures are among the most tamper-evident of all packaging materials. Food and drink packed in steel cans has equivalent vitamin content to freshly prepared, without needing preserving agents. Steel cans also extend the product's shelf-life, allowing longer sell-by and use-by dates and reducing waste.As an ambient packaging medium, steel cans do not require cooling in the supply chain, simplifying logistics and storage, and saving energy and cost. At the same time, steel's relatively high thermal conductivity means canned drinks chill much more rapidly and easily than those in glass or plastic bottles.A World Steel Association initiative, Choose Steel, is encouraging the use of steel for beverage cans.
Materials
No cans currently in wide use are composed primarily or wholly of tin; that term rather reflects the nearly exclusive use in cans, until the second half of the 20th century, of tinplate steel, which combined the physical strength and relatively low price of steel with the corrosion resistance of tin. Depending on contents and available coatings, some canneries still use tin-free steel.
In some local dialects, any metal can, even aluminium, might be called a "tin can". Use of aluminium in cans began in 1957. Aluminium is less costly than tin-plated steel but offers the same resistance to corrosion in addition to greater malleability, resulting in ease of manufacture; this gave rise to the two-piece can, where all but the top of the can is simply stamped out of a single piece of aluminium.
A can traditionally has a printed paper or plastic label glued to the outside of the curved surface, indicating its contents. Some labels contain additional information, such as recipes, on the reverse side. More recently labels are sometimes printed directly onto the metal before or after the metal sheet is formed into the individual cans.
In November 1991, US can manufacturers voluntarily eliminated lead seams in food cans. However, imported food cans continued to include lead soldered seams. In 1995, the US FDA issued a rule prohibiting lead soldered food cans, including both domestic and imported food cans.In modern times, the majority of food cans in the UK have been lined with a plastic coating containing bisphenol A (BPA). The coating prevents acids and other substances from corroding the tin or aluminium of the can, but leaching of BPA into the can's contents was investigated as a potential health hazard.
Standard sizes
Cans come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Walls are often stiffened with rib bulges, especially on larger cans, to help the can resist dents that can cause seams to split.
Can sizes in the United States have an assortment of designations and sizes. For example, size 7/8 contains one serving of half a cup with an estimated weight of 4 ounces; size 1 "picnic" has two or three servings totalling one and a quarter cups with an estimated weight of 101⁄2 ounces; size 303 has four servings totalling 2 cups weighing 151⁄2 ounces; and size 10 cans, most widely used by food services selling to cafeterias and restaurants, have twenty-five servings totalling 13 cups with an estimated weight of 1031⁄2 ounces (size of a roughly 3 pound coffee can). These are U.S. customary cups, not British Imperial standard.
In the United States, cook books sometimes reference cans by size. The Can Manufacturers Institute defines these sizes, expressing them in three-digit numbers, as measured in whole and sixteenths of an inch for the container's nominal outside dimensions: a 307 × 512 would thus measure 3 and 7/16" in diameter by 5 and 3/4" (12/16") in height. Older can numbers are often expressed as single digits, their contents being calculated for room-temperature water as approximately eleven ounces (#1 "picnic" can), twenty ounces (#2), thirty-two ounces (#3), fifty-eight ounces (#5), and one-hundred-ten ounces (#10 "coffee" can).
In parts of the world using the metric system, tins are made in 250, 500, 750 ml (millilitre) and 1 L (litre) sizes (250 ml is approximately 1 cup or 8 ounces). Cans imported from the US often have odd sizes such as 3.8 L (1 US gallon), 1.9 L (1/2 US gallon), and 946 ml (2 US pints / 1 quart).
In the UK and Australia, cans are usually measured by net weight. A standard size tin can holds roughly 400 g; though the weight can vary between 385 g and 425 g depending on the density of the contents. The smaller half sized can holds roughly 200 g, typically varying between 170 g and 225 g.
Fabrication of cans
Rimmed three-piece can construction involves several stages;
Forming a tube and welding or soldering the seam of the sides
Joining the bottom end to the tube
Printing or attaching labels to the can
Filling the can with content; sterilization or retorting is required for many food products
Joining the wall and top "end".Double seam rims are crucial to the joining of the wall to a top or bottom surface. An extremely tight fit between the pieces must be accomplished to prevent leakage; the process of accomplishing this radically deforms the rims of the parts. Part of the tube that forms the wall is bent, almost at its end, turning outward through 90 degrees, and then bent further, toward the middle of the tube, until it is parallel to the rest of the tube, a total bend of 180 degrees.
The outer edge of the flat piece is bent against this toward the middle of the tubular wall, until parallel with the wall, turning inward through 90 degrees. The edge of bent portion is bent further through another 90 degrees, inward now toward the axis of the tube and parallel to the main portion of the flat piece, making a total bend of 180 degrees. It is bent far enough inward that its circular edge is now slightly smaller in diameter than the edge of the tube. Bending it yet further, until it is parallel with the tube's axis, gives it a total bend of 270 degrees. It now envelops the outward rim of the tube.
Looking outward from the axis of the tube, the first surface is the unbent portion of the tube. Slightly further out is a narrow portion of the top, including its edge. The outward-bent portion of the tube, including its edge, is still slightly further out. Furthest out is the 90-degree-bent portion of the flat surface.
The combined interacting forces, as the portion of the flat surface adjacent to the interior of the tube is indented toward the middle of the tube and then outward forward the axis of the tube, and the other bent portions of the flat piece and the tube are all forced toward the axis of the tube, drives these five thicknesses of metal against each other from inside and out, forming a "dry" joint so tight that welding or solder is not needed to strengthen or seal it. Illustrations of this process can be found on pages 20–22 of the FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 285 "Manual on fish canning" located here.
Design and manufacture
Steel for can making
The majority of steel used in packaging is tinplate, which is steel that has been coated with a thin layer of tin, whose functionality is required for the production process. The tin layer is usually applied by electroplating.
Two-piece steel can design
Most steel beverage cans are two-piece designs, made from 1) a disc re-formed into a cylinder with an integral end, double-seamed after filling and 2) a loose end to close it. Steel cans are made in many different diameters and volumes, with opening mechanisms that vary from ring pulls and tab openers, to wide open mouths. Modern can making lines may produce up to 1000 cans per minute.
Drawn-and-ironed (DWI) steel cans
The process of re-forming sheet metal without changing its thickness is known as 'drawing'. Thinning the walls of a two-piece can by passing it through circular dies is called 'ironing'. Steel beverage cans are therefore generally referred to as drawn-and-ironed, or DWI, cans (sometimes D&I). The DWI process is used for making cans where the height is greater than the diameter, and is particularly suited to making large volumes of cans of the same basic specification.Steel can wall thicknesses are now 30% thinner and weigh 40% less than 30 years ago, reducing the amounts of raw materials and energy required to make them. They are also up to 40% thinner than aluminium.
Magnetic properties
Steel is a ferrous metal and is therefore magnetic. For beverage packaging this is unique. This allows the use of magnetic conveyor systems to transfer empty cans through the filling and packing processes, increasing accuracy and reducing potential spillage and waste. In recycling facilities, steel cans may be readily separated from other waste using magnetic equipment including cross-belt separators, also known as overband magnets, and drum magnets.
Opening cans
The first cans were heavy-weight containers that required ingenuity to open, with implements such as knives. Not until several years later, after can manufacturers started using thinner metal sheets, were any dedicated can openers developed.
While beverage cans or cans of fluid such as broth can merely be punctured to remove the product, solid or semisolid contents require removing one end of the can. This can be accomplished with a heavy knife or other sharp tool—but can openers are much more convenient.
Some cans, such as those used for sardines, have a specially scored lid so that the user can break out the metal by the leverage of winding it around a slotted twist-key or church key. Until the mid-20th century, some sardine tins had solder-attached lids, and the twist-key or church key worked by forcing the solder joint apart.
The advent of pull tabs in beverage cans spread to the canning of various food products, such as pet food or nuts (and non-food products such as motor oil and tennis balls). The ends are known as easy open lids because they open without any tools or implements. An additional innovation developed for specifically for food cans uses a tab that is bent slightly upwards, creating a larger surface area for easier finger access.Cans can be made with easy open features. Some cans have screw caps for pouring liquids and resealing. Some have hinged covers or slip-on covers for easy access. Paint cans often have a removable plug on the top for access and for reclosing.
Recycling and re-use
Steel from cans and other sources is the most recycled packaging material. Around 65% of steel cans are recycled. In the United States, 63% of steel cans are recycled, compared to 52% of aluminium cans. In Europe, the recycling rate in 2016 is 79.5%.
Most can recycling occurs at the smelters, but individual consumers also directly reuse cans in various ways. For instance some people use two tin cans to form a camp or survival stove to cook small meals.
Sustainability and recycling of steel beverage cans
Steel recycling
From an ecological perspective, steel may be regarded as a closed-loop material: post-consumer waste can be collected, recycled and used to make new cans or other products. Each tonne of scrap steel recycled saves 1.5 tonnes of CO2, 1.4 tonnes of iron ore and 740 kg of coal. Steel is the world's most recycled material, with more than 85% of all the world's steel products being recycled at the end of their life: an estimated 630 million tonnes of steel scrap were recycled in 2017, saving 945 million tonnes of CO2.
Steel can recycling
A steel can can be recycled again and again without loss of quality; however, for the food grade steel it's required to remove tin from the scrap metal, which is done by way of electrochemistry: the tin is leached from a high pH solution at low negative voltage.Recycling a single can saves the equivalent power for one laundry load, 1 hour of TV or 24 hours of lighting (10W LED bulb).Steel beverage cans are recycled by being melted down in an electric arc furnace or basic oxygen furnace.Most steel cans also carry some form of recycling identification such as the Metal Recycles Forever Mark Recyclable Steel and the Choose Steel campaign logo. There is also a campaign in Europe called Every Can Counts, encouraging can recycling in the workplace
Smaller carbon footprint
All beverage packaging creates CO2 emissions at every stage in the production process, from raw material extraction, processing and manufacture through to recycling. However, steel cans are an ecological top performer, as cans can always be recycled. The steel industry needs the used cans and will use them in the production of new steel product. By recycling the cans and closing the loop, CO2 emissions are dramatically reduced. There is also the potential for higher global steel recycling rates as consumers become more aware of the benefits.
Health issues
Dissolution of tin into the food
Tin is corrosion resistant, but acidic food like fruits and vegetables can corrode the tin layer. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea have been reported after ingesting canned food containing 200 mg/kg of tin. A 2002 study showed that 99.5% of 1200 tested cans contained below the UK regulatory limit of 200 mg/kg of tin, an improvement over most previous studies largely attributed to the increased use of fully lacquered cans for acidic foods, and concluded that the results do not raise any long term food safety concerns for consumers. The two non-compliant products were voluntarily recalled.Evidence of tin impurities can be indicated by color, as in the case of pears, but lack of color change does not guarantee that a food is not tainted with tin.
Bisphenol-A
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a controversial chemical compound present in commercially available tin can plastic linings and transferred to canned food. The inside of the can is coated with an epoxy coating, in an attempt to prevent food or beverage from coming into contact with the metal. The longer food is in a can, and the warmer and more acidic it is, the more BPA leaches into it. In September 2010, Canada became the first country to declare BPA a toxic substance. In the European Union and Canada, BPA use is banned in baby bottles.
The FDA does not regulate BPA (see BPA controversy#Public health regulatory history in the United States). Several companies, like Campbell's Soup, announced plans to eliminate BPA from the linings of their cans, but have not said which chemical they plan to replace it with. (See BPA controversy#Chemical manufacturers reactions to bans.)
See also
Albion metal
Can collecting
Drink can
Oil can
Tin box
Tin can wall
References
General references, further reading
External links
Steeluniversity Packaging Module
Steel industry fact sheet on food cans
Standard U.S. can sizes at GourmetSleuth Archived 19 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine |
bluescope | BlueScope Steel Limited is an Australian flat product steel producer that was spun-off from BHP Billiton in 2002.
History
BlueScope was formed when BHP Billiton spun-off its steel assets on 15 July 2002 as BHP Steel. It was renamed BlueScope on 17 November 2003.Early in 2004, BlueScope merged with the American firm Butler Manufacturing. Such a merger was considered a strategic move for both companies as they were similar in character and non-overlapping in the markets they operated in, such that acquisition of Butler, based in Kansas City, Missouri, would provide BlueScope with access to United States and Chinese markets. Butler was founded in 1901, operated in sixteen countries and focused on non-residential building and building component construction. At the time of the merger, Butler had a dozen production facilities across the United States, China and Mexico.In 2007, the company acquired four companies consisting of most of the United States holdings of the Argentinian firm Ternium, those being Steelscape, ASC Profiles, Varco Pruden Buildings; and Metl-Span, which was acquired by NCI Building Systems in 2012. The four companies had been held by the Mexican Grupo IMSA prior to their purchase by Ternium. Steelscape originated in 1996 as BHP Coated Steel and was originally owned by BlueScope.In March 2012 a new coated steel manufacturing plant was inaugurated in Jamshedpur, India.In February 2014, BlueScope purchased Orrcon Steel from Hills. Its products included RHS, SHS and CHS structural tubular steel, hot-rolled structural steel and fencing, roofing and building accessories.
Because of lower energy prices in the United States than in Australia, BlueScope in 2019 decided to expand its investment in America by $1 billion.
Operations
The corporate headquarters are located at 120 Collins Street, Melbourne.
The company has 16,000 personnel. Its largest operating plant, an integrated steelworks, is located at Port Kembla, New South Wales. In October 2011, No.6 Blast furnace, one of two at Port Kembla, was shut down, reducing the plant's production capacity by 50% after the company decided to exit the export market.
Major products include steel slab, hot rolled coil, steel plate, automotive steel, galvanised steel, corrugated galvanised iron, Zincalume brand (55% aluminium, 43.5% zinc, 1.5% silicon) coated steel, and Colorbond brand pre-painted steel. Tinplate production ceased in March 2007.
Orrcon Steel supplies steel, tube and pipe to steel fabricators, furniture and trailer body manufacturers, housing and construction companies and pipeline and infrastructure engineering firms.
It has distribution centres in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Carbon footprint
BlueScope reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 30 June 2020 at 10,280 Kt (-120 /-1.2% y-o-y).
Controversy
In August 2019, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission launched a civil case against BlueScope and a former executive for engaging in cartel conduct, alleging that they tried to induce competitors to enter contracts to fix prices for flat steel products between 2013 and 2014. BlueScope denied the allegations, stating "we do not believe that BlueScope, or any current or former employees, have engaged in cartel conduct". In December 2020, the former executive was sentenced to eight months imprisonment and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to obstructing the investigation, inciting two employees to give false information.On 6 May 2020, a 59-year-old man was killed at BlueScope's Port Kembla facility after becoming trapped between a car and a crane, resulting in the site being temporarily shut.On 14 May 2020, BlueScope was the subject of a cyberattack that forced its production systems to be temporarily halted company-wide after ransomware was discovered in one of its systems.In July 2020, BlueScope was fined $30,000 by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority for failing to comply with dioxin air emission limits on six occasions between March and April 2020. In response, BlueScope completed air emissions modelling and engaged an independent consultant to undertake a health assessment of the elevated emissions.
Major manufacturing facilities
Port Kembla, New South Wales
Western Port in Hastings, Victoria
New Zealand Steel, Glenbrook
Orrcon Brisbane Mill, Salisbury, Queensland
Orrcon Precision Tubing Mill, Adelaide, South AustraliaFinished products are transported around Australia by rail freight operator Pacific National. In February 2007 Pacific National secured Australia's largest ever rail freight contract ($1 billion) with BlueScope Steel and OneSteel, to carry approximately three million tonnes of steel product each year for seven years. The contract was renewed for a further seven years from January 2015. In January 2022, Qube Holdings and SCT Logistics will take over from Pacific National.
References
External links
Company website |
posco | POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of 42,000,000 metric tons (41,000,000 long tons; 46,000,000 short tons) of crude steel in 2015, making it the world's sixth-largest steelmaker by this measure. In 2010, it was the world's largest steel manufacturing company by market value. Also, in 2012, it was named as the world's 146th-largest corporation by the Fortune Global 500.POSCO currently operates two integrated steel mills in South Korea, in Pohang and Gwangyang. POSCO previously operated a joint venture with U.S. Steel, USS-POSCO Industries, in Pittsburg, California, United States, but U.S. Steel acquired full ownership of the facility in February 2020.
History
1968–1971
In the 1960s, South Korean administration concluded that self-sufficiency in steel and the construction of an integrated steelworks were essential to economic development. Since South Korea had not possessed a modern steel plant prior to 1968, many foreign and domestic businesses were skeptical of Republic of Korea Government's decision to invest so heavily in developing its own industry. The Korean government created Pohang Iron and Steel Company, Ltd (POSCO) in 1968 and appointed as president of the mill a competent retired army general and friend of President Park Chung Hee, Park Tae-joon, a man with a track record of having turned around the government-owned Korea Tungsten Company. Construction of the Pohang plant began on April 1, 1970, and was dedicated on July 3, 1973, with an initial annual capacity of 1.03 million metric tons.Japan provided the money for the construction of the initial plant, following an agreement made at the Third South Korea-Japan Ministerial Meeting in 1969. Financing included US$119million in government grants and loans, US$54 million in credit from the Export-Import Bank of Japan, and technical assistance from Nippon Steel and other corporations. This cooperation was one consequence of the normalization of relations with Japan in 1965 and reflected the view of the government of Japan as noted in the Nixon-Sato communique of November 21, 1969, that "the national security of the Republic of Korea is essential to the security of Japan."
1972–1992
POSCO first began to sell plate products in 1972 and focused its sales policies on the domestic market to improve steel self-sufficiency at home. It made special efforts to supply quality iron and steel to related domestic companies at below export price to strengthen their international competitiveness.POSCO produced 6,200,000 t (6,100,000 long tons; 6,800,000 short tons) of raw steel in 1980, recording a 13% increase over the previous year, and was one of the few exceptions when almost all areas of the Korean economy were in economic depression. Domestic industries absorbed POSCO's major products such as automobile and home appliance manufacturers consuming hot rolled products, shipbuilding and construction and engineering companies consuming medium plates, and electric motor and transformer manufacturers consuming electrical sheets. Some over-produced products were exported to foreign countries but the significant import of sections for construction left Korea as a net importer. Globally, POSCO was already the most efficient steel producer in certain products.By the late 1980s, POSCO's growth had been immense. It was the fifth biggest steel company in the world, with an annual production approaching 12 million tons worth 3 trillion won. POSCO continued to expand productivity and size at a time when the steel industries of the United States and Japan were declining. POSCO completed its second-phase mill at Gwangyang in August 1988. A third-phase mill completed in 1992 further increased crude steel production to a total output of approximately 17.2 million tons a year. In terms of productivity, POSCO was the world's best steel manufacturer throughout the late 1980s and also was at the top in terms of facilities.Pohang, previously a fishing port whose major industry was processing fish and marine products, became a major industrial center with almost 520,000 people. In addition to the huge integrated steel mill, Pohang became an industrial complex housing companies that manufacture finished steel products of raw materials provided.
Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
POSCO CEO Park Tae-joon was quoted as saying, "You can import coal and machines, but you cannot import talent". Park realized the need for Korea to educate their youth in science and technology to ensure Korea's position in the high technology arena. Park founded the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in 1986 as Korea's first science and technology research-oriented university with the mission to educate young Koreans who can contribute to national prosperity through the advancement in science and technology. In 2012 and 2013, the Times Higher Education ranked POSTECH 1st in their "100 Under 50 Young Universities" rankings.
1992–1997
Changes in managerial systems and organizational structure accelerated in 1993 when POSCO's president and founder, Park Tae-Joon, who had wielded absolute managerial authority for more than 25 years, resigned.
With the change in leadership—from Park Tae-Joon to Ryu-Sang Bu, POSCO increased decentralization and diversification. POSCO's management emphasized greater flexibility, autonomy, and consensual decision-making processes. The chairman also moved to devolve more autonomy to the profit centers and changing from a strictly hierarchical organizational structure to one based on teams.
In July 1994, POSCO created two subsidiary companies, POSTEEL and POSTRADE. POSTEEL is the domestic sales and service arm of the company, while POSTRADE handles international trading of POSCO products. Both subsidiaries commenced full operation in September 1994, with all international POSCO affiliates transferred to POSTRADE by the end of that year. The landmark Posteel Tower on Tehran Street, in Seoul's Gangnam district (not to be confused with the POSCO Center, also on Tehran Street) was completed in 2003.
1997–2000
In 1997, Seoul announced that it was going to transform POSCO into a private company in line with the government's new policy of privatizing state-owned enterprises. The government planned to retain a majority share of the stock; initial reports in the South Korean press in 1998 indicated that the sale of public shares was going slower than anticipated. However, the administration led by Kim Young Sam changed the initial policy direction of privatization of POSCO and decided not to sell government-owned stock to keep it as a government investment enterprise.
But, the Kim Dae Jung administration following the Kim Young Sam administration listed privatization of public enterprise as a high priority policy in economic policy agenda to implement mainly because of outbreak of the economic crisis. The new administration decided to privatize POSCO and by 1998, the South Korean government had reduced its ownership of shares in POSCO to less than 20%, and more than 58% of the shares in POSCO were in the hands of foreign investors. In 2000, full privatization of POSCO was completed.
2001–present
As part of the privatization process, new Chairman Lee Ku-Taek began efforts to introduce a professional management and governance system of global standards for POSCO. Under the new governance system, management made accountability to shareholders a priority. POSCO also introduced a new performance-based evaluation and compensation system. Throughout most of its privatization drive, POSCO increased its revenue and business profit. Thanks to robust demand at home and in China, POSCO recorded the largest profits in the global steel industry in 2004. Net earnings from POSCO's array of steel products – used in everything from screws to skyscrapers – shot up 80% to $1.66 billion in 2004 from the previous year.With increasing global competition, POSCO looked to China and India for new opportunities. South Korean wages were too high to support a whole range of activities and POSCO looked elsewhere for new projects while keeping the areas where they have a comparative advantage in South Korea. By 2006, POSCO had 26 subsidiaries and invested over $2.4 billion in fresh investment on mainland China, especially in galvanized and stainless steel to supply global auto and appliance makers that have opened plants there. In 2006, POSCO started operating the Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel (ZPSS) steel mill capable of producing 600,000 tons of stainless steel and hot-rolled products annually in China's Jiangsu Province. As a result, POSCO became the first foreign firm operating an integrated stainless steel mill in China, handling the entire production process from smelting iron ore to finished products, including the cold rolled stainless plant it already operates. In June 2022, POSCO is temporarily cutting production lines in Pohang plants as thousands of truckers go on a strike for higher pay, causing disrupted cargo transport in the country.
POSCO in India
In June 2005, POSCO signed a memorandum of understanding with the State of Orissa in India. Under the agreement, POSCO plans to invest US$12 billion to construct a plant with four blast furnaces, an electricity plant, housing, and an annual production capacity of 12,000,000 metric tons (12,000,000 long tons; 13,000,000 short tons) of steel, which is slated to start production in 2010. The project, which would start with a 3,000,000-metric-ton (3,000,000-long-ton; 3,300,000-short-ton) capacity initially, would fetch revenue for the government to the tune of Rs 700 crore to Rs 800 crore (Rs 7-8 billion) annually. It would also provide direct employment to 13,000 people and ensure indirect employment for another 35,000. The Odisha state government also promised to provide a total of 600 million tons of iron sources, and will allow POSCO to use iron ore from these sources over the next 30 years. If the project goes ahead, it will be the single largest foreign direct investment in India as well as being the world's biggest greenfield steel plant ever.However, from 2005 till date (as of August 7, 2010), the India project has not been able to proceed due to strong opposition from the local residents in the area proposed to be given for the steel plant. There have been allegations that the federal and State governments have been illegally trying to take lands and forests for the project, in violation of the Forest Rights Act. There have also been claims that the project will only benefit the company while displacing more people than it employs, damaging the environment and taking India's mineral resources at a very low price.Further, a study undertaken by the Mining Zone Peoples' Solidarity Group, an international research group focused on India, finds evidence of irregularities in dealings with state, bureaucracy and judiciary and questions and debunks the social, economic and environmental claims that the project has made.
The MoU between POSCO and State of Odisha expired in 2010. Following allegations that the ministry had not adhered to Forest Rights Act, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) set up the N.C. Saxena committee in July 2010 to review the clearance. Despite the committee's report indicating that provisions of the Forest Rights Act had been violated, the MoEF issued final order on January 31, 2011 and gave environment clearance to POSCO.
In May 2013, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) halted land acquisition for the POSCO projects. In July 2013, POSCO completed land acquisition despite the order given by NGT. In December 2013, POSCO began construction of a boundary wall around its plant site. In December 2013, the NGT criticised the forest clearance granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to the proposed steel plant of South Korean steel giant, POSCO, in Odisha.There have been reports that during protests and land acquisition during Feb - Mar 2013, there has been bombing attack on the resisting villages and naked protest against the police atrocity.The Central Government of India came out confident on 15 January 2014 that with the renewal of environment clearance, South Korean steel giant POSCO's project in Odisha would take off soon.
After a meeting with visiting South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick, Mr. Sharma told the media: "So far, 1,700 acres of land — out of 2,718 acres — have been transferred to POSCO and the rest will soon be given." On July 17, 2015, news reported that South Korean steelmaker POSCO may halt a $12 billion US dollar plan agreed with Odisha, India a decade ago due to the delay in regulatory approvals. In 2016, POSCO confirms with National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it will suspend the steel plant project in Odisha, India. POSCO finally exited from this project on March 18, 2017 (Saturday).
On 13 January 2022, the Adani Group announced that it had signed an MoU with POSCO to explore the setting up of an Integrated Steel Mill in Mundra, Gujarat, with an estimated total investment of USD 5 billion.
POSCO in other developing countries
POSCO have pursued investment opportunities in other developing countries such as Vietnam and Mexico. It was announced in August 2006 that POSCO will build a large-scale steel mill in southern Vietnam. POSCO plans to build the US$1 billion plant in two phases for hot-rolled by the end of 2012 and cold rolled products by the time of December 2009. When completed, the mill is expected to produce three-million tons of steel products annually. Posco also plans to build a $250 million plant in the city of Altamira, Mexico, to produce 400,000 tons of galvanized steel sheet a year for automakers. The venture will be Posco's first wholly owned steel-plate plant in North America. Posco began construction in early 2008, and started operations in 2009, producing galvanized and galvannealed steel.
On June 30, 2006, POSCO completed the construction of its sixth continuous galvanizing line (CGL) at its Gwangyang mill in the South Jeolla Province. With this new addition, POSCO becomes the no.2 producer of sheet-steel just behind ArcelorMittal.
In early 2007, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway purchased a 4% stake in POSCO. In 2014 they sold their share.In February 2013 POSCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Afferro Mining, Inc, with a view to developing iron ore resources in Cameroon.In November 2013, the completion of steel plant construction in Cilegon, Indonesia is scheduled. It is predicted that the annual production capability of this plant will be 3 million tons of molten iron. On July 31, 2012, the moving-in ceremony of 4 large steel structured pillars surrounding integrated steel mill furnace was held.
Operations
Head Office
POSCO's Headquarters, along with the POSCO Center, form the 'brain' of the company, overseeing major tasks, such as the management, planning, and finances of the steelworks at Pohang and Gwangyang. The construction of POSCO headquarters at 1 Goedong-dong, Nam-gu, Pohang, was completed on April 1, 1987.
POSCO Center
Hosts a variety of cultural programs, events, and exhibitions throughout the year.
Pohang and Gwangyang Steelworks
Pohang - Constructed in four phases between April 1970 and February 1981 along Korea's southeast coast, the nation's first integrated steelworks has produced 230 million tons of pig iron through March 2004 - enough to build some 250 million compact cars. Crude Steel Production (2008) = 13.6 million tons.
Gwangyang - Constructed in four phases between September 1982 and October 1992 on Korea's southern coast, the nation's second integrated steelworks. Gwangyang focus on manufacturing automotive steel, high-strength structure steel, API line pipe steel, and other strategic product categories. Crude Steel Production (2008) = 17.4 million tons.
Subsidiaries
Carbon footprint
POSCO reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 75,650 Kt (-4,614 /-5.7% y-o-y).
See also
List of steel producers
List of South Korean companies
Economy of South Korea
History of the steel industry (1970-current)
References
External links
POSCO
Official POSCO Newsroom
Yahoo! Finance page for PKX
Yahoo! Finance page for 005490.KS
Posco India
India environment portal for resources on POSCO
History of POSCO 1968-2010
Business data for POSCO: |
thyssenkrupp | ThyssenKrupp AG (, German: [ˈtʏsn̩ˌkʁʊp]; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and Essen. The company claims to be one of the world's largest steel producers, and it was ranked tenth-largest worldwide by revenue in 2015. It is divided into 670 subsidiaries worldwide. The largest shareholders are the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation and Cevian Capital. ThyssenKrupp's products range from machines and industrial services to high-speed trains, elevators, and shipbuilding. The subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems also manufactures frigates, corvettes, and submarines for the German and foreign navies.
In 2018, ThyssenKrupp announced that the company would split into two companies, ThyssenKrupp Industrials and ThyssenKrupp Materials, but this plan was cancelled in May 2019.
History
ThyssenKrupp is the result of a merger of two German steel companies, Thyssen AG founded in 1891 under the name Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser and Krupp founded in 1811. As early as the 1980s, the companies began negotiations on a merger and began closely cooperating in some business areas. In 1997, the companies combined their flat steel activities, with a full merger completed in March 1999.
Beginnings (1811–1891)
Krupp
1811: Friedrich Carl Krupp establishes a cast steel factory in Essen, Germany.
1826: After Friedrich Krupp's death in 1826, his widow Therese Krupp runs the company together with other relatives and her eldest son Alfred, who was 14 years old at the time.
1833: Krupp manufactures complete rolling machines.
1847: Expansion of the railroads increases the demand for durable cast steel, triggering the company's first surge of growth. Supplies include axles, springs, and seamless tires that can withstand increasing speed without cracking.
1859: The Prussian military orders 300 gun barrels, marking the development of the company's second major production segment; shortly after Krupp begins producing complete artillery.
1862: Construction of the first Bessemer steel plant on the continent for mass production of rails and steel sheets.
1864–1872: The company purchases various iron ore mines to avoid dependency on external suppliers. In 1873, Krupp establishes his own shipping company in Rotterdam to transport ore from the Spanish company Orconera Iron Ore Co., in which he owns shares.
1872: Alfred Krupp issues a "General Directive" establishing company hierarchy from foreman to management. Included in the directive are regulations concerning company welfare programs, including the pension fund, sickness, and death benefit insurance, company bakery and retail store, worker housing estates, and health care, all of which were slowly introduced beginning in 1836.Thyssen
1867: Establishment of Thyssen, Fossoul & Co. a company making hoop iron for barrels, crates, baling etc.
1871: Establishment of Thyssen & Co. in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
1891: August Thyssen becomes the owner of the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser coal mine in Hamborn near Duisburg. One year earlier, the Thyssen company constructed a steel mill directly adjacent to one of the pits, thus Thyssen grows into an iron and steel mill with its own coal base.
Wilhelminian period (1892–1917)
Krupp
1893: Following the death of Alfred Krupp in 1887, Friedrich Alfred Krupp expands his father's enterprise with takeovers of additional steel mills and shipyards and construction of diesel engines in collaboration with Rudolf Diesel.
1899: With the acquisition of and/or increased investment in various coal mines (Hannibal colliery near Bochum and the Emscher-Lippe coal mine near Datteln) business development concentrates on vertical structures with the expansion of a coal base.
1903: Friedrich Alfred Krupp dies suddenly in 1902 at the age of 48 and his eldest daughter Bertha Krupp inherits the company. The company is converted into a stock corporation by the will of the late owner; Bertha retains all the stock. As she is still a minor, her mother Margarethe Krupp as guardian and proprietor takes over as the head of the company, managed by a board of directors.
1906: Bertha Krupp marries Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach who adds the Krupp name as a prefix to his own family name. He is appointed vice-chairman of the board and serves as chairman through 1943.
1912: Development of stainless, acid-resistant steels quickly finds application in the chemical and food processing industries, medicine, and building. The spire of New York's Chrysler Building is clad in the new stainless steel panels.
1917: The "Paris Gun" is developed with a range of 130 km (80 mi).Thyssen
1895: Thyssen sets up integrated iron and steel mill with the construction of a blast furnace plant at the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser. Subsequent expansion is focused on vertical integration of the group.
1906: Intra-company trading and shipping organizations are established to facilitate the transport of iron ore to the blast furnace plants. In 1910, the N.V. Handels- en Transport Maatschappij Vulcaan ocean shipping company is established in Rotterdam to keep the Thyssen group independent of the international freight market.
1910: Expansion with mills in the Lorraine and Normandy.
1912: Various branches are set up in the Mediterranean area (Algiers, Port Said, Suez, Oran, Naples, Bona, Bizerte, Tangier, and Genoa) so that freighters can store coal en route to Russian or Indian ore mines besides delivery of coal or freight for third parties.
1913: Attention is paid to Latin America with the founding of the Deutsch-Überseeische Handelsgesellschaft (German Overseas Trading Company). Thyssen constructs extensive housing estates and related infrastructure to attract workers to the western Ruhr area. By the end of 1913, Thyssen owns 8,750 housing units for 15,500 employees and 850 civil servants: housing for 44,000 people.
1914: Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser begins producing armaments for the First World War. To compensate for labor shortages, women, civilians from Belgium, and prisoners of war work for the company.
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
Krupp
1919: Following the Treaty of Versailles, Krupp reverts to peace-time production focusing on the manufacture of locomotives, trucks, agricultural machinery, and excavators. The post-war circumstances of inflation, occupation, and dismantling of the company's industrial infrastructure led to a financial crisis in 1924/25. The company stabilizes by, among other measures, streamlining processing operations and expanding stainless steel production.
1926: Sintered tungsten carbide was developed by Osram as a material for machining metal. In 1925, Krupp buys the licence and launches sintered carbide onto the market, exploiting its exceptional hardness and wear resistance, which represents a breakthrough in tool engineering.
1929: A 15,000-ton forging press goes into operation in Essen-Borbeck. It is at the time the largest worldwide.Thyssen
1919: The company is renamed from Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser to August Thyssen-Hütte; Gewerkschaft and mining operations are transferred to an independent company, Gewerkschaft Friedrich Thyssen. The company's foreign interests in the Allied and Soviet countries are expropriated.
1926: Major parts of the Thyssen group are transferred to a newly merged group, Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG, bringing together several coal and steel companies in the Ruhr area to solve cost and production problems of excess capacities. August Thyssen dies at Schloss Landsberg near Essen. His sons Fritz Thyssen and Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza inherit the industrial enterprises. His other two children, Hedwig and August Jr., are compensated differently.
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Krupp
1937: As dictated by Hitler's Four-Year Plan, production of locomotives, trucks, and ships was expanded and armaments production resumed.
1941: Krupp Germania shipyard was extended with the acquisition of Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG "Deschimag" to include larger ships and submarines. Krupp took advantage of foreign labourers, slave labourers, prisoners of war, and Jews to compensate for labour shortages. It is estimated that a total of 100,000 people were forced to work by the company. Moreover, it had a workshop near the Auschwitz complex. Due to the company's involvement in the war, Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was subsequently convicted for crimes against humanity and received a sentence of 12 years imprisonment during The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp, et al., trial of December 8, 1947- July 31, 1948.Thyssen
1934: The company August Thyssen-Hütte AG is spun off the Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG as a so-called operating company.
1939: Fritz Thyssen, chairman of the Board of Vereingte Stahlwerke AG, flees to Switzerland after the invasion of Poland. Vichy France hands over Thyssen and his wife to the German Reich at the end of 1940.
1940: A rearmament policy is introduced by the Nazis in the mid-1930s and with the outbreak of war, labor is conscripted and supplemented by foreign workers, slave laborers, and prisoners of war.
1945: Thyssenhütte mill in Hamborn occupied by US troops.
Mergers and acquisitions
During a period of expansion in 1978, Thyssen AG entered the North American automotive industry with the acquisition of Budd's automotive operations, which became the automotive division of Thyssen and operated in North America as Budd Thyssen, later ThyssenKrupp Budd Incorporated. In October 2006, ThyssenKrupp sold ThyssenKrupp Budd's North American body and chassis operations to Martinrea International Inc.In 1988, ThyssenKrupp acquired German shock absorber manufacturer Bilstein, when it became a division until 2005, when it became a wholly owned subsidiary.In 1991, ThyssenKrupp acquired German company Hoesch AG.
In 1999, Thyssen (one of the companies of the merger to form Thyssenkrupp Elevator) acquired the elevator division of American-based conglomerate Dover Corporation. Four years later, ThyssenKrupp acquired the Korean-based Dongyang Elevator.
In 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel from One Equity Partners. One Equity Partners holds 25% of the TKMS shares.
In December 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired 60% of Atlas Elektronik from BAE Systems, with EADS acquiring the remaining 40%.
In August 2007, ThyssenKrupp Materials North America acquired OnlineMetals.com, a small-quantity distributor of semi-finished metals and plastics based in Seattle, Washington.In early 2008, ThyssenKrupp Aerospace acquired Apollo Metals and Aviation Metals, both suppliers to aerospace and defence based in Kent, Washington.
In June 2012, ThyssenKrupp sold Thyssenkrupp Waupaca to KPS Capital Partners. ThyssenKrupp Waupaca is a tier two supplier to the automotive industry, located in Waupaca, Wisconsin.
In April 2014, ThyssenKrupp announced it was in talks to sell its Swedish maritime defence unit to Saab after failing to agree deals with the Swedish government for a new generation of submarines.ThyssenKrupp Access, the global manufacturer of home elevators, wheelchair lifts, and stairlifts, has tied up with Chennai-based Indian Company Elite Elevators. The company has launched luxury home elevators segments targeting HNI Clientele to launch high-end elevators in India.In June 2018, Thyssenkrupp signed a final agreement with India's Tata Steel to establish a long-expected steel venture. The 50-50 joint venture will be called Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel and will be the second-largest steel producer in Europe, after ArcelorMittal.On October 1, 2023 the firm will institute a green energy division, Decarbon Technologies, to develop its energy solutions.
Divestments and Restructures of Steel Business
Steel Europe
In September 2017, ThyssenKrupp and India-based Tata Steel announced plans to combine their European steel-making businesses. The final agreement was signed in June 2018. The deal would have structured the European assets as ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel, a 50-50 joint venture headquartered in Amsterdam and created the second-largest steel producer in Europe. The merger was finally prohibited by the EU Commission in 2019 for competitive concerns.
Steel Americas
On 11 May 2007, ThyssenKrupp AG invested €3.1 billion (increased to $4.6 billion in 2010) for a project consisting of building new carbon steel and stainless steel processing facilities in Calvert, Alabama, about 40 miles north of Mobile. The project, along with a multibillion-dollar greenfield steel-making facility in Brazil, was a cornerstone of ThyssenKrupp's new global expansion strategy into the North American steel markets. The carbon steel and stainless steel companies were independent and operated under different management teams. Co-locating both facilities on the same site enabled the company to optimize the investment in infrastructure and in some shared processing.
Additionally, the Alabama State Port Authority invested over $100 million to build a state-of-the-art transloading slab terminal on the southern tip of Pinto Island in Mobile Bay to service the inbound raw material slabs for the upriver carbon steel facility. The terminal was necessary since the Tombigbee River depth and lack of turning basins prohibit deep draft ship navigation to the site in Calvert.The world steel industry peaked in 2007, just as the company spent $12 billion to build the two most modern mills in the world, in Alabama and Brazil. The worldwide Great Recession started in 2008. Heavy cutbacks in construction combined with sharply lowered demand, and prices fell 40%. ThyssenKrupp lost $11 billion on its two new plants, which sold steel below the cost of production. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless portion of the US plant, was sold to Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012. Finally in 2013, ThyssenKrupp offered the remaining portion of the plant for sale at under $4 billion. They sold it to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel the following year for $1.55 billion.
In February 2017, it agreed to sell its Brazilian steel business CSA to Ternium for €1.5 billion. These two transactions meant that Thyssenkrupp fully parted from the Steel Americas business.
ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks
In September 2012, ThyssenKrupp agreed to sell the automotive components manufacturer Tailored Blanks to the China-based Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation for an undisclosed price. At the time of the agreement Tailored Blanks had annual sales of around 700 million euros and a global market share of about 40 percent in automotive laser-welded blanks.
ThyssenKrupp Elevator
In April 2015, ThyssenKrupp announced it would be investing more than €800 million in the North American region by 2020 to take advantage of the economy's reindustrialization.In February 2020, ThyssenKrupp AG's board announced that it would sell its elevator segment to Advent International, Cinven, and RAG foundation for $18.9 billion. The transaction closed in July 2020, and the new stand-alone company is named TK Elevator.
Financial data
Carbon footprint
ThyssenKrupp reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 30 September 2020 at 22,700 Kt (-1,400 /-5.8% y-o-y).
Employees
As of 2020, the company had over 100,000 employees worldwide. Following a financial struggle in 2020, and a loss of over €5.5 billion, ThyssenKrupp announced that it will be cutting over 11,000 jobs, 7,000 of which are located in Germany.
Products and sales
ThyssenKrupp generates 33% of its consolidated sales in its home market. The rest of the European Union (EU) (28%) and the NAFTA region (21%) are the key trading partners for business and exports outside Germany.
Business areas
The operations are organized in five business areas:
Components technology
Elevator technology
Industrial machinery
Materials services
SteelConstruction of the corporate headquarters began in 2007. The first buildings were complete in 2010; the second phase of the building was completed in June 2015. Situated in the west of Essen, the corporate campus was designed by Chaix & Morel et associeés (Paris) and JSWD Architekten (Cologne). Their design was selected for construction in an architectural design competition in 2006.
Controversies
Price fixing
In November 2006, five elevator manufacturers, including ThyssenKrupp, were found guilty of price fixing by the EU, over nine years, along with competitors Otis Elevator Co., Schindler Group, Kone and Mitsubishi Elevator Europe. A few months later on 21 February 2007, ThyssenKrupp was fined €479 million by the EU (Otis was fined $US295 million). The EU Competition Commission reported that the companies had worked to rig bids for procurement contracts, share markets, and fix prices between at least 1995 and 2004. The Commission reported that the companies "did not contest the facts" found by EU regulators, noting none of the accused requested a hearing to answer the allegations. The fines totaled US$1.3 billion.In July 2012, the German Bundeskartellamt served fines totalling €124.5 million on ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik GmbH, Essen (€103m), Stahlberg Roensch GmbH, Seevetal, which since 2010 belongs to the Vossloh group (€13m), TSTG Schienen Technik GmbH & Co. KG, Duisburg, a subsidiary of the Voestalpine group (€4.5m) and Voestalpine BWG GmbH & Co. KG, Butzbach, another Voestalpine subsidiary (€4m) for price-fixing of steel railway lines and points blades supplied to Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway. According to Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, "For many years the rail suppliers have guaranteed each other virtually constant shares of Deutsche Bahn's contract volume. The cartel members monitored compliance with the contract volume quotas, assigned each other projects, and set protective prices in order to steer the contract award process.” The proceedings had been triggered by an application for leniency filed by the Austrian company Voestalpine AG. Investigations into further companies are ongoing.
Turin plant fire and trial
On the early morning of 6 December 2007, an accident on the annealing and pickling line of the ThyssenKrupp plant in Turin, Italy, caused the death of seven steelworkers.The accident happened between 00:45 and 00:48, when the eight workers that were then on duty attempted to extinguish a localized small pool fire with CO2 fire extinguishers and a fire hydrant, without success. Roughly 400L of hydraulic oil escaped during the rupture of a hydraulic circuit that caused a violent jet fire and engulfed the workers that were fighting the fire.CEO Espenhahn has been charged by the State prosecutor of Turin with "voluntary multiple murder with possible malice" ("omicidio volontario multiplo con dolo eventuale"), while five other managers and executives have been charged with "culpable murder with conscious guilt". On Friday 15 April 2011, Espenhahn and all the other indictees were pronounced guilty of all charges; Espenhahn has been sentenced to 16 years and 6 months in jail and to a lifelong ban from holding public office. Prior to the court case, Espenhahn was transferred from Italy and is now believed to reside in Brazil. On 23 February 2013, the Appellate Court changed the sentence for Espenhahn to culpable murder, not recognizing the voluntary murder, thus reducing the conviction. Convictions for the other managers were reduced as well.In May 2016, the appeal court reduced the sentences for Espenhahn down to 9 years and 8 months, the other 5 managers (4 Italians and 1 German) between 6 and 7 years. Priegnitz the German manager, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months. According to the bilateral laws between Germany and Italy, the convicted can serve the term in his home country and with accordance to this countries' laws. Since accounts of first-degree murder have been appealed down to aggravated negligent manslaughter, the German convicts are expecting further reductions that would eventually not exceed 5 years.
Bribery and conflict of interest
ThyssenKrupp is suspected of corruption in deals made in Israel, Turkey, South Africa and also in Pakistan, where the deal did not mature. In Greece, the defense minister was sentenced to prison for accepting a bribe from a consortium in which one of the members was ThyssenKrupp.
Incidents
ThyssenKrupp has been the victim of major, organised hacking attacks on several occasions, targeting the company's trade secrets.
On 8 December 2016, it was disclosed the company was attacked in February of that year. Internally uncovered in April 2016, it took their IT team around six months to fix. The hack is thought to have originated from South-East Asia and was successful in retrieving information from various departments, including the plant engineering division.In 2012, ThyssenKrupp and other European companies have been attacked by Chinese hackers.
See also
List of steel producers
List of conglomerates
List of elevator manufacturers
Transrapid
Shanghai Maglev Train
South African Arms Deal
Dolphin-class submarine
Eclipse (yacht)
References
James, Harold. Krupp: A History of the Legendary German Firm. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780691153407.
Notes
External links
Official website
Thyssenkrupp System Engineering
Bilstein (international) |
3m | 3M Company (originally the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the fields of industry, worker safety, healthcare, and consumer goods. The company produces over 60,000 products under several brands, including adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, personal protective equipment, window films, paint protection films, dental and orthodontic products, electrical and electronic connecting and insulating materials, medical products, car-care products, electronic circuits, healthcare software, and optical films. It is based in Maplewood, a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota.3M made $35.4 billion in total sales in 2021 and ranked number 102 in the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. As of 2021, the company had approximately 95,000 employees and operations in more than 70 countries. There are a few international subsidiaries, such as 3M India, 3M Japan, and 3M Canada.In June 2023, 3M reached a settlement to pay more than $10 billion to US public water systems to resolve claims over the company's contamination of water with PFASs (so-called forever chemicals).
History
Five businessmen founded the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company as a mining venture in Two Harbors, Minnesota, making their first sale on June 13, 1902. The goal was to mine corundum, but this failed because the mine's mineral holdings were anorthosite, which had no commercial value. Co-founder John Dwan solicited funds in exchange for stock and Edgar Ober and Lucius Ordway took over the company in 1905. The company moved to Duluth and began researching and producing sandpaper products. William L. McKnight, later a key executive, joined the company in 1907, and A. G. Bush joined in 1909. 3M finally became financially stable in 1916 and was able to pay dividends.The company moved to Saint Paul in 1910, where it remained for 52 years before outgrowing the campus and moving to its current headquarters at 3M Center in Maplewood, Minnesota, in 1962.
Beginnings
In 1947, 3M began producing perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by electrochemical fluorination.
Diversification
In 1951, DuPont purchased PFOA from then-Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company for use in the manufacturing of teflon, a product that brought DuPont a billion-dollar-a-year profit by the 1990s. DuPont referred to PFOA as C8. The original formula for Scotchgard, a water repellent applied to fabrics, was discovered accidentally in 1952 by 3M chemists Patsy Sherman and Samuel Smith. Sales began in 1956, and in 1973 the two chemists received a patent for the formula.In the late 1950s, 3M produced the first asthma inhaler, but the company did not enter the pharmaceutical industry until the mid-1960s.
Entrance into Pharmaceuticals
The acquisition of Riker Laboratories, moving it from California to Minnesota. 3M retained the Riker Laboratories name for the subsidiary until at least 1985. In the mid-1990s, 3M Pharmaceuticals, as the division came to be called, produced the first CFC-free asthma inhaler in response to adoption of the Montreal Protocol by the United States. In the 1980s and 1990s, the company spent fifteen years developing a topical cream delivery technology which led in 1997 to health authority approval and marketing of a symptomatic treatment for genital warts, Aldara. 3M divested its pharmaceutical unit through three deals in 2006, netting more than US$2 billion. At the time, 3M Pharmaceuticals comprised about 20% of 3M's healthcare business and employed just over a thousand people.By the 1970s, 3M developed a theatrical blood formula based on red colorfast microbeads suspended in a carrier liquid. This stage blood was sold as Nextel Simulated Blood and was used during the production of the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. It has since been discontinued.In the late 1970s, 3M Mincom was involved in some of the first digital audio recordings to see commercial release when a prototype machine was brought to the Sound 80 studios in Minneapolis. In 1979 3M introduced a digital audio recording system called "3M Digital Audio Mastering System".In 1980, the company acquired Comtal, a manufacturer of digital image processors.3M launched "Press 'n Peel" a sticky bookmark page holder in stores in four cities in 1977, but the results were disappointing. A year later 3M instead issued free samples of it as a sticky note directly to consumers in Boise, Idaho, with 95% of those who tried them indicating they would buy the product. The product was sold as "Post-Its" in 1979 when the rollout introduction began, and was sold across the United States from April 6, 1980. The following year they were launched in Canada and Europe.
Beginning of the 21st century
On April 8, 2002, 3M's 100th anniversary, the company changed its legal name to "3M Company". On September 8, 2008, 3M announced an agreement to acquire Meguiar's, a car-care products company that was family-owned for over a century. In August 2010, 3M acquired Cogent Systems for $943 million, and on October 13, 2010, 3M completed acquisition of Arizant Inc. In December 2011, 3M completed the acquisition of the Winterthur Technology Group, a bonded abrasives company.
As of 2012, 3M was one of the 30 companies included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, added on August 9, 1976, and was 97 on the 2011 Fortune 500 list. On January 3, 2012, it was announced that the Office and Consumer Products Division of Avery Dennison was being bought by 3M for $550 million. The transaction was canceled by 3M in September 2012 amid antitrust concerns.In May 2013, 3M sold Scientific Anglers and Ross Reels to Orvis. Ross Reels had been acquired by 3M in 2010.In March 2017, 3M purchased Johnson Controls International Plc's safety gear business, Scott Safety, for $2 billion.In 2017, 3M had net sales for the year of $31.657 billion, up from $30.109 billion the year before. In 2018, it was reported that the company would pay $850 million to end the Minnesota water pollution case concerning perfluorochemicals.On May 25, 2018, Michael F. Roman was appointed CEO by the board of directors. On December 19, 2018, 3M announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the technology business of M*Modal, for a total enterprise value of $1.0 billion.In October 2019, 3M purchased Acelity and its KCI subsidiaries for $6.7 billion, including assumption of debt and other adjustments.On May 1, 2020, 3M divested substantially all of its drug delivery business to an affiliate of Altaris Capital Partners, LLC. for approximately $650 million, including a 17% interest in the new operating company, Kindeva Drug Delivery.In December 2021, 3M announced that it would merge its food-safety business with food testing and animal healthcare products maker Neogen. The deal, with an enterprise value of about $5.3 billion, closed in September 2022.In July 2022, the company announced it would spin off its healthcare assets to form a new, independent firm, likely completing the transaction in 2023. 3M will retain an ownership stake of 19.9% in the new, publicly-traded health care company and gradually divest the holdings.In December 2022, the company announced its plans to stop producing and using the so-called forever chemicals, which have been commonly used in items such as food packaging, cellphones, nonstick pans, firefighting foams, and clothing. These chemicals are well known for their water-resistant and nonstick properties, but they are also dangerous pollutants that are linked to serious health problems, including ulcerative colitis and cancer. The move comes as governments in the Netherlands and the United States consider actions against 3M.
Products and patents
As of 2019, 3M produces approximately 60,000 products. and has four business groups focused on safety and industrial, transportation and electronics, health care, and consumer products. 3M obtained its first patent in 1924 and acquires approximately 3,000 new patents annually. The company surpassed the 100,000-patent threshold in 2014.
Environmental record
3M's Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) program was established in 1975. The program initially focused on pollution reduction at the plant level and was expanded to promote recycling and reduce waste across all divisions in 1989. By the early 1990s, approximately 2,500 3P projects decreased the company's total global pollutant generation by 50 percent and saved 3M $500–600 million by eliminating the production of waste requiring subsequent treatment.In 1983, the Oakdale Dump in Oakdale, Minnesota, was listed as an EPA Superfund site after significant groundwater and soil contamination by VOCs and heavy metals was uncovered. The Oakdale Dump was a 3M dumping site utilized through the 1940s and 1950s.
During the 1990s and 2000s, 3M reduced releases of toxic pollutants by 99 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 72 percent. As of 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded 3M with the Energy Star Award each year that the honor has been presented.
"Forever chemicals" water pollution
In 2023, 3M reached an agreement to pay a $10.3bn settlement with numerous US public water systems to resolve thousands of lawsuits over PFAS contamination.In 1999, the EPA began investigating perfluorinated chemicals after receiving data on the global distribution and toxicity of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). These materials are part of a broad group of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances often referred to as PFAS, each of which has different chemical properties. 3M, the former primary producer of PFOS from the U.S., announced the phase-out of PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, and PFOS-related product production in May 2000. Perfluorinated compounds produced by 3M have been used in non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and other products.
The Cottage Grove facility manufactured PFAS from the 1940s to 2002. In response to PFAS contamination of the Mississippi River and surrounding area, 3M stated the area will be "cleaned through a combination of groundwater pump-out wells and soil sediment excavation." The restoration plan was based on an analysis of the company property and surrounding lands. The on-site water treatment facility that handled the plant's post-production water was not capable of removing PFAS, which were released into the nearby Mississippi River. The clean-up cost estimate, which included a granular activated carbon system to remove PFAS from the ground water was $50 to $56 million, funded from a $147 million environmental reserve set aside in 2006.In 2008, 3M created the Renewable Energy Division within 3M's Industrial and Transportation Business to focus on Energy Generation and Energy Management.In late 2010, the state of Minnesota sued 3M for $5 billion in punitive damages, claiming they released PFCs—classified a toxic chemical by the EPA—into local waterways. A settlement for $850 million was reached in February 2018. In 2019, 3M, along with the Chemours Company and DuPont, appeared before lawmakers to deny responsibility, with company Senior VP of Corporate Affairs Denise Rutherford arguing that the chemicals pose no human health threats at current levels and that there were no victims.3M's Zwijndrecht (Belgium) factory caused PFOS pollution that may be contaminating agricultural products within a 15 kilometer radius of the plant which includes Antwerp. The Flemish Government has paid 63 million euros for cleanup costs so far with 3M contributing 75,000 euros. The Flemish Government issued measures advising against the consumption of, for example, home-grown eggs within a radius of 5 kilometers.
Carbon footprint
3M reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2020, at 5,280 Kt (-550 /-9.4% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. The company also aims achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Earplug controversy
The Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2), was developed by Aearo Technologies for U.S. military and civilian use. The CAEv2 was a double ended earplug that 3M claimed would offer users different levels of protection. Between 2003 and 2015, these earplugs were standard issue to members of the U.S. military. 3M acquired Aearo Technologies in 2008.In May 2016, Moldex-Metric, Inc., a 3M competitor, filed a whistleblower complaint against 3M under the False Claims Act. Moldex-Metric claimed that 3M made false claims to the U.S. government about the safety of its earplugs and that it knew the earplugs had an inherently defective design. In 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to the U.S. government to resolve the allegations, without admitting liability.Since 2018, more than 140,000 former users of the earplugs (primarily U.S. military veterans) have filed suit against 3M claiming they suffer from hearing loss, tinnitus, and other damage as a consequence of the defective design.Internal emails showed that 3M officials boasted about charging $7.63 per piece for the earplugs which cost 85 cents to produce. The company's official response indicated that the cost to the government includes R&D costs.3M settled close to 260,000 lawsuits in August 2023 by agreeing to pay $6 billion to current and former U.S. military members who were affected.
N95 respirators and the COVID-19 pandemic
The N95 respirator mask was developed by 3M and approved in 1972. Due to its ability to filter viral particulates, its use was recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic but supply soon became short. Much of the company's supply had already been sold prior to the outbreak.The shortages led to the U.S. government asking 3M to stop exporting US-made N95 respirator masks to Canada and to Latin American countries, and President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to require 3M to prioritize orders from the federal government. The dispute was resolved when 3M agreed to import more respirators, mostly from its factories in China.3M later struck a CA$70M deal with the federal government of Canada and the Ontario provincial government to produce N95 masks at their plant in Brockville, Ontario.
Operating facilities
3M's general offices, corporate research laboratories, and some division laboratories in the U.S. are in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the United States, 3M operates 80 manufacturing facilities in 29 states, and 125 manufacturing and converting facilities in 37 countries outside the U.S. (in 2017).In March 2016, 3M completed a 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) research-and-development building on its Maplewood campus that cost $150 million. Seven hundred scientists from various divisions occupy the building. They were previously scattered across the campus. 3M hopes concentrating its research and development in this manner will improve collaboration. 3M received $9.6 million in local tax increment financing and relief from state sales taxes in order to assist with development of the building.Selected factory detail information:
Cynthiana, Kentucky, U.S. factory producing Post-it Notes (672 SKU) and Scotch Tape (147 SKU). It has 539 employees and was established in 1969.
Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, UK factory producing respirators for workers safety using laser technology. It has 370 employees.
In Minnesota, 3M's Hutchinson facility produces products for more than half of the company's 23 divisions, as of 2019. The "super hub" has manufactured adhesive bandages for Nexcare, furnace filters, and Scotch Tape, among other products. The Cottage Grove plant is one of three operated by 3M for the production of pad conditioners, as of 2011.
3M has operated a manufacturing plant in Columbia, Missouri since 1970. The plant has been used for the production of products including electronic components solar and touchscreen films, and stethoscopes. The facility received a $20 million expansion in 2012 and has approximately 400 employees.
3M opened the Brookings, South Dakota plant in 1971, and announced a $70 million expansion in 2014. The facility manufactures more than 1,700 health care products and employs 1,100 people, as of 2018, making the plant 3M's largest focused on health care. Mask production at the site increased during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, 2002–2004 SARS outbreak, 2018 California wildfires, 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, and COVID-19 pandemic.
3M's Springfield, Missouri plant opened in 1967 and makes industrial adhesives and tapes for aerospace manufacturers. In 2017, 3M had approximately 330 employees in the metropolitan area, and announced a $40 million expansion project to upgrade the facility and redevelop another building.
In Iowa, the Ames plant makes sandpaper products and received funding from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) for expansions in 2013 and 2018. The Knoxville plant is among 3M's largest and produces approximately 12,000 different products, including adhesives and tapes.
3M's Southeast Asian operations are based in Singapore, where the company has invested $1 billion over 50 years. 3M has a facility in Tuas, a manufacturing plant and Smart Urban Solutions lab in Woodlands, and a customer technical center in Yishun. 3M expanded a factory in Woodlands in 2011, announced a major expansion of the Tuas plant in 2016, and opened new headquarters in Singapore featuring a Customer Technical Centre in 2018.
The company has operated in China since 1984, and was Shanghai's first Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise. 3M's seventh plant, and the first dedicated to health care product production, opened in Shanghai in 2007. By October 2007, the company had opened an eighth manufacturing plant and technology center in Guangzhou. 3M broke ground on its ninth manufacturing facility, for the production of photovoltaics and other renewable energy products, in Hefei in 2011. 3M announced plans to construct a technology innovation center in Chengdu in 2015, and opened a fifth design center in Shanghai in 2019.
Leadership
Board chairs have included: William L. McKnight (1949–1966), Bert S. Cross (1966–1970), Harry Heltzer (1970–1975), Raymond H. Herzog (1975–1980), Lewis W. Lehr (1980–1986), Allen F. Jacobson (1986–1991), Livio DeSimone (1991–2001), James McNerney (2001–2005), George W. Buckley (2005–2012), and Inge Thulin (2012–2018). Thulin continued to serve as executive chairman until current chair Michael F. Roman was appointed in 2019.3M's CEOs have included: Cross (1966–1970), Heltzer (1970–1975), Herzog (1975–1979), Lehr (1979–1986), Jacobson (1986–1991), DeSimone (1991–2001), McNerney (2001–2005), Robert S. Morrison (2005, interim), Buckley (2005–2012), Thulin (2012–2018), and Roman (2018–present).3M's presidents have included: Edgar B. Ober (1905–1929), McKnight (1929–1949), Richard P. Carlton (1949–1953), Herbert P. Buetow (1953–1963), Cross (1963–1966), Heltzer (1966–1970), and Herzog (1970–1975). In the late 1970s, the position was separated into roles for U.S. and international operations. The position overseeing domestic operations was first held by Lehr, followed by John Pitblado from 1979 to 1981, then Jacobson from 1984 to 1991. James A. Thwaits led international operations starting in 1979. Buckley and Thulin were president during 2005–2012, and 2012–2018, respectively.
See also
Oakdale Dump
Further reading
V. Huck, Brand of the Tartan: The 3M Story, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1955. Early history of 3M and challenges, includes employee profiles.
C. Rimington, From Minnesota mining and manufacturing to 3M Australia Pty Ltd (3M Australia: the Story of an Innovative Company), Sid Harta Publishers, 2013. Recollections from 3M Australia employees in context of broader organisational history.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for 3M:
Historical records of the 3M Company are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society |
electrofuel | Electrofuels, also known as e-fuels, a class of synthetic fuels, are a type of drop-in replacement fuel. They are manufactured using captured carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, together with hydrogen obtained from sustainable electricity sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power.: 7 The process uses carbon dioxide in manufacturing and releases around the same amount of carbon dioxide into the air when the fuel is burned, for an overall low carbon footprint. Electrofuels are thus an option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport, particularly for long-distance freight, marine, and air transport.: 9–13 The primary targets are Methanol, and Diesel, but include other alcohols and carbon-containing gases such as methane and butane.
Research
A primary source of funding for research on liquid electrofuels for transportation was the Electrofuels Program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), headed by Eric Toone. ARPA-E, created in 2009 under President Obama’s Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, is the Department of Energy’s (DOE) attempt to duplicate the effectiveness of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA. Examples of projects funded under this program include OPX Biotechnologies’ biodiesel effort led by Michael Lynch and Derek Lovley’s work on microbial electrosynthesis at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which reportedly produced the first liquid electrofuel using CO2 as the feedstock. Descriptions of all ARPA-E Electrofuels Program research projects can be found at the ARPA-E Electrofuels Program website.The first Electrofuels Conference, sponsored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers was held in Providence, RI in November 2011. At that conference, Director Eric Toone stated that "Eighteen months into the program, we know it works. We need to know if we can make it matter." Several groups are beyond proof-of-principle, and are working to scale up cost-effectively.
Electrofuels have the potential to be disruptive if carbon-neutral electrofuels are cheaper than petroleum fuels, and if chemical feedstocks produced by electrosynthesis are cheaper than those refined from crude oil. Electrofuels also has significant potential in altering the renewable energy landscape, as electrofuels allows renewables from all sources to be stored conveniently as a liquid fuel.
As of 2014, prompted by the fracking boom, ARPA-E's focus has moved from electrical feedstocks to natural-gas based feedstocks, and thus away from electrofuels.Towards the end of 2020, Porsche announced its investment in electrofuels, including the Haru Oni project in Chile, creating synthetic methanol from wind power. In 2021, Audi announced that it was working on e-diesel and e-gasoline projects. British company Zero, which was founded in 2020 by former F1 engineer Paddy Lowe, has developed a process it terms 'petrosynthesis' to create sustainable fuel and has set up a development plant in Bicester Heritage business centre near Oxford.By 2021, the European Federation for Transport and Environment advised the aviation sector was needing e-kerosene to be deployed as it could substantially reduce the climate impact of aviation. It was also observing electrofuel usage in cars emits two significant greenhouse gases beyond CO2 captured for the production: methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O); local air pollution was still a concern, and it was five times less efficient than direct electrification.According to the eFuel Alliance, the perspective of the lack of efficiency of Electrofuels is misleading as what is critical for global energy transition is not the degree of efficiency of electricity’s end usage, but rather how efficiently electricity can be produced from renewable energies, and then made usable.
Projects
In September 2022, Finnish company Q Power sold P2X Solutions a synthetic methane production unit to be delivered in 2024 in Harjavalta, Finland, next to its 20 MW green hydrogen production plant. Ren-Gas has several synthetic methane production projects in Tampere, Lahti, Kotka, Mikkeli and Pori in Finland.
In December 2022, Porsche and Chilean operator Highly Innovative Fuels opened the Haru Oni pilot plant in Punta Arenas, Chile, with a wind turbine Capacity factor of 270 days a year, and producing ~130 m3 of eFuel per year in the pilot phase, scaling to 55,000 m3 per year by the mid-2020s, and 550,000 m3 two years later, to be exported through its port.
See also
References
External links
Lovett, Richard A. (June 17, 2013). "Electrofuels: Charged Microbes May "Poop Out" a Gasoline Alternative". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.(subscription required) |
marriott international | Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company was founded by J. Willard Marriott (1900–1985) and his wife Alice Marriott (1907–2000).
Profile
Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world by the number of available rooms. It has 31 brands with 8,000 properties containing 1,423,044 rooms in 139 countries and territories. Of these 8,000 properties, 2,149 are operated by Marriott, and 5,493 are operated by others pursuant to franchise agreements. The company also operates 20 hotel reservation centers.Marriott International, Inc. was formed in 1993 when Marriott Corporation split into two companies: Marriott International, Inc., which franchises and manages properties, and Host Marriott Corporation (now Host Hotels & Resorts), which owns properties.Since the founders were Mormon missionaries, copies of the Book of Mormon are provided in hotel rooms in addition to the Bible.
History
Founding and early years
Marriott Corporation was founded by John Willard Marriott in 1927 when he and his wife, Alice Marriott, opened a root beer stand in Washington, D.C. After serving a Mormon mission in New England, Marriott traveled to Washington, D.C. where he experienced the humid summer weather of the city. Marriott was convinced that what residents of the city needed was a place to get a cool drink, and so after returning to Utah and graduating from The University of Utah, Marriott purchased the rights to franchise an A&W root beer stand in Columbia Heights. The first summer saw brisk business, but as cold weather approached they realized the seasonal nature of their business and received permission from A&W to start selling food. He named the restaurant Hot Shoppes and watched as it grew in popularity. Always looking for new ways to improve his company, he bought the vacant lot next to one of his Hot Shoppes, removed the curb, and began offering the first drive-in service on the East Coast. This move popularized the restaurants, and by 1932, the Marriotts owned 7 Hot Shoppes in the D.C. area. In 1953, Hot Shoppes, Inc. became a public company via an initial public offering.The company opened its first hotel, the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, in Arlington, Virginia, on January 16, 1957. It cost $9 per night, plus an extra $1 for every person that was in the car. Its second hotel, the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia, was opened in 1957 and was Marriott International's longest continuously operating hotel until its closure in July 2021.Hot Shoppes, Inc. was renamed the Marriott Corporation in 1967.In 1976, the company opened two theme parks named Marriott's Great America in California and in Illinois. Six Flags acquired the latter in 1984, while Cedar Fair has owned the California park since 2006.
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. was formed in 1993 when Marriott Corporation split into two companies: Marriott International, Inc., which franchises and manages properties, and Host Marriott Corporation (now Host Hotels & Resorts), which owns properties.In 1995, Marriott was the first hotel company to offer online reservations.In April 1995, Marriott acquired a 49% interest in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Marriott believed that it could increase sales and profit margins for The Ritz-Carlton, a troubled chain with many properties either losing money or barely breaking even. The cost to Marriott was estimated to have been about $200 million in cash and assumed debt. The next year, Marriott spent $331 million to acquire The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta, and buy a majority interest in two properties owned by William Johnson, a real estate developer who had purchased The Ritz-Carlton, Boston in 1983 and expanded his Ritz-Carlton holdings over the next twenty years. Ritz-Carlton expanded into the timeshare market. Ritz Carlton benefited from Marriott's reservation system and buying power. In 1998, Marriott acquired majority ownership of The Ritz-Carlton.In 1997, the company acquired the Renaissance Hotels and Ramada brands from Chow Tai Fook Group and its associate company, New World Development. Marriott International also signed an agreement to manage hotels owned by New World Development.In 2001, the Marriott World Trade Center was destroyed during the September 11 attacks.
In 2002, CTF Hotel Holdings Inc., a company that owns a hotel in Hong Kong managed by Marriott, sued Marriott alleging that Marriott engaged in extortion and bribery. According to the allegations, Marriott contracted to receive audio-visual services from Molloy. Marriott paid an inflated amount to Molloy and pocketed the 1.7 million dollars above its fee. Marriott had to return the money to CTF Hotel. CTF Hotel also accused Marriott of accepting bribes from suppliers.In 2003, the company completed the corporate spin-off of its senior living properties (now part of Sunrise Senior Living) and Marriott Distribution Services. In the same year, the owners of the Marriott-operated, Town Hotels, sued Marriott for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and fraud. They claimed that Marriott along with the Avendra hotel chain violated West Virginia law by contracting with vendors and receiving "sponsorship fees" from them to provide services to Town Hotels, when according to the contract, Marriott was forbidden to profit from the contract except for management fees.
In 2004, the company sold its right to the Ramada brand to Cendant, acquired in 1997.In 2005, Marriott International and Marriott Vacation Club International were two of the 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the Second inauguration of George W. Bush.On July 19, 2006, Marriott implemented a smoking ban in all buildings it operated in the United States and Canada effective September 2006.In 2007, Marriott became the first hotel chain to serve food that is completely free of trans fats at all of its North American properties.Hotels franchised or operated by the company were affected by the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing, the Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing in 2008, and the 2009 Jakarta bombings.
On November 11, 2010, Marriott announced plans to add over 600 hotel properties by 2015, primarily in emerging markets: India, where it planned to have 100 hotel properties, China, and Southeast Asia.On January 21, 2011, Marriott said that adult movies would not be included in the entertainment offered at new hotels, which would use an Internet-based video on demand system.In 2011, Mitt Romney received $260,390 in director's fees from Marriott International, despite the fact that he had already stepped down from the board of directors to run for President of the United States. His released 2010 tax returns showed earnings in 2010 of $113,881 in director's fees from Marriott. In February 2012, Bloomberg News reported on Romney's years overseeing tax matters for Marriott, which had included several "scams" (quoting John McCain) and legal actions brought against Marriott, which Marriott lost in court, over its manipulations of the U.S. Tax Code.Effective March 31, 2012, Bill Marriott assumed the role of executive chairman of the company and relinquished the role of chief executive officer to Arne Sorenson.In December 2012, Guinness World Records recognized the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, a five star hotel, as the tallest hotel in the world.In 2013, the owners of the Madison 92nd Street Associates LLC, who contracted with Marriott to manage their hotel, sued Marriott for $400 million, alleging that Marriott had conspired with the workers' committee. They claimed that Marriott allowed the workers to unionize at the Madison-owned hotel in exchange for not unionizing at Marriott's flagship hotels.On October 3, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Marriott $600,000 for unlawful use of a "containment" feature of a Wi-Fi monitoring system to deliberately interfere with client-owned networks in the convention space of its Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. The scheme disrupted operation of clients' mobile phone hotspots via Wi-Fi deauthentication attacks. Marriott International, Inc., the American Hotel and Lodging Association and Ryman Hospitality Properties responded by unsuccessfully petitioning the FCC to change the rules to allow them to continue jamming client-owned networks, a position which they were forced to abandon in early 2015 in response to backlash from clients, mainstream media, major technology companies, and mobile carriers. The incident drew unfavorable publicity to Marriott's practice of charging exorbitant fees for Wi-Fi.On April 1, 2015, Marriott acquired Canadian hotel chain Delta Hotels, which operated 38 hotels at that time.On November 16, 2015, Marriott announced the acquisition of Starwood for $13 billion. A higher offer for Starwood at $14 billion from a consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group was announced March 3, 2016. After Marriott raised its bid to $13.6 billion on March 21, Starwood terminated the Anbang agreement and proceeded with the merger with Marriott. Following receipt of regulatory approvals, Marriott closed the merger with Starwood on September 23, 2016, creating the world's largest hotel company with over 5700 properties, 1.1 million rooms, and a portfolio of 30 brands. The Starwood acquisition gave Marriott a larger non-US presence; approximately 75% of Starwood's revenues were from non-US markets.On November 30, 2018, Marriott disclosed that the former Starwood brands had been subject to a data breach. After the disclosure, Attorney General of New York Barbara Underwood announced an investigation into the data breach. The cyberattack was found to be a part of a Chinese intelligence-gathering effort that also hacked health insurers and the security clearance files of millions more Americans. The hackers are suspected of working on behalf of the Ministry of State Security, the country's Communist-controlled civilian spy agency. Initially, Marriott said that 500 million customers' personal information had been exposed. In January 2019, the company updated the number of guests affected to "less than 383 million" customers, and claimed many of the customer's payment cards had expired.In 2019 and 2021, Marriott faced an investigation and a class action lawsuit in the US for its practice of charging resort fees that were not included in the room price, with the services included in these "resort fees" unclear. This method is prohibited in many parts of the world and is known as "drip pricing".In December 2019, the company acquired Elegant Hotels, operator of 7 hotels in Barbados.In February 2020, the company discovered a data breach that included the theft of contact information for 5.2 million customers.In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company instituted additional cleanliness standards, including requiring the use of electrostatic sprayers with disinfectant, adding disinfecting wipes in all hotel rooms, and removing or re-arranging furniture in public areas to allow more space for social distancing. During the pandemic, global occupancy fell as low as 31%.President and CEO Arne Sorenson died on February 15, 2021, from pancreatic cancer. On February 23, 2021, Anthony Capuano was appointed to fill Sorensen's vacancy as CEO and Director, having previously served as Marriott's group president of global development, design and operations.
In November 2021, the company was criticized for refusing to host the World Uyghur Congress at one of its properties in Prague, citing reasons of "political neutrality".In August 2022, employees began moving into the company's new 21-story, 785,000-square-foot headquarters building on Wisconsin Avenue, ahead of an official opening on September 21. The new building was constructed over four years as part of a $600 million downtown Bethesda campus, together with the adjacent Marriott Bethesda Downtown hotel.In 2023, a criminal investigation was opened against Marriott in Poland, claiming that it acted fraudulently and unethically against the Lim company, the owner of a Warsaw hotel. During the COVID-19 period, Marriott would not keep up the hotel's maintenance and shifted the costs of maintaining the empty hotel to the Lim Company. At the same time Marriott prevented the Lim Company from renting the hotel to the National Health Fund for doctors' housing or contracting for advertising deals until the Lim Company would pay unwarranted bonuses to Marriott.Also in the same year, on May 1, Marriott announced that it completed the acquisition of Mexican hotelier Hoteles City Express. By this move, Marriott officially entered the affordable midscale-segment under City Express by Marriott brands.
Awards
In November 2020, Marriott International was named as one of the "Top 75 Companies for Executive Women" by Working Mother.
In June 2022, Marriott was recognized by the International Hospitality Institute on the Global 100 in Hospitality, a list featuring the 100 Most Powerful People in Global Hospitality.
Senior leadership
From Marriott's founding in 1927 to 2012, the company's senior leadership was led by members of the Marriott family. In 2012, Arne Sorenson became the first non-Marriott family member to be appointed chief executive; this practice continued when Anthony Capuano was named his successor in 2021. The current practice is members of the Marriott family are named chairman while other company executives are named as chief executive.
Executive Chairman: David Marriott (since May 2022)
Chief Executive: Anthony Capuano (since February 2021)
List of former chairmen
J. Willard Marriott (1927–1985)
Bill Marriott (1985–2022)
List of former chief executives
J. Willard Marriott (1927–1972)
Bill Marriott (1972–2012)
Arne Sorenson (2012–2021)
Finances
Carbon footprint
Marriott International reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 5,166 Kt (-1,643 /-24.1% y-o-y) and aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection is a hotel brand of Marriott International with several notable hotels including Hotel Alfonso XIII, Gritti Palace Hotel, IVY Hotel + Residences, Hotel Imperial, ITC Grand Chola, Marqués de Riscal Hotel, The Nines, Palace Hotel, San Francisco, The Park Tower Knightsbridge Hotel, Phoenician Resort, Hotel President Wilson, The St. Anthony Hotel, and Royal Hawaiian Hotel. As of December 31, 2020, there were 118 hotels comprising 23,243 rooms operating under the brand. The Luxury Collection is notable as the first "soft brand" hotel chain.Most hotels of the brand are located in converted historic buildings, including palaces or older hotels. The brand also enlists notable designers to craft luxury travel accessories that are available exclusively on the brand's website.The Royal Penthouse Suite at Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, part of The Luxury Collection, billed at US$65,000 per night, is listed at the top of the World's 15 Most Expensive Hotel Suites list compiled by CNN in 2012.
History
The Luxury Collection brand began on January 13, 1992, when ITT Sheraton designated 28 of its most expensive hotels and 33 of the Sheraton Towers, as the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection.In February 1994, ITT Sheraton Hotels and Resorts acquired a controlling interest in CIGA (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company), an Italian international hotel chain that owned several luxury properties in Europe. The majority of the CIGA hotels were folded into The Luxury Collection. CIGA's original logo, the four horses of St. Mark, was kept for The Luxury Collection brand logo until 2010; each Luxury Collection hotel now uses its own logo.
In 2011, it embarked on an advertising campaign.In 2012, the brand announced a major expansion in Asia, particularly in China.In 2014, the brand signed Danish supermodel Helena Christensen as spokesperson.In 2015, the company launched a $700 million program to renovate properties.
Marriott brands
Marriott operates 30 brands internationally.
Luxury
Classic
JW Marriott Hotels
The Ritz-Carlton
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts
Distinctive
Edition Hotels
Bulgari Hotels & Resorts
W Hotels
Premium
Classic
Delta Hotels
Marriott Hotels & Resorts
Marriott Vacation Club
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Distinctive
Le Méridien
Renaissance Hotels
Westin Hotels
Gaylord Hotels
Select
Classic
Courtyard by Marriott
Fairfield by Marriott
Four Points by Sheraton
Protea Hotels by Marriott
SpringHill Suites
City Express
Distinctive
AC Hotels by Marriott
Aloft Hotels
Moxy Hotels
Long Stay
Classic
Marriott Executive Apartments
Residence Inn by Marriott
TownePlace Suites
Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy
Distinctive
Element Hotels
Homes & Villas by Marriott International
Collections
The Luxury Collection
Autograph Collection
Design Hotels
Tribute Portfolio
Great America parks
Marriott developed three theme parks, of which two opened: Marriott's Great America in Santa Clara, California and Marriott's Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. A third site was proposed but never built in the Washington D.C. area, but was cancelled due to strong opposition by surrounding residents. The parks were operated by Marriott from 1976 until 1984, and were themed to celebrate American history. The American-themed areas under Marriott's tenure of ownership included "Carousel Plaza" (the first section beyond the main gates); small-town-themed "Hometown Square"; "The Great Midwest Livestock Exposition At County Fair" with a Turn of the Century rural-fair theme; "Yankee Harbor", inspired by a 19th-century New England port; "Yukon Territory", resembling a Canadian/Alaskan logging camp; and the French Quarter-modeled "Orleans Place". At the opening, the parks had nearly identical layouts.In 1984, Marriott disposed of its theme park division; both parks were sold and today are associated with national theme park chains. The Gurnee location was sold to Six Flags where it operates today as Six Flags Great America. The Santa Clara location was sold to the City of Santa Clara, who retained the underlying property and sold the park to Kings Entertainment Company, renamed Paramount Parks in 1993. From 1993 to 2006, the Santa Clara location was known as Paramount's Great America. In 2006, Paramount Parks was acquired by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company; the Santa Clara park operates today as California's Great America. In the years after their sale, the layouts of both of the parks have diverged substantially.
Loyalty program
Marriott Bonvoy is Marriott's loyalty program and was formed in the February 2019 merger of its three former rewards programs: Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest.
Former loyalty programs
Starwood Preferred Guest (also known as SPG) was founded in 1999 as the first in the industry to enforce a policy of no blackout dates, no capacity controls, and online redemption. In 2012, Starwood Preferred Guest began offering lifetime status and a dedicated Starwood ambassador for loyal members.Ritz-Carlton Rewards was founded in 2010. Members were able to receive air miles instead of reward points and able to earn ten points (or two miles) for every dollar spent on any Ritz-Carlton room rates. Despite the restriction of membership to only one of the two programs, members of Ritz-Carlton Rewards were able to earn points in other Marriott hotels, while Marriott Rewards members were able to earn points at a Ritz-Carlton.
See also
2018 Marriott Hotels strike
References
Further reading
Marriott, Bill (2013). Without Reservations: How a Family Root Beer Stand Grew into a Global Hotel Company.
Marriott, John Willard Jr., and Kathi Ann Brown. The Spirit to Serve: Marriott's Way. First ed. New York: Harper Business, 1997.
External links
Official websiteBusiness data for Marriott International: |
wessex water | Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of South West England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Bristol, most of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire. Wessex Water supplies 1.3 million people with around 285 million litres of water a day.
It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991. In 2016, the company had about 2,100 employees.Wessex Water is owned by the Malaysian power company YTL Corporation. Its headquarters are on the outskirts of Bath in Claverton Down, in a modern energy-efficient building by Bennetts Associates and Buro Happold.
History
The company originated as the Wessex Water Authority, one of ten regional water authorities established by the Water Act 1973 which were privatised in 1989. Wessex Water Services Limited was purchased by American company Enron in 1998 for $2.4 billion and placed in a newly formed subsidiary, Azurix. Following Enron's collapse, Wessex Water was sold to YTL Power International of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2002.
The water authority had acquired the assets and duties of a number of public sector and local authority water utilities:
Bristol Avon River Authority
Somerset River Authority
Avon and Dorset River Authority (except the part of the area of that drains to the River Lim)
Bath Corporation
Dorset Water Board
North Wilts Water Board
South Wilts Water Board
Wessex Water Board
West Somerset Water Board
West Wilts Water Board
Bournemouth and District Water Company
Bristol Waterworks Company
Cholderton and District Water Company
West Hampshire Water Company
West Lulworth Water UndertakingFour people, three of them Wessex Water employees, were killed in an explosion at a company site in Avonmouth on 3 December 2020.
Customer service
Wessex Water achieved a score of 4.53 in Ofwat’s ‘Satisfaction by company’ survey 2012/13 (5 being ‘very satisfied’).
Drinking water quality
In 2013 Wessex Water's compliance with drinking water standards exceeded 99.9% and the company maintained 100% compliance with sewage treatment discharge consents.
Leakage
In both 2011/12 and 2012/13 the company's leakage figure was 69 million litres per day, compared to a yearly average of 73 million litres per day between 2005–10.
Carbon footprint
Wessex Water's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 119 kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2018/19, compared to 149 kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2011/12 and 159 kilotonnes in 2012/13.
Reservoirs and lakes
The company owns and manages several reservoirs including Blashford Lakes in Hampshire, Clatworthy Reservoir, Durleigh Reservoir, Hawkridge Reservoir, Otterhead Lakes, Sutton Bingham Reservoir and Tucking Mill in Somerset, many of which, in addition to supplying drinking water, are used for recreation and as nature reserves.
GENeco
Wessex Water's GENeco subsidiary, established in 2009, operates sewage treatment works. It recycles waste, produces renewable energy and provides the agricultural industry with fertiliser. In summer 2010, GENeco launched the Bio-Bug, a modified VW Beetle that runs on bio-gas generated from waste treated at sewage treatment works. Waste flushed down the toilets of just 70 homes in Bristol is enough to power the Bio-Bug for a year, based on an annual mileage of 10,000 miles.In November 2014, the UK's first bus powered entirely by human and food waste went into service between Bristol and Bath, run by tour operator Bath Bus Company. Since 2019, biomethane powers buses on one of Bristol's MetroBus routes. The gas is produced at the company's "bioresources and renewable energy park" in Avonmouth, which is run by GENeco.
Environmental record
May 1998 – Found guilty of discharging over 1 million gallons of raw sewage into a Weymouth, Dorset, marina on August Bank Holiday Monday 1997, the busiest day of the year. The company was fined £5,000 with £500 costs.
March 1999 – Ranked 4th in the top ten list of "worst polluters" in England by the Environment Agency.
May 2002 – Fined £8,000 for causing pollution in Dowlais Brook, Cwmbran in June 2001.
April 2003 – Fined £5,000 with £1,000 costs at Minehead Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter the Washford River in Somerset.
July 2003 – Described by the Environment Agency as one of the worst "repeat offenders" for pollution incidents.
2004 – Fined six times for environmental pollution incidents.
May 2007 – Fined £1,500 with £1,589 costs by Bristol magistrates after pleading guilty to one offence under the Water Resources Act 1991 of causing sewage to enter controlled waters. Untreated sewage had been allowed to pollute the River Frome in July 2006. The river was polluted again with untreated sewage at Frampton Cotterell in February 2007 and April 2007.
April 2008 – Fined £3,000 with £1,960 costs for allowing sewage to pollute the River Stour.
March 2010 – Fined £6,000 with £2,235 costs at Weymouth Magistrates' Court after allowing sewage to pollute the River Stour near Shaftesbury in March 2009.
References
External links
Official website |
plains all american pipeline | Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a master limited partnership engaged in pipeline transport, marketing, and storage of liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum in the United States and Canada. Plains owns interests in 18,370 miles (29,560 km) of pipelines, storage capacity for about 75 million barrels of crude oil, 28 million barrels of NGLs, 68 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 5 natural gas processing plants. The company is headquartered in the Allen Center in Downtown Houston, Texas. Plains (NASDAQ: PAA) is a publicly traded Master limited partnership. PAA owns an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage and gathering assets in key crude oil and NGL producing basins and transportation corridors and at major market hubs in the United States and Canada.
History
The company began in 1981 as a small oil and gas exploration and production company called Plains Resources. The company became a public company via an initial public offering in 1998.Major acquisitions include:
1998 - All American Pipeline System
1999 - Scurlock Oil Company Permian and west Texas pipeline from Chevron Corporation for $35 million
2001 - Midstream operations of Murphy Oil for $155 million
2001 - CANPET Energy Group, a liquified gas marketing company based in Canada, for $42 million
2004 - Capline Pipeline System
2004 - Link Energy pipeline system for $273 million
2005 - Assets in Louisiana from Shell Oil Company for $12 million
2006 - Pacific Energy Partners for $2.4 billion
2008 - Rainbow oil pipeline in Northern Alberta
2012 - Canadian NGL business from BP
2017 - Alpha Crude Connector gathering system and pipeline in the Permian Basin for $1.2 billion.
2019- The Cactus II Pipeline System enters service, capable of transporting 670,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Wink, Texas to Corpus Christi.
2021- Plains Oryx Permian Basin, a joint venture between Plains and Oryx Midstream Services, is formed. The combined system includes ~5,500 miles of pipeline, ~6.8 million barrels per day of pipeline capacity, and ~16.9 million barrels operational storage capacity.
Financial performance and credit ratings
The company earned a profit in nine of the ten calendar years from 2013 to 2022. It reported a $2.59 billion loss for calendar year 2020. Management attributed the 2020 loss to the COVID-19 global pandemic, which reduced demand for energy products. In response, the company recorded goodwill impairment losses and non-cash impairment charges of some $3.4 billion in 2020.
As of August 2023, Plains All American's senior unsecured debt was rated Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service, and BBB- by Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. All three ratings are generally considered "investment grade."
Carbon footprint
Plains All American Pipeline reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 1,929 Kt (-290 /-13.1% y-o-y).
Controversies
2010 settlement
In 2010, the company agreed to pay a $3.25 million civil penalty for violating the Clean Water Act and to spend $41 million to upgrade more than 10,000 miles of crude oil pipelines after the United States Environmental Protection Agency pressed charges regarding 10 pipeline spills in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas between June 2004 and September 2007 that spilled over 273,000 gallons of crude oil, some of which ended up in rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Little Buffalo oil spill
The 2011 Little Buffalo oil spill was one of the largest land-based oil spills in North America, the largest oil spill in Alberta in 36 years, and the second spill in Alberta within a two-week period. The Rainbow Pipeline system, owned by Plains Midstream Canada, ruptured on April 29, 2011, spilling 28,000 barrels of oil in a fairly isolated stretch of boreal forest in northern Alberta, about four miles from the nearest homes in Little Buffalo, Alberta. The local school was closed due to concerns about the effects of fumes. The incident resulted in charges against the company in 2013. In 2013, the Energy Resources Conservation Board of Alberta reprimanded the company for operational failures in connection with the oil spill.
Rangeland Pipeline Incident
Heavy rains in early June 2012 caused a leak on a 46-year-old Plains Midstream Canada pipeline at Jackson Creek, Alberta, a tributary of the Red Deer River, which spilled approximately 1,000-3,000 barrels of light sour crude into the Red Deer River. The company was charged in 2014.
Refugio oil spill
On May 19, 2015, a pipeline operated by the company ruptured northwest of Santa Barbara, California. Within 24 hours, oil polluted approximately 9 miles of the Santa Barbara coast. The spill shut down the popular El Capitán State Beach and Campground during Memorial Day weekend, just prior to the beginning of the summer high season. The spill leaked 105,000 US gallons (2,500 bbl), including 20,000 US gallons (480 bbl) that reached the Pacific Ocean. The United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce opened an investigation into the oil spill on June 25, 2015. Companies are required to report to the National Response Center on the release of hazardous-material "at the earliest practicable moment."; however, the company did not initially report the spill. According to preliminary findings of the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration released in June 2015, corrosion had worn a pipeline section to less than an inch thick. By June 2015 the cost of cleanup rose to USD$92 million. Santa Barbara County firefighters were among the first to discover the spill, before being notified by the company, and they "built a rim of rocks to prevent oil from running to the shoreline." In March 2020, the company agreed to pay over $60 million in penalties related to the incident.
Byhalia Connection pipeline
In December 2019, the company announced a joint venture with Valero Energy Corp. to build the Byhalia Connection pipeline – a crude oil pipeline system that would run 49 miles from Memphis to Marshall County, Mississippi, and connect two existing crude oil pipelines: the Diamond pipeline and the Capline pipeline. Concerns over the pipeline's route through the Memphis Sand aquifer, as well as the city's predominantly Black neighborhoods, sparked an opposition movement. The struggle to stop the pipeline gained widespread attention, with environmental and social justice advocates like Jane Fonda and Danny Glover lending their support. Former Vice-President Al Gore called the pipeline a “reckless, racist rip-off,” and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen asked President Joe Biden to consider revoking the project's federal permit. After defending the pipeline and then putting its planned construction on hold in May 2021, the company announced on July 2, 2021 that it was abandoning the project. Community leader Justin J. Pearson called the pipeline’s cancellation an “extraordinary testament to what Memphis and Shelby County can do when citizens build power toward justice.”
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.: |
jsw steel | JSW Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel producer based in Mumbai and is a flagship company of the JSW Group. After the merger of Bhushan Power & Steel, Ispat Steel and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited, JSW Steel became India's second largest private sector steel company.
History
JSW Steel's history can be traced back to 1982, when the Jindal Group acquired Piramal Steel Limited, which operated a mini steel mill at Tarapur in Maharashtra and renamed it as Jindal Iron and Steel Company (JISCO). Soon after the acquisition the group set up its first steel plant in 1982 at Vasind, near Mumbai.Later, in 1994, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited (JVSL) was set up with its plant located at Toranagallu in the Bellary-Hospet area in the State of Karnataka, the heart of the iron ore belt and spread over 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land. It is well connected to both the Mormugao Port and Chennai Port and is 340 kilometres from Bangalore. It is said to be the sixth largest steel plant in the world.In the year 2005, JISCO and JVSL merged to form JSW Steel Limited. It also set up a plant at Salem with an annual capacity of 1 million tonnes.
Operations
As of July 2023, the installed with a production capacity of 29.7 MTPA in India and the United States. The company is aiming to boost the total steel production capacity to 38.5 MTPA by the financial year 2025.As of April 2023, nearly 98% of JSW Steel's revenue comes from steel and related products — long rolled products (18%), galvanised coils/sheets (15%), CR coils/sheets (9%), plates/pipes (5%), other miscellaneous steel products (5%), and iron ore (2%), in that order. Overall, 70% of revenue is derived from India, and 30% is from overseas. The company historical emphasis has primarily been on flat products, stemming from its origins in a cold rolling mill. As part of its corporate strategy, the company typically directs half of its flat products to downstream facilities for additional value-enhancing processes like galvanizing, coating, or tinning.
Carbon footprint
JSW Steel reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 March 2021 at 37,523.07 Kt (-2,998 /-8.6% y-o-y).
JSW Steel plans to utilize energy from a forthcoming 3,800-tonne hydrogen plant at its Vijayanagar facility, aiming to provide green steel at a premium price within the next 18-24 months. The company has established an agreement with its affiliate, JSW Energy, to procure green hydrogen and green oxygen for the production of sustainable steel. Additionally, the company will earn carbon credits based on the amount of conventional thermal power that is substituted with green energy. By 2030, the company plans to set up a green steel plant to comply with the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and gradually reduce it use of blast furnaces throughout its value chain.
Plants
JSW Vijaynagar Works (also known as Integrated Steel Plant, Vijaynagar): It is a flagship plant of the company, which also stands as the largest single-location steel manufacturing unit across India. At present, the plant is in the midst of a brownfield expansion aimed at increasing its current capacity from 13 MTPA to 18 MTPA by FY24. This expansion will cover 600 acres and involve the addition of a 4.5 MTPA blast furnace, two steel melt shops of 350 tonnes each, a 5 MTPA hot strip mill, alongside various other related facilities.
JSW Dolvi Works (also known as Integrated Steel Plant, Dolvi)
JSW Sambalpur Works (also known as Integrated Steel Plant, Rengali)
JSW Salav Works, previously known as Welspun Maxsteel Limited
JSW Kalmeshwar Works
JSW Tarapur Works
JSW Salem Works
JSW Vasind Works
Merger and acquisitions
In 2007, JSW Steel formed a joint venture for a steel plant in Georgia. Any by 2020, it sold of 39 percent stake which it held in JV to Georgian Steel Group Holdings Limited.In 2009, Japan's JFE Steel, entered into a strategic partnership with JSW Steel to produce automotive steel products.In 2014, it acquired Welspun Maxsteel Limited in a deal valued at around INR 1,000 Crores.In 2019, JSW Steel acquired Bhushan Power & Steel. This resulted in the absorption of an integrated steel plant in Rengali, Sambalpur, with a capacity of 2.5 million tonnes annually.in 2020, JSW Ispat Steel was acquired by JSW Steel, 20 months after the latter acquired a controlling stake in Monnet Ispat Industries.In April 2021, the company acquired Plate and Coil Mill Division (PCMD) of Welspun Corp for a sum of ₹848.5 cr.In October 2021, JSW Steel acquired 51% stake in Neotrex Steel from JSW Group promoters and entered into an under-construction project to manufacture Low Relaxation Prestressed Concrete (LRPC).In October 2022, JSW Steel initiated a process to acquire Central-India based National Steel & Agro (NSAIL) through resolution plan submitted under the corporate insolvency resolution process. The company makes flat steel products such as cold-rolled coil, galvanised corrugated sheets, colour coil and pre-painted profile sheets and owes lenders over Rs 1,600 crore. In May 2023, the company got the final nod from National Company Law Tribunal for the acquisition.In January 2023, JSW Steel entered into an agreement via one of its subsidiary to acquire 31 percent stake in startup Ayena Innovation which deals in home furnishings and interior decoration sector.In May 2023, JSW Steel reached an in-principle agreement with JFE Steel to establish a 50:50 joint venture to manufacture cold-rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) electrical steel in India.
Mining acquisitions
JSW Steel currently possesses a total of 13 iron ore mines, with nine located in Karnataka and four in Odisha. Additionally, they have obtained three coking coal mines. During the fiscal year 2022, the company fulfilled 43% of its iron ore needs from its own mines.In May 2023, JSW Steel bagged iron ore blocks in the Surjagarh area of Maoist-affected Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra after bidding for a composite license through government auctions.As of 2023, discussions are underway between the company and BHP regarding the potential acquisition of the latter's Daunia and Faunus coking coal mines in Queensland. These mines possess a capacity of 20 million metric tons per annum (MTPA). In the past, JSW Steel has additionally acquired mining assets in the United States, the Republic of Chile, and Mozambique.Based on the latest information as of August 2023, JSW Steel is actively seeking partners to put forth a proposal to acquire a 75% share in Teck Resources' coal mining assets. This move could potentially compete with a substantial $8 billion bid made by the commodities giant Glencore.
Awards and recognitions
Deming Prize 2018 for JSW Vijaynagar Works.
Deming Prize 2019 for JSW Salem Works.
S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2021 for Emerging Markets.
World Steel Association’s Steel Sustainability Champion (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022).
Great Places to Work Certified 2023-2024.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for JSW Steel Ltd: Reuters Google Finance BloombergQuint |
amgen | Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. One of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen's Thousand Oaks staff in 2022 numbered approximately 5,000 (8.5% of total city employment) and included hundreds of scientists, making Amgen the largest employer in Ventura County. As of 2022, Amgen has approximately 24,000 staff in total.In 2019, the company's largest selling products were Enbrel (etanercept), a tumor necrosis factor blocker used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, and Neulasta (pegfilgrastim), an immunostimulator used to prevent infections in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy. Other marketed products include Evenity (romosozumab-aqqg), Otezla (apremilast), Prolia (denosumab), Repatha (evolocumab), and Lumakras (sotorasib).
History
Amgen was established in Thousand Oaks in 1980. The name "AMGen" is a portmanteau of the company's original name, Applied Molecular Genetics, which became the official name of the company in 1983 (three years after incorporation and coincident with its initial public offering). The company's first chief executive officer, from 1980, was co-founder George B. Rathmann, followed by Gordon M. Binder in 1988, followed by Kevin W. Sharer in 2000. Robert A. Bradway became Amgen's president and chief executive officer in May 2012 following Sharer's retirement. Amgen sponsored the Tour of California from 2011 to 2017.
Timeline
1980: Founded in Thousand Oaks, California, as Applied Molecular Genetics, Amgen was backed by a small group of venture capitalists. Its focus in early days was on recombinant DNA technology and recombinant human insulin. William Bowes from Cetus Corporation recruits Winston Salser from UCLA to start Amgen with a scientific advisory board consisting of Norman Davidson, Leroy Hood, Arnold Berk, John Carbon, Robert Schimke, Arno Motulsky, Marvin H. Caruthers, and Dave Gibson. In October, Amgen named George Rathmann its first president and chief executive officer.
1983: On June 17, Amgen went public, selling two million common shares and raising nearly $40 million. That same year, after more than two years of work, an Amgen research team led by Fu-Kuen Lin had a breakthrough in finding and cloning the erythropoietin gene, a protein created in the kidney that stimulates red blood cell production. Lin's team created what would become Epogen (epoetin alfa).
1984: In June, Amgen and Kirin formed a joint venture giving Kirin the rights to Epogen in Japan.
1985: Amgen researcher Larry Souza and his team cloned granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), leading to the development of Neupogen (filgrastim).
1988: In October, Gordon Binder was named CEO, succeeding George Rathmann.
1989: Amgen received approval for the first recombinant human erythropoetin product, Epogen (epoetin alfa).
1991: In February 1991, Amgen received FDA approval for Neupogen for the prevention of infections in patients whose immune systems are suppressed due to cancer chemotherapy. A 2002 meta-analysis found that Neupogen treatment reduced the risk of febrile neutropenia by 38%, reduced the risk of documented infection by 49%, and reduced the risk of infection-related mortality by 40%.
1993: In March, Amgen opened a new manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico, which later became the company's flagship manufacturing site.
1994: Amgen became the fifth company to receive the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Medal of Technology and Innovation, in recognition of its work developing medicines to improve quality of life for kidney and cancer patients. Also around this time, Amgen researcher Steve Elliott and his team added more sugar molecules to erythropoietin, causing it to remain in the body longer. This led to the development of Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa).
1998: In November 1998, Immunex, a future acquisition of Amgen, received approval for Enbrel (etanercept), the first rheumatoid arthritis drug targeting tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). A 2006 assessment by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence of the United Kingdom concluded that etanercept and related rheumatoid arthritis drugs later introduced by competitors "are effective treatments compared with placebo for RA patients who are not well controlled by conventional DMARDs, improving control of symptoms, improving physical function, and slowing radiographic changes in joints." A more recent study demonstrated that compared to traditional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, treatment with etanercept improved survival, reduced cardiovascular events and reduced the incidence of hematological cancers.
2000: In May, Kevin Sharer became Amgen's third CEO, following Gordon Binder's retirement.
2001: Aranesp received FDA approval in September.
2002: At the beginning of the year, the FDA approved Neulasta. In July, Amgen acquired Immunex, the developer of Enbrel (etanercept).
2004: Sensipar (cinacalcet) was approved by the FDA. Also, Amgen acquired Tularik, another biotechnology company, expanding the company's research and development pipeline.
2006: In April, Amgen acquired Abgenix, the developer of Vectibix (panitumumab), a treatment developed for certain patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Vectibix was approved by the FDA in September 2006.
2008: In August, Nplate (romiplostim) was approved by the FDA.
2010: On June 6, 2010, Amgen received FDA approval for Prolia, a protein drug for the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis. In clinical trials, Prolia reduced the rate of vertebral fractures by 61% and the risk of hip fractures by 40%. In November 2010 the FDA approved Xgeva for the prevention of complications of bone metastases in patients with solid tumors. The clinical trials primarily enrolled patients with breast or prostate cancer.
2011: Amgen acquired a manufacturing facility near Dublin, Ireland, in March. In May, Amgen acquired BioVex, developer of Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec). In December, Amgen and Watson Pharmaceuticals announced a collaboration to develop and commercialize several biosimilar medicines worldwide.
2012: Illegal marketing practices. The Los Angeles Times reported on December 18, 2012, that Amgen pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $150 million in criminal penalty and $612 million to resolve 11 related whistleblower complaints. Federal prosecutors accused the company of pursuing profits while putting patients at risk. Larry Husten, a contributor at Forbes.com elaborates on AMGEN's illegal marketing practices in this case, namely that the "government accused Amgen of marketing Aranesp for indications not approved by the FDA and other illegal marketing practices". One of the drugs mentioned in the lawsuit had sales of $492 million in the third quarter of 2012, down 17% from the same quarter the previous year due to "reimbursement problems and label changes".
2013: Lawmakers inserted text into the fiscal cliff bill that will allow the drugmaker to sell a class of drugs that includes Sensipar without government controls for an additional two years. The New York Times estimated that the paragraph in the fiscal cliff bill will cost taxpayers an estimated $500 million but other assessments concluded that the change would protect seniors in rural areas and reduce overall Medicare spending. Amgen acquired Micromet, a company focused on BiTE technology, in March. In May, Kevin Sharer retired, and Robert Bradway, formerly Amgen's president and chief operating officer, became CEO. In June, Amgen acquired Turkish company Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals, expanding Amgen's presence in Turkey and nearby areas. In July, Amgen acquired KAI Pharmaceuticals, developer of Parsabiv (etelcalcetide). Amgen acquired Iceland-based deCODE Genetics in December. Amgen also opened an affiliate in China.
2013: In October, Amgen acquired Onyx Pharmaceuticals, developer of Kyprolis (carfilzomib).
2014: In November the company announced it was halting all trials of rilotumumab in advanced gastric cancer patients after one of the trials found more deaths in those who took the compound with chemotherapy, than those without. Later in the same week, the company in conjunction with AstraZeneca reported positive results for brodalumab in a Phase III trial comparing the compound with ustekinumab and a placebo in treating psoriasis.
2014: In November, construction was completed on Amgen's next-generation biomanufacturing facility in Singapore. Blincyto (blinatumomab) was approved by the FDA in December.
2015: In March, the company announced it would license its Phase II candidate drug AMG 714 to developer Celimmune who plan to develop the anti-IL-15 monoclonal antibody for treatment against diet nonresponsive celiac disease and refractory celiac disease.
2015: Repatha (evolocumab) was approved by the FDA in August. In September the company announced it would acquire Dezima Pharma for more than $1.55 billion. The same day the company announced a collaboration with Xencor on 6 early stage immuno-oncology and inflammation programmes. As part of the deal Amgen will pay $45 million upfront, with the deal being worth up to another $1.7 billion. In October, the FDA approved Imlygic.
2016: In September, the company announced it would purchase the rights to Boehringer Ingelheims Phase I bispecific T-cell engager compound (BI 836909, now AMG 420) for use in the treatment of multiple myeloma. Also in September, the FDA approved Amjevita (adalimumab-atto).
2017: Cash returned to shareholders totalled a record $6.5 billion through dividends and share repurchases. The FDA approved Parsabiv in February and Mvasi (bevacizumab-awwb) in September. In October, the Amgen Foundation pledged $3 million to Khan Academy to support the development of free online biology lessons.
2018: Amgen was ranked 123 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. In May, Aimovig (erenumab-aooe) was approved by the FDA. Amgen began constructing a next-generation biomanufacturing plant at its West Greenwich, Rhode Island, campus in July.
2019: In January, Evenity (romosozumab) received approval in Japan, followed by FDA approval in April. In June, Kanjinti (trastuzumab-anns) was approved by the FDA. Amgen announced it would acquire Nuevolution AB for 1.61 billion Swedish crowns ($166.8 million) to enhance its drug discovery capabilities. In August the company announced it would acquire the Otezla drug programme from Celgene for $13.4 billion, as part of Celgene and Bristol-Myers Squibbs merger deal. In October, Amgen announced it would be acquiring a 20.5% stake in the Beijing-based BeiGene for $2.7 billion. In November, Amgen awarded a $2 million grant to the CDC Foundation to launch the latter's EmPOWERED Health Program, promoting patient engagement in decision making for their cancer treatment. In December, the FDA approved Avsola (infliximab-axxq).
2020: In January, the Amgen Foundation and Harvard University debuted LabXchange, a free online science education platform. Amgen and the Amgen Foundation announced a commitment of up to $12.5 million to support COVID-19 relief efforts in March. In April, Amgen established Amgen K.K. as the company's wholly-owned affiliate in Japan. Amgen announced in July that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had upheld the validity of two Amgen patents that described and claimed Enbrel and methods for making it. The appellate court affirmed an August 2019 decision by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and rejected Sandoz's attempt to invalidate the patents on Enbrel. Also in July, Amgen granted an additional $3 million Khan Academy to support educational equity and science learning. Amgen joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average on August 24, 2020. In September, Amgen and Eli Lilly and Company announced a global manufacturing collaboration for COVID-19 antibody therapies. On December 10, Amgen announced that it joined OneTen, a coalition of large employers that aims to hire and advance one million black Americans over the next ten years. Later that month, the FDA approved Riabni (rituximab-arrx), a biosimilar to Rituxan.
2021: In March, the company announced it would acquire Five Prime Therapeutics and its lead candidate, bemarituzumab, for $1.9 billion and Rodeo Therapeutics for up to $720 million. The FDA approved Amgen's Lumakras in May for treatment of patients with KRAS-G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. In June, Amgen and Kyowa Kirin announced joint plans to develop and commercialize a treatment for atopic dermatitis. In July, Amgen acquired Teneobio for $900 million. In October, Amgen and Neumora Therapeutics announced a research and development collaboration focused on novel precision therapies for certain brain diseases. Amgen began construction on a new biomanufacturing plant in New Albany, Ohio, in November. In December, the FDA approved Amgen and AstraZeneca's Tezspire (tezepelumab) for severe asthma. The FDA also approved Amgen's Otezla for adults with plaque psoriasis of any severity level.
2022: In January, Amgen announced a research collaboration with Generate Biomedicines across multiple modalities and several therapeutic areas for up to $1.9 billion. The company also launched a multi-target collaboration with Arrakis Therapeutics to identify novel targeted RNA degrader therapeutics. The next month, Amgen entered a multi-year collaboration with Plexium to discover novel targeted protein degradation therapies. Also in February, Amgen issued its first green bond to fund various environmentally friendly initiatives across the company. The company broke ground on a new manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, in March. In August, the company agreed to acquire ChemoCentryx for $3.7 billion in an all-cash deal. ChemoCentryx is the maker of Tavneos—a drug treatment for rare diseases called anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis—which was approved last year. In December, the company announced it would acquire Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion ($116.50 in cash for each Horizon share, a 20% premium) expanding its rare disease treatments.
2023: Amgen completed the acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics in October 2023.
Acquisition history
Products
Amgen's approved drugs or therapeutic biologicals include:
Aimovig (erenumab-aooe) for migraine headaches
Amjevita (adalimumab)
Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) for anemia
Blincyto (blinatumomab for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia)
Corlanor (ivabradine)
Enbrel (etanercept) for various forms of arthritis
Epogen (erythropoietin) for anemia
Evenity (romosozumab-aqqg) for osteoporosis
Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec) for local treatment of unresectable cutaneous, subcutaneous, and nodal lesions in melanoma recurrent after initial surgery
Kanjinti (trastuzumab-anns)
Kyprolis (carfilzomib)
Lumakras (sotorasib)
Mvasi (bevacizumab-awwb)
Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) for neutropenia
Neupogen (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) for neutropenia
Nplate (romiplostim) for chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura
Otezla (apremilast)
Parsabiv (etelcalcetide)
Prolia (denosumab) for postmenopausal osteoporosis
Repatha (evolocumab)
Riabni (rituximab-arrx)
Sensipar/Mimpara (cinacalcet for primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism, a mineral metabolism complication common in patients with kidney failure)
Tezspire (tezepelumab-ekko)
Vectibix (panitumumab for colon cancer)
Xgeva (denosumab) for the prevention of skeletal-related events (pathological fracture, radiation to bone, spinal cord compression or surgery to bone in adults with bone metastases from solid tumors)
Products developed and then sold off
Kepivance (palifermin for oral mucositis, sold to Biovitrium, now Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, in December 2008
StemGen (ancestim) for use in combination with filgrastim for mobilizing peripheral hematopoietic stem cells) (sold to Biovitrium, now Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, in December 2008)
Kineret (anakinra) for rheumatoid arthritis, exclusively licensed to Biovitrium, now Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, in December 2008
Pipeline and clinical trials
As of August 2022, Amgen had 17 clinical programs underway in Phase III, eight in Phase II, and 19 in Phase I.In September 2019, FDA granted fast track designation to sotorasib for the treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) with the KRAS G12C mutation.In August 2020, Amgen, Takeda, and AbbVie, as part of a COVID-19 research and development (R&D) alliance, announced the first patients enrolled in the I-SPY COVID clinical trial. The trial evaluated the efficacy of Otezla and two other medicines in severely ill, hospitalized COVID-19 patients who required high-flow oxygen.In October 2020, Amgen announced positive topline Phase 2 results from the CodeBreaK 100 clinical study, evaluating sotorasib in 126 patients with KRAS G12C-mutant advanced NSCLC who had failed three or fewer prior lines of anti-cancer therapies (including immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy). Amgen, the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research, and Eisai Co., Ltd. also announced enrollment of the first patient in a study testing multiple interventions for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19.In November 2020, Amgen, Takeda, and UCB, as part of the COVID R&D alliance, announced the first patient enrolled in another trial evaluating Otezla and two other drugs as treatments for COVID-19. Amgen also announced that it would terminate its collaboration with Cytokinetics and transition the development and commercialization rights for omecamtiv mecarbil and AMG 594. Amgen and AstraZeneca announced positive topline results from a Phase 3 trial in which the investigational medicine tezepelumab demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in exacerbations in patients with severe asthma.In December 2020, the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to sotorasib for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients with KRAS G12C mutation.In May 2021, sotorasib received accelerated approval from FDA for treatment of adult patients with NSCLC whose tumors have a KRAS G12C mutation and who have received at least one prior systemic therapy; this was the first approved targeted therapy for tumors with any KRAS mutation. Similar approvals for sotorasib in NSCLC followed in January 2022 in Europe and Japan.In September 2022, data from a late-stage study showed the company's cancer pill Lumakras beating out chemotherapy. This was the first approved drug in the set of treatments that target KRAS, among the most common generic mutations found in cancers but one where researchers have struggled for years to design drugs to treat. The drug was approved in 2021 with a list price of $17,900 per month.
Carbon footprint
Amgen reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 243 Kt (-6 /-2.4% y-o-y) and aims to reach net zero emissions by 2027.
Public-private engagement
Amgen engages with the public and private sectors in a variety of settings including to promote research and development, academic funding, event sponsorship, philanthropy, and political lobbying.
Academia
Institute for Advanced Study - Donor to various IAS campaigns, including the IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI), the Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE), and the Opportunity Equation (OE).
LA Promise Fund - Sponsor of the Amgen Biotech Experience Los Angeles (ABE-LA).
University of Toronto - Donor to U of T's Boundless campaign.
University of Washington - Donor.
Events and conferences
Alberta Kidney Days - Virtual series sponsor.
BC Kidney Days - Sponsor.
Mentoring in IBD - Sponsor.
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC) Conference - Sponsor.
Health care
Kingston General Hospital - Donor.
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - Donor to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.
Providence Health Care - Donor.
Scarborough Health Network - Donor to the SHN Foundation.
SickKids - Donor to the SickKids Foundation.
Sinai Health System - Donor to the Sinai Health Foundation.
St. Michael's Hospital - Donor.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre - Donor to the Sunnybrook Foundation.
Unity Health Toronto - Donor.
University Health Network - Donor to the UHN Foundation.
Women's College Hospital - Donor.
Media
National Geographic Society - Donor.
Medical societies
American Society of Hematology - Corporate funder.
Arthritis Society (Canada) - Partner.
Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists - Donor to the CSHP Foundation.
Canadian Society of Nephrology - Corporate partner.
Endocrine Society - Corporate liaison board member.
European Society of Cardiology - Sponsor for the EORP registry programme.
Federation of Medical Women in Canada - Sponsor.
Political lobbying
Alliance for a Stronger FDA - Member.
Alliance for Aging Research - Donor.
BIOTECanada - Member.
Bipartisan Policy Center - Donor.
The Business Council - Member, represented by Amgen chairman and CEO Robert A. Bradway.
CDC Foundation - Funding partner.
Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) - Industry partner.
Council on Foreign Relations - Affiliate.
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) - Member.
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) - Donor.
Global Health Progress - Partner. GHP is a multinational resource hub hosted by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA).
Health Products Stewardship Association - Member.
Innovative Medicines Canada - Member company.
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) - Member.
Life Sciences British Columbia - Sponsor.
Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles - Disaster relief grant provider.
National Health Council - Member.
Personalized Medicine Coalition - Member.
Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB) - Client. PAAB "maintains a collaborative relationship” with Health Canada.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) - Member.
Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration - Donor.
Research!America - Member.
Professional associations
British Columbia Pharmacy Association - Sponsor.
Canadian Association of Gastroenterology - Corporate sponsor.
Canadian Association of Radiologists - Corporate partner.
Canadian Rheumatology Association - Corporate sponsor.
Canadian Urological Association - Corporate sponsor.
Colorectal Cancer Canada - Sponsor.
Ontario Medical Association - Donor.
Research and development
Alberta Kidney Disease Network - Grant provider.
Can-SOLVE CKD Network - Funding partner.
Urban Institute - Donor.
See also
Kirin-Amgen v Hoechst Marion Roussel, a UK patent case decided by the House of Lords
Amgen Inc. v. Harris, a United States Supreme Court case on employment law.
Evolocumab
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Amgen: |
sherwin-williams | Sherwin-Williams Company is an American company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is primarily engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers, primarily in North and South America and Europe. At the end of 2020, Sherwin-Willams had operations in over 120 countries.
History
Sherwin-Williams dates from 1866, when Cleveland bookkeeper Henry Sherwin invested in Truman Dunham & Co., a paint distributorship. After the partnership dissolved in 1870, he formed Sherwin, Williams, & Co. with Edward Williams and A.T. Osborn. For its first factory, in 1873 the company acquired a cooperage in Cleveland from Standard Oil.Sherwin-Williams was incorporated in Ohio on July 16, 1884, two years after Osborn sold his interest in the company while retaining the retail operations. The company grew through acquisitions and expansions in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the early 1920s, the company became the largest coatings manufacturer in the U.S.Sherwin-Williams experienced a downturn in the 1970s, and Gulf and Western Industries unsuccessfully attempted to take over. The company recovered by fending off the raid and undergoing a series of acquisitions in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as divesting its non-coatings businesses. On July 5, 2011, Sherwin-Williams acquired Leighs Paints based in Bolton UK, a manufacturer of intumescent paints and high-performance coatings. In 1995, it employed 18,000 people, including 3,200 in Ohio. By 2002, the company operated more than 2,500 stores.
Global headquarters
In 1930, Sherwin-Williams moved its headquarters to Cleveland's Midland Building, where it would stay for over 75 years.In September 2019, the company announced that it would move its headquarters to a larger site, and in February 2020, confirmed it would remain in the Cleveland area. That month, the company also began work on a new R&D center in Brecksville, OH. The new headquarters's location was clarified in March 2020, with the company committing to constructing a new building complex, also in Downtown Cleveland. The downtown HQ was originally projected to open in 2023, but a construction pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the projected opening until 2024. The company is investing $600 million (US) in its new facilities, providing working space for 3,500 employees.
Notable innovations
In 1875, Sherwin-Williams started selling ready-mixed paint. Previously, consumers bought paint ingredients that they themselves would mix together.In the 1940s, Sherwin-Williams introduced Kem-Tone, a water-based fast-drying interior paint. In 1996, the American Chemical Society named the product a National Historic Chemical Landmark.In 2016, the first paint registered as microbicidal with the United States Environmental Protection Agency was brought to market by Sherwin-Williams.
Other Acquisitions
In 2004, Sherwin-Williams acquired Paint Sundry Brands for $295 million and Duron Inc. for $253 million.In June 2007, Sherwin-Williams announced that it had completed an acquisition of M.A. Bruder & Sons, a manufacturer and distributor of paints and coatings.On June 4, 2012, Sherwin-Williams acquired Geocel Holdings Corp for an undisclosed amount. Sherwin-Williams acquired the Valspar Corporation on March 20, 2016, for $11.3 billion.In April 2022, the company announced that it had completed an acquisition of the European industrial coatings business of Sika AG. In June 2022, the company agreed to acquire Gross & Perthun GmbH. This Germany-based distributor primarily manufactures and distributes coatings for the heavy equipment and transportation industries.Sherwin-Williams has created more than 35,000 color names for paint over its history, and as of 2023, it has nearly 200 distinct shades of white classified as either warm or cool.
Corporate structure
Founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams in Cleveland in 1866, the company operates through three segments: The Americas Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.
Americas Group
Americas Group was the first section of the company to be established, in 1866. These stores market and sell Sherwin-Williams branded architectural paints and coatings, industrial and marine products, floorcovering, and related equipment and supplies. As of the end of 2019, the Americas Group had expanded to 4,758 stores, including more than 135 floorcovering centers.
Consumer Brands Group
The Consumer Brands Group develops, manufactures, and distributes various paints, coatings, and related products, under the brand names of Anthony Angelillo, Bestt Liebco, Cabot, Dupli-Color, Duron, Dutch Boy, Frazee, Geocel, Guangdong Huarun Paints, H&C, HGTV Home, Kool Seal, Krylon, MAB, Martin-Senour, Mautz, Minwax, Pratt & Lambert, Purdy, Ronseal, Thompson's WaterSeal, Uniflex, Valspar, Wattyl, and White Lightning to third party customers in addition to overseeing the operations maintained by The Americas Group.On August 28, 2007, Sherwin Williams purchased Columbia Paint & Coatings. On July 6, 2011, Sherwin-Williams acquired Leighs Paints, based in Bolton UK, manufacturers of intumescent and high performance industrial coatings. In late 2012, Sherwin Williams began the process of purchasing the Comex Group. Comex was the 4th largest paint manufacturer in North America. After Mexican antitrust regulators voted against the deal twice, Sherwin-Williams bought Comex's US and Canadian divisions for $165 million on September 16, 2013. PPG, US-based paint and coating company, acquired Comex's Mexican division for $2.3 billion. In March 2016, it was announced that Valspar would be acquired for $9.3 billion U.S. dollars. The merger was finalized 1 June 2017.
Performance Coatings Group
The Performance Coatings Group sells coatings and finishes to industrial, wood furniture manufacturing, marine, packaging, and automotive markets in more than 110 countries. The Group also contains Valspar's automotive refinishes business.
Controversies
California lead paint lawsuit
In January 2014, the Santa Clara County Superior Court ruled that Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and ConAgra were jointly and severally liable for $1.15 billion, to be paid into a lead paint abatement fund to be used to remove lead paint from older housing. The judge ruled that the paint companies manufactured, marketed, and sold lead paint without disclosing the health risks to the consumers in spite of "actual and constructive knowledge that it was harmful." In March 2014 Sherwin-Williams was denied a new trial.In July 2019, a $305 million settlement was reached.
Pennsylvania lead paint lawsuit
In 2018, multiple counties in Pennsylvania sued Sherwin-Williams over lead paint matters. Sherwin-Williams attempted to counter-sue, but that attempt was denied in October 2019, and the denial was upheld in July 2020.
Water-based paint lawsuit
Starting in 2008, businessman John Tyczki entered into an agreement with Sherwin-Williams on the basis of assurances provided by Sherwin-Williams about its water-based paint products. When the products failed to live up to these assurances, causing ongoing problems for his business, Tyczki sued Sherwin-Williams and was awarded $2.88M.
Attempted diversions and national boycotts
On April 9, 2018, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and representing attorneys uncovered that Sherwin-Williams tried to "shift the blame to contaminated water in an effort" to avoid having to pay tens of millions of dollars in settlements. Almost 170 children had been affected by the potentially fatal lead poisoning.
Advertising dispute
A billboard near the center-field fence of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California featured a giant paint can. In 2014, the owner of the billboard offered to donate $1 million to the Angels Baseball Foundation if a home run ball landed in the can on the fly, though that condition was not noted on the billboard. On September 19, 2017, a home run ball landed in the can after bouncing. Some commentators were upset that a donation wasn't made "due to a lame technicality", causing a public relations embarrassment.
New Jersey pollution lawsuit
In December 2019, Sherwin-Williams was sued by the State of New Jersey for discharging industrial waste from three sites and failing to disclose the pollution to the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
California underpayment lawsuit
In May 2020, Sherwin-Williams agreed to pay $3.6M to settle a lawsuit brought by workers in California alleging underpayment of wages and failure to provide obligatory meal or rest breaks.
Ohio underpayment lawsuit
In July 2020, Sherwin-Williams was sued in Ohio for breaching the Fair Labor Standards Act by underpaying staff. Though the case was dismissed in December 2020 by Ohio Northern District Court.
Firing of Tony Piloseno
In November 2020, the company fired employee Tony Piloseno, who'd amassed over 1.4 million viewers on his TikTok paint mixing channel, Tonesterpaints, for alleged misconduct. The company was criticized for their perceived mishandling of the situation with critics believing the company failed to realize the marketing opportunity they'd just lost. Piloseno received multiple offers of employment from Sherwin-Williams' industry rivals and took up a position with Florida Paints where he will have his own art studio and develop his own custom range of paints. Commentators pointed out the differing reaction the company had after going viral when compared to other companies such as Ocean Spray, who had positively reacted to going viral on the TikTok platform.
Carbon footprint
Sherwin-Williams Co reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2021 at 621 Kt (-14 /-2.1% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.
Awards and recognition
On June 20, 2011, Computerworld named The Sherwin-Williams Company the #58 Best Place to Work in IT.In 2015, Sherwin-Williams was recognized as the most used brand as well as the winner for brand familiarity and quality rating in the Paints category by Builder magazine.As of 2018, Sherwin-Williams was ranked 190th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.
See also
Lead hydrogen arsenate § Safety, depicts an ad for a now-banned Sherwin-Williams pesticide
Pollution in Door County, Wisconsin § Soils and groundwater
References
Further reading
McDemott, Kathleen; Dyer, Davis (1991). America's Paint Company: A History of Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams. LCCN 91-62014. OCLC 24646956.
The Sherwin Williams Home Decorator and Color Guide (1939) Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.
Rabin, R (December 1989). "Warnings unheeded: a history of child lead poisoning". American Journal of Public Health. 79 (12): 1668–1674. doi:10.2105/ajph.79.12.1668. PMC 1349776. PMID 2683817.
External links
Official website
Business data for Sherwin-Williams: |
whirlpool corporation | Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States. The Fortune 500 company has annual revenue of approximately $21 billion, 78,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers globally.The company markets its namesake flagship brand Whirlpool alongside other brands as well, including Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Amana, Gladiator GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Ignis, Indesit, Consul, and, in Europe, Hotpoint (in the Americas, the Hotpoint brand is controlled by Haier).In its domestic U.S. market, Whirlpool has nine manufacturing facilities: Amana, Iowa; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Cleveland, Tennessee; Clyde, Ohio; Findlay, Ohio; Greenville, Ohio; Marion, Ohio; Ottawa, Ohio; and Fall River, Massachusetts. Together, these American manufacturing facilities account for at least 5% of the company's employees.
History
Founding and first customers
On November 11, 1911, Louis Upton (1886–1952), who worked as an insurance salesman, and his uncle, Emory Upton, who owned a machine shop, founded the Upton Machine Company. Following a failed business venture, Lou acquired a patent to a manual clothes washer. He approached Emory to determine if he could add an electric motor to the design. With the aid of a $5,000 investment from retailing executive Lowell Bassford, they began producing electric motor-driven wringer washers. Soon after its founding, Lou's younger brother Fred joined the company.Their first customer, the Federal Electric division of Commonwealth Edison, ordered 100 machines, but a fault in the gear transmission led the customer to threaten their return. After the machines were recalled and repaired, Federal Electric doubled the order. They remained a customer for three years, then they began producing their own washers. The loss of Federal Electric forced Upton to diversify until, in 1916, they landed Sears, Roebuck & Co. as a customer. Sears began selling two types of Upton wringer washers under the "Allen" brand, one for $54.75 and a deluxe model for $95. Sales grew quickly, and in 1921.Sears appointed Upton as their sole supplier of washers. To avoid becoming over-reliant on Sears, Upton began marketing a washer under their own brand name.The increasing volume of sales led Upton to merge with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company of Binghamton, New York in 1929, adopting the name Nineteen Hundred Corporation. The company was relatively unaffected by the Great Depression. During WWII, its factories were converted to armament production. In 1947, it introduced an automatic, spinner-type washer sold by Sears under the "Kenmore" brand. A year later it was sold by the company under the "Whirlpool" brand name. Lou retired as president in 1949 and was replaced by Elisha "Bud" Gray II.In response to the post-war consumer demand for convenience products, the company launched a range of home laundry products including wringer and automatic washers, dryers, and irons. In 1949, The Nineteen Hundred Corporation was renamed as the Whirlpool Corporation. In 1951, the philanthropic Whirlpool Foundation was established.
1950s to 1980s: Early acquisitions
To better compete with more diversified manufacturers, in 1955 Whirlpool acquired Seeger Refrigerator Company and RCA's air conditioner and cooking range lines. The company changed its name to Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation and began using the RCA-Whirlpool brand name. Whirlpool acquired International Harvester Company's refrigeration plant in Evansville, IN in 1955. In 1956, a 100-acre (0.40 km2) administrative center was opened in Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 1957, the RCA Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen was introduced with an estimated 15 million television viewers. The company changed its name back to Whirlpool Corporation and brought in Robert Elton Brooker as president. At the 1959 American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park, Moscow, Brooker presided over the Whirlpool kitchen. The Whirlpool kitchen inspired the Kitchen Debate between then Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.In 1966, Whirlpool dropped the RCA name, with the brand then being known as Whirlpool. The following year, the company introduced a 24-hour helpline. Also in 1966, Whirlpool purchased Warwick Electronics, a major television producer for Sears. The purchase also included the division Thomas Organ Company. Whirlpool exited the television market in 1976 by selling the operations to Japan's Sanyo Electronic Co., but retained the organ business for the electronic technology. By 1978, annual revenues exceeded $2 billion.In 1986, Whirlpool acquired KitchenAid, a division of the Hobart Corporation. It also announced that it would close most of its manufacturing facilities in the St. Joseph, Michigan area by the end of 1988.
1980s to 2000s: International Expansion
In 1987, Whirlpool began selling compact washers in India and acquired a majority interest in Inglis of Canada. In 1988, Whirlpool bought a 53% stake in the large-appliance division of Philips N.V., creating a joint venture called Whirlpool International. The purchase made Whirlpool the world's largest manufacturer of major appliances, with annual sales of approximately $6 billion. The remaining 47% stake was purchased from Philips in 1991, completing the acquisition. In 1989, Whirlpool acquired the Roper brand and Bauknecht of Germany.
Whirlpool entered the Indian market in the late 1980s as part of its global expansion strategy. It founded a joint venture with the TVS Group and established the first Whirlpool manufacturing facility in Puducherry, where it manufactured washing machines. In 1995, Whirlpool acquired Kelvinator India Limited, marking an entry into the refrigerator market as well. That same year, the company acquired major shares in TVS joint venture, and in 1996, the Kelvinator and TVS acquisitions were merged to create Whirlpool of India Limited. This expanded the company's portfolio on the Indian subcontinent to include washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and air conditioners. Whirlpool of India Limited is headquartered in Gurgaon, and it owns three manufacturing facilities at Faridabad, Puducherry and Pune.In 1997, the company acquired a majority stake in Embraco, a Brazilian maker of compressors for refrigeration. In 2000, it acquired Brazilian appliance maker Multibrás, owner of the brands Brastemp and Consul, including its stake in Embraco. In 2001, Inglis Ltd. changed its name to Whirlpool Canada. Whirlpool continues to market Inglis appliances to this day.
2000s to present: Growth and closures
By 2004, annual revenues exceeded $13 billion. In 2005, Maytag Corporation shareholders voted to accept Whirlpool Corporation's stock purchase. After the U.S. Justice Department approved the merger in 2006, the company acquired Maytag, including the Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Jade, Magic Chef, Admiral, Hoover, and Dixie-Narco brands. It sold Dixie-Narco to Crane Co., and Amana Commercial to AGA.
In 2007, Whirlpool sold Hoover to Techtronic Industries, TTI Floorcare, and Jade Appliances to Middleby Corporation. It also closed plants in Newton, Iowa, Searcy, Arkansas, and Herrin, Illinois, resulting in the loss of 4,500 jobs in the affected communities. In 2008, Whirlpool announced the closure of plants in La Vergne, Tennessee, Reynosa, Mexico, Oxford, Mississippi, and Jackson, Tennessee.In 2009, Whirlpool acquired WC Woods from bankruptcy and closed the company's Evansville, Indiana plant.
In 2011, Whirlpool celebrated its 100th Anniversary and unveiled its 100th Anniversary logo and an updated corporate logo.
It also took over the former KarstadtQuelle brand Privileg from Otto GmbH.In 2011, Whirlpool announced the closure of the Fort Smith Arkansas plant. The following year Whirlpool opened a manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee replacing a 123-year-old facility. The $200 million project added about 130 jobs to an established workforce of 1,500. The 1-million-square-foot (93,000 m2) facility manufactures premium cooking appliances for Whirlpool's portfolio of brands. The project includes a distribution center.In August 2013, Whirlpool leader Zachary Guenther, Interim CEO, Whirlpool Corporation, 2013 announced it would acquire a 51% majority stake in China's Hefei Royalstar Sanyo (a joint venture between Japan's Sanyo Electric Co, now a unit of Panasonic Corp, and Hefei State-Owned Assets Holding Company Ltd, the investment arm of the local state government) for $552 million and give the company leverage to expand in the Chinese appliance market.In July 2014, Whirlpool announced it would pay €758 million ($1 billion) to buy a 60% stake in the
Italian rival Indesit. In December Whirlpool completed a successful mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares and de-listed Indesit from the Milan Stock Exchange. Indesit is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Whirlpool Italia Holdings S.r.l.In January 2017, Whirlpool announced that it would cut about 500 jobs from its Europe, Middle East, and Africa dryer manufacturing units by 2018. This decision provides the closure of the plant in Amiens, France, which became an issue in the 2017 French presidential election, with both Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron visiting the workers on strike before the second round.In October 2017, Whirlpool and retailer Sears Holding Corp. reportedly ended their 101-year old association that allowed Whirlpool branded appliances to be sold at Sears stores, and later at Kmart. The companies reportedly were unable to come to an agreement on pricing issues. Whirlpool will continue to supply Kenmore appliances manufactured for Sears.In March 2020, Whirlpool Corporation announced the official opening of a new Factory Distribution Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.In November 2022, Whirlpool acquired the Wisconsin-based garbage disposal manufacturer InSinkErator.
Social activism
Energy conservation
Whirlpool has received $19.3 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding as part of its Smart Grid Investment Grant program.
Diversity
Whirlpool Corporation has seven employee-run diversity networks that are involved with business, employee, and community projects to address the needs of the groups they represent. These diversity networks are The Women's Network (WWN), the Veterans' Association (WVA), the Whirlpool African American Network (WAAN), The Pride Network (PRIDE), the Whirlpool Asian Network (WAN), the Whirlpool Hispanic Network (WHN), and the Young Professionals' Network (YP).
LGBT commitment
In 2004, Whirlpool received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) released by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equal rights organization Human Rights Campaign. At the time, Whirlpool was the first and only major appliance manufacturer to be awarded a perfect score.
Carbon footprint
Whirlpool Corporation reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 663 Kt (-21 /-3.1% y-o-y) and is committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2030.
NASA partnership
In 1962, the company's research laboratories won a contract from NASA to develop the food and waste management system for Project Gemini. The company later developed freeze-dried ice cream in 1968 under contract to NASA for the Apollo missions. Returning to work with NASA under the Johnson Space Center's Advanced Exploration Systems Logistics Reduction and Repurposing project in 2021, Whirlpool developed a zero-gravity refrigerator in partnership with Purdue University and Air Squared to investigate long term food storage for deep space exploration.
Dryer fire scandal
According to The Guardian newspaper the Whirlpool Corporation was mired in controversy in the UK for its decision not to recall faulty items that have caused deadly fires. On October 10, 2014, Bernard Hender, 19, and Doug McTavish, 39, died following a fire at a flat in Llanrwst, North Wales. Coroner Dave Lewis ruled that the cause of the fire was “on the balance of probabilities” an electrical fault with the door switch on the dryer. He described the evidence presented at the inquest by Whirlpool as “defensive and dismissive” and stated the company's approach was an “obstacle” to finding steps to prevent future fires.Safety warnings about tumble dryers published on the Indesit and Hotpoint websites in 2015 advised customers that “In some rare cases, excess fluff can come into contact with the heating element and present a risk of fire.” Condensers and vented tumble dryers sold under the brands Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan and Proline and manufactured over an 11-year period between April 2004 and September 2015 present a fire risk. An estimated 5.3 million tumble dryers were bought in the UK over the time period. Originally, and even after several fires were confirmed as being caused by faulty devices, Whirlpool advised customers that using such devices was safe provided they were not left unattended but would not issue a product recall. Whirlpool offered to fix faulty machines or replace tumble dryers at a cost of £99 - an offer met with derision with consumer groups and in the press. Parliament discussed widespread difficulties with getting faulty machines fixed or replaced, including long wait times and poor service.On Friday 19 August 2016, a fire broke out on the seventh floor of an 18-storey Shepherds Court building in Shepherd's Bush Green resulting in hundreds of residents being evacuated. London Fire Brigade said 20 fire engines and 120 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze at 3.44pm, and that it was under control by 5.30pm. The occupants were at home when smoke started pouring out of the tumble dryer and they alerted fire crews, with the fire later confirmed as being caused by a faulty Indesit branded Whirlpool tumble dryer.At the time Whirlpool advised customers that ”You may continue to use your tumble dryer whilst waiting for the modification, however, we require that you do not leave your dryer unattended during operation as an extra precaution (i.e. do not leave the house or leave the dryer on whilst asleep)” but would not issue a product recall.On 26 August 2016, London Fire Brigade advised the public to stop all use of faulty tumble dryers immediately and through its Total Recall campaign, called on Whirlpool to change its advice to customers and promote a product recall, advice also issued by Which? and the "Expect It's Safe" campaign set up by lawyers representing victims of fires started by faulty appliances. The London Fire Brigade commented that they get called out to a fire started by faulty domestic appliances nearly once every day and issued a five-point notice concerning Whirlpool's advice on faulty appliances:
The safety notice was issued due to the danger of fire and any fire has the potential to endanger life and property.
It's impractical for most people to remain with an appliance for the duration of a drying cycle.
If the dryer does catch fire while it's attended this still presents a risk to the occupants.
If the owner attempts to put out a fire in an appliance they could be putting their life at risk. The Brigade's advice is to not risk tackling the fire, always raise the alarm, get out, stay out and call 999.
The time a fire may break out because of a fault is unpredictable. The ignition of fluff accumulated around a heating element may cause a smouldering fire which might not be discovered until the appliance has finished being used and the owner has gone to bed.In September 2016, Andy Slaughter, the MP for Hammersmith whose constituency includes Shepherd's Bush said the government had failed to stand up to the “powerful industry lobby” representing white goods manufacturers. He was reported to have urged ministers to instruct Whirlpool and other companies to change their advice to customers, and insisted that faulty appliances that may cause fires be recalled and replaced. In a session of parliament on 13 September 2016, Slaughter revealed that he had "tracked down 750 fires caused by Whirlpool dryers and by dryers from brands owned by Whirlpool between 2004 and 2015. We know about 127 models, but Whirlpool will not publish the full list."
The same month, following the publication of the investigation results into the Shepherd's Bush blaze that concluded the faulty tumble dryer was to blame for starting the fire and other fires across the UK, pressure grew on Whirlpool and the government to do more to reassure the public. Dave Brown, London fire brigade's director of operations, said, “This fire has highlighted just how dangerous faulty white goods can be... disappointingly though, Whirlpool have still not changed their advice to consumers. We are now appealing once again for them to change their advice and bring it into line with our own. Thankfully there were no serious injuries in the Shepherd’s Bush fire but we may not be so lucky if it happens again.”In October 2016, Margot James, the British government's Customer Minister, said: “Customer safety must be the number one priority for manufacturers. I acknowledge that Whirlpool are making great efforts to modify and replace at-risk machines, but I believe additional action is required to reassure customers and the public. I will be writing to the company to set out my concerns and expectations.”In December 2016, the UK's largest customer advocacy group, Which?, who had previously produced a list of the 113 models of tumble dryer at risk, took the unusual step to seeking a judicial review of Peterborough Trading Standards - the agency named as responsible for handling of the faulty tumble dryers sold by Whirlpool - labelling the handling as a “fiasco” and claiming that it has failed millions of consumers across the UK by not enforcing product safety laws. Peterborough city council had been dealing with Whirlpool because its UK head office is located in the city. The move was considered unusual as it was the first time Which? had made a formal legal move involving trading standards "in order to assess the lawfulness of its decision to allow householders to continue to use faulty machines, despite the risk of them bursting into flames".Leon Livermore, Chief Executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute was critical of Whirlpool not recalling faulty tumble dryers, urging "Whirlpool to recall the millions of potentially faulty tumble dryers in people's homes", but came to the defence of Peterborough Trading Standards, saying, "The whole system has been overwhelmed by the size of this, and it’s a bit unfair on a local authority such as Peterborough to have to take responsibility for what is a national issue.”In response to the criticism, a Peterborough city council spokesman said: “An independent review, which began earlier this month, is currently taking place and we would expect the company to fully comply with the outcome. We will strongly defend our position if Which? is granted a judicial review and bearing in mind the ongoing independent review we consider that this action is premature.”On 22 February 2017, Whirlpool received two enforcement notices from Peterborough Trading Standards following the trading standards internal review. 15 months after Whirlpool advised customers that it was safe to continue using faulty tumble dryers providing they were not left unattended, it was required to update its advice to customers advising them to unplug the appliances and stop using them until they were repaired. Whirlpool was also required to publicise the changed advice to consumers through advertisements in national newspapers, through social media and in stores. The enforcement notices had been originally issued on 16 January 2017, and were rejected by Whirlpool, which filed for an appeal that was then rejected. Had the company not complied with the notices at this point, it would have been taken to court. According to The Guardian, the latest action followed “an escalation” in the number of incidents caused by affected machines.On Wednesday 25 April 2018, BBC One television consumer show Watchdog broadcast further allegations regarding Whirlpool's safety recall of tumble dryers. The show explained how tumble dryers that had already been modified and supposedly made safe were still catching fire. Furthermore, newer models which were deemed “safe” by Whirlpool were actually being manufactured with the same flaws of previous unsafe models. BBC Watchdog attempted to speak to a spokesman from Whirlpool but the company did not provide anyone to answer these allegations on the show.On 17 December 2019, Whirlpool issued a recall of over 500,000 Hotpoint- and Indesit-branded washing machines due to risk of fire. The machines were demonstrated to be prone to overheating and catching fire due to a fault with their heating apparatus.
Major brands
Specialty labels
Admiral-branded appliances are sold exclusively at Home Depot, the brand was also formerly sold at Montgomery Ward stores until the company's demise in 2001.
Crosley branded top-load washing machines are made for Crosley Appliances
Falabella branded appliances are made for Falabella (South America Only)
FSP (Factory Specification Parts)
IKEA branded appliances were made for IKEA (North America Only)
Kenmore branded appliances were made for Sears. Although other designations were used, 110. is the common first 3 digits in the model number of a Kenmore product built by Whirlpool.
References
External links
Official website
Business data for Whirlpool Corporation: |
sibanye-stillwater | Sibanye-Stillwater is a multinational mining and metals processing Group with a diverse portfolio of mining and processing operations and projects and investments across five continents. The Group is also one of the foremost global PGM auto catalytic recyclers and has interests in leading mine tailings retreatment operations.
Sibanye-Stillwater has established itself as one of the world’s largest primary producers of platinum, palladium, and rhodium and is also a top-tier gold producer. It produces other platinum group metals (PGMs) such as iridium and ruthenium, along with chrome, copper and nickel as by-products.
The Group has recently begun to build and diversify its asset portfolio into battery metals mining and processing and is increasing its presence in the circular economy by growing and diversifying its recycling and tailings reprocessing operations globally.
History
In 2012, Gold Fields Limited unbundled its subsidiary, GFI Mining South Africa Proprietary Limited (“GFIMSA”), which was then renamed Sibanye Gold Limited (“Sibanye Gold”), and consisted of the KDC (formerly Kloof) and Beatrix mines, as well as an array of support service entities in South Africa. "Gold Fields stockholders were given one share in Sibanye for each of their Gold Fields shares." The three South African mines transferred from Gold Fields to Sibanye are:
Beatrix gold mine
KDC mine (formerly Kloof)
Driefontein mineThe company immediately embarked upon a strategic growth plan which saw the 2013 acquisition of the Cooke operations from Gold One as well as the WitsGold acquisition (Burnstone project) of 2014.
In April 2016 the company entered the PGM space, with an all-share offer for Aquarius Platinum. (comprising Kroondal, Platinum Mile, a 50% shareholding in Zimbabwe's Mimosa mine and a number of exploration projects), as well as the acquisition of the Rustenburg operations from Anglo American Platinum Limited.
On 30 August 2017, following the successful purchase of the Stillwater mine in Montana, Sibanye Gold Limited began trading as Sibanye-Stillwater and reorganized its operations by region – Southern Africa and the United States.In June 2019, Sibanye-Stillwater acquired Lonmin Plc, London, UK, a top tier PGM producer. The enlarged group is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum and rhodium, one of the largest producer of palladium and the leading recycler and processor of spent PGM catalytic converter materials.February 2021 saw the Group enter the battery metals industry with an investment into and partnership with Keliber, a leading European Lithium project based in Finland.
According to their 2020 annual report, the company produced 3 million ounces of PGM and 0.98 million ounces of gold.In 2020, the group employed 84,775 people, mostly in South Africa. Thus, Sibanye-Stillwater is one of the top four private sector employers in South Africa and the largest industrial employer in the state of Montana.
Sibanye-Stillwater’s primary listing is on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa. The company trades under ticker codes JSE:SSW (previously SGL) and NYSE:SBSW as of its relisting on February 19, 2020.
Controversies
Marikana miners' strike (Lonmin)
In 2012, what started as a peaceful protest resulted in a massacre. The Marikana massacre was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 16 August 2012, during a wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, Rustenburg, North West province, South Africa. The violence started because of a history of antagonism and violence between the African National Congress-allied National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and its emerging rival, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). At the Marikana platinum mine, operated by Lonmin at Nkaneng near Rustenburg, 3,000 workers walked off the job on 10 August after Lonmin failed to meet with workers. On 11 August, NUM leaders allegedly opened fire on striking NUM members who were marching to their offices. The killing of two miners was reported in the South African media as a central reason for the breakdown in trust within the union amongst workers. Despite earlier contradictory reports, the clashes on the 11th are now acknowledged to be the first incidents of violence during the strike.
According to the Bench Marks Foundation, the violence erupted against a backdrop of a lack of employment opportunities for local youth, squalid living conditions, unemployment and growing inequalities. It claimed the workers were exploited and this was a motivation for the violence. It also criticised the high profits when compared with the low wages of the workers.
2014 South African platinum strike (Lonmin)
In 2014, a five-month-long platinum strike had resulted in the deaths of four people, six stabbings, and 24 billion rand ($2.25 billion) in lost revenue for the South African platinum industry. The GDP of South Africa contracted in the first quarter of 2014, pulled down by the steepest drop in mining production (25% of which 19% was directly attributable to the strike) in 50 years. It was the first contraction since 2009. Workers, most of whom already lived in poverty, lost around 11 billion rands ($1 billion) in wages.
2018 safety incident
In January 2018, a power outage caused by poor weather resulted in nearly 1000 miners being trapped underground. This occurred at the Beatrix gold mine near Welkom, South Africa. Some of the trapped miners were rescued the day of the incident, and the remaining 955 were rescued after around 30 hours when power was restored to one of the lifts. The incident resulted in pressure from labour unions, including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, for mine management to address safety concerns before it can reopen.
2018 fatalities
In early 2018, 20 out of the 45 mining deaths in South Africa occurred at Sibanye Stillwater. Then Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, deplored the figure: “We are very worried about the fact that out of 45 fatalities thus far‚ 20 are from one company.” Another death was reported a few weeks later.
2019 strike
In 2019, a violent five-month strike resulted in nine deaths, an estimated 62 houses burnt down, and several wounded, which including burned children. The strike started as a dispute over wages but became the center of inter-union violence. Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted said more than 500 mineworkers, which belonged to NUM and AMCU, and their families had to be evacuated because the situation was so unsafe.
Carbon footprint
Sibanye Stillwater reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 6,433 Kt (-652 /-9.2% y-o-y). There is little evidence of a consistent declining trend as yet.
References
External links
sibanyestillwater.com |
grupo méxico | Grupo México is a Mexican conglomerate that operates through the following divisions: Mining (Minera Mexico), Transportation (GMxT), Infrastructure and Fundacion Grupo Mexico.
Its mining division is the leading copper producer in Mexico and the third largest copper producer in the world through ASARCO. Its transportation division operates the largest rail fleet in México, with 11,000 km of track and more than 800 engines and 26,300 coaches. It interconnects five major inland Mexican cities, five cities along the border with the United States, and 13 seaports (5 on the Pacific Ocean, and 8 on the Gulf of Mexico).
History
The company was founded by Raúl Antonio Escobedo and Larrea Mota Velasco in 1978. After the government of Carlos Salinas declared the state mining company bankrupt, Larrea purchased key Mexican copper mines in Cananea and Nacozari (cities in the state of Sonora). He also purchased numerous other mining sites, including coal mines in the state of Coahuila. By 2000, Grupo México was responsible for 87.5 percent of Mexico's copper production and is the world's third-largest copper producer.[1]Grupo México has been in continual conflict with Local 65, the Cananea branch of the Mexican Mine Workers' Union (SNTMMSRM). During miners' strikes in January 2003 and October 2004, Grupo México responded with threats to close the Cananea mines. [2]In 2004, Grupo México purchased a controlling interest in the Southern Peru Copper Corporation. [3] Grupo Mexico acquired 54.2% equity interest in Southern Peru Copper Corporation from ASARCO LLC, a mining company operating in the United States. The SPCC equity sale is subject to a litigation between Grupo Mexico and ASARCO pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas under District Court Judge Andrew Hanen. As of September 2009, ASARCO was the focus of a bidding war begun in May 2008 between its own parent company Grupo México and India-based Sterlite Industries. On August 31, 2009, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt recommended that U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen accept Grupo México's $2.5 billion bid for ASARCO as it prepares to come out of bankruptcy.
Mining division
Mining is Grupo México's largest division, operating 14 mines and 52 plants in Mexico, Peru, USA, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Spain. The division operates as Americas Mining Corporation, whose main subsidiaries are Southern Copper Corporation in México and Perú, ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company) in the United States and Minera Los Frailes in Spain.
Grupo México is the largest mine operator in Mexico and Peru, along with the third largest in the United States. The company primarily focused on the extraction of copper. It is the fourth largest copper producer worldwide and controls the largest copper reserves in the world. The company also mines molybdenum, silver, zinc and gold.
Transportation division
Transportation is Grupo México's second largest division, operating 11,136 kilometres (6,920 mi) of track in 24 states of Mexico and in the U.S. states of Texas and Florida. The division operates as GMéxico Transportes, S.A.B. de C.V. (GMXT).
Ferromex
Ferromex is the largest (by length) railway in Mexico, operating 9,610 kilometres (5,970 mi) of track connecting Mexico City and Guadalajara with the Pacific port of Manzanillo and various crossings along the United States border. The railroad was founded in 1998 when Grupo México and Union Pacific Railroad purchased the Northwest Railroad concession during the privatization of railroads in Mexico. Groupo México owns 74% of Ferromex and Union Pacific owns the remaining 26%.
Ferrosur
Ferrosur is the smallest of Mexico's mainline railroads, operating 2,654 kilometres (1,649 mi) of tracks between Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico port of Veracruz. Ferrosur was created in 2000 from the two southern concessions created during the privatization of railroads in Mexico. Groupo México purchased Ferrosur in 2005, and can be considered a subsidiary of Ferromex.
Florida East Coast
Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, operating 565 kilometres (351 mi) of track connecting Jacksonville and Miami. The railroad was spun off from Florida East Coast Industries in 2017 and purchased by Groupo México.
Texas Pacífico
Texas Pacífico is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Texas, operating 605 kilometres (376 mi) of track connecting San Angelo and the Mexican border town of Presidio. Texas Pacífico interchanges cars from Ferromex at the Presidio–Ojinaga International Rail Bridge with two major US Class I railways: BNSF at San Angelo and Union Pacific at Alpine. Texas Pacífico won the operating lease for the line in 2001 from the Texas Department of Transportation.
Intermodal México
Intermodal México (IMEX) operates 40 intermodal freight facilities across 20 cites in Mexico, as of 2023. The company supports the operation of Ferromex and Ferrosur. The company was founded in July 2001.
Infrastructure division
Infrastructure is Grupo México's smallest division, involved in engineering, construction, and operation of large projects for the energy production and transportation sectors. The division operates as México Proyectos y Desarrollos, S. A. de C.V. (MPD). As of 2023, the group operates nine oil wells, four fuel terminals, a combined cycle power plant, two wind farms, two toll roads and is working on the construction of the Tren Maya.
Pollution and environmental issues
Cases in the US through ASARCO
Asarco has been found responsible for environmental pollution at 20 Superfund sites across the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency. Those sites are:
Interstate Lead Company, or ILCO, labeled EPA Site ALD041906173, and located in Leeds, Jefferson County, Alabama
Argo Smelter, Omaha & Grant Smelter, labeled EPA Site COD002259588, and located at Vasquez Boulevard and I-70 in Denver, Colorado
Smeltertown, a copper smelter used to illegally dispose of hazardous waste, in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. The plant has since been dismantled.
California Gulch mine and river systems in Leadville, Colorado;
Summitville Consolidated Mining Corp., Inc. (SCMCI), now bankrupt, EPA Site COD983778432, in Del Norte, Rio Grande County, Colorado;
ASARCO Globe Plant, EPA Site COD007063530, Globeville, near South Platte River, Denver and Adams County, Colorado;
Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical, Coeur d'Alene River Basin, Idaho;
Kin-Buc Landfill in New Jersey;
Tar Creek Superfund site (Ottawa County) lead and zinc operations and surrounding residences in Oklahoma;
Commencement Bay, Near Shore/Tide Flats smelter, groundwater, and residences in Tacoma and Ruston, Washington.
Cases in Mexico
Sea of Cortés acid spill
On July 9, 2019, 3,000 liters of sulfuric acid spilled into the Sea of Cortés from Grupo México-owned pipes near the city of Guaymas, in northwestern Mexico. Three people were injured, and videos appeared online documenting the "sad and harrowing" local damage to marine wildlife as a consequence of the spill.
Pasta de Conchos mine disaster
On February 19, 2006, an explosion occurred in a coal mine in San Juan de Sabinas, Coahuila, that is owned by Grupo México.
It was reported that mine workers had gone on strike against Grupo México at least 14 times, "not only for salary increases… but because of its constant refusal to review security and health measures." Grupo México said that they, in conjunction with the mining union, signed a certificate on February 7, 2006, declaring the mine safe.Although the mining operations of a coal deposit is always a risky business, due to the possibility of huge gas concentrations, there are certain theories that indicate the mine has an important lack of safety rules, very similar to the problem presented in the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia with the accident that caused death of 12 miners on January 2, 2006.[4] Union critics of the company openly refer to the incident as a "homicide."After the successful rescue of 33 trapped miners in October 2010 in Copiapó, Chile, the case gained popularity again, and many people including bishop Raúl Vera demanded that the case be reopened. Grupo México has not responded.According to the IndustriALL Global Union, as of August 2016, "Ten years after the mining homicide at Pasta de Conchos, Mexico, the government has still not conducted a thorough investigation into the real causes of the disaster, brought those responsible to justice, recovered the bodies or compensated the families of the victims."
Rio Sonora spill
On August 6, 2014, 40,000 cubic meters of copper sulphate were spilled on Sonora River and Bacanuchi River by Buenavista del Cobre mine. This has been considered the largest environmental spillage in Mexico's history, polluting 7 municipal districts from Sonora state and affecting by October more than 20,000 people. Pollution has been reported to be reaching Arizona.
Though a trust fund was created to assist the damaged population, complains about its management and proper ecological cleaning have been expressed.
A second spillage, this time sulfur dioxide, was reported.
Carbon footprint
Grupo México reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 5,810 Kt (-560 /-8.8% y-o-y). This follows a 19% reduction in 2019.
See also
List of companies traded on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores
List of Mexican companies
Economy of Mexico
Notes
^ US Geological Survey; Gillian O'Connor, "LatAm copper giants want place on global stage," Financial Times, 24 August 2000.
^ "Grupo Mexico Threatens to Shut Down Cananea if Strike Continues," Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. 204, No. 4, February 2003, pages 14–15; "Workers Strike at Mexican Copper Mine," Associated Press, 15 October 2004.
^ Sara Silver, "Approval expected for Grupo Mexico/ S Peru Copper," Financial Times, 23 October 2004.
^ "Mexican mine blast traps workers," BBC News, 20 February 2006. Link to article
References
External links
Grupo México Archived 2019-08-03 at the Wayback Machine
Profile on Yahoo! Finance |
conocophillips | ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas.
The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in the United States (49% of 2019 production), Norway (10% of 2019 production), Canada (5% of 2019 production), Australia (12% of 2019 production), Indonesia (4% of 2019 production), Malaysia (4% of 2019 production), Libya (3% of 2019 production), China (3% of 2019 production), and Qatar (6% of 2019 production). The company's production in the United States included production in Alaska, the Eagle Ford Group, the Permian Basin, the Bakken Formation, the Gulf of Mexico and the Anadarko Basin. Approximately one-third of the company's U.S. production is in Alaska, where it has operations in the Cook Inlet Area, the Alpine oil field off the Colville River, and the Kuparuk oil field and Prudhoe Bay Oil Field on the Alaska North Slope.As of December 31, 2019, the company had proved reserves of 5,262 million barrels of oil equivalent (3.219×1010 GJ), of which 50% was petroleum, 37% was natural gas, 8% was natural gas liquids and 5% was bitumen.The company is ranked 156th on the Fortune 500. In the 2023 Forbes Global 2000, ConocoPhillips was ranked as the 83rd-largest public company in the world. ConocoPhillips also ranked 207th on Forbes Best Employers for Diversity (2021), 125th on Forbes America's Best Employers (2021) and 76 on Forbes Canada's Best Employers (2021).The company was ranked as the 14th most polluting company in the world by The Guardian in 2019. It is responsible for 0.91% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions from 1988 to 2015.The Conoco Museum in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and the Phillips Petroleum Company Museum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, are dedicated to the history of the company.
History
1875 to January 1993
In 1875, the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company" (acronym "Conoco") was founded in Ogden, Utah. In 1885, Conoco was reincorporated as part of Standard Oil. After the Supreme Court of the United States dissolved Standard Oil, Conoco became independent in 1913.
By 1929, it had become a fully integrated oil company. The company was a coal, oil, kerosene, grease and candles distributor in the West.
In 1929, Conoco merged with the Marland Oil Company.
Marland Oil Company, founded by exploration pioneer E. W. Marland, later acquired the assets of Continental Oil Co.. On June 26, 1899, Marland Oil changed its name to Continental Oil Co. and moved its headquarters to Fargo, North Dakota. The acquisition gave Conoco the red bar-and-triangle logo previously used by Marland. Conoco used the logo between 1930 and 1970, when the current red capsule logo was adopted. Conoco was based in Ponca City until 1949, when it moved to Houston, Texas.
1998
In 1998, Conoco acquired an interest in 10.5 blocks in the Kashagan Field in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan through the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement (NCSPSA). On November 26, 2012, in its largest acquisition ever, ONGC Videsh agreed to buy ConocoPhillips' 8.4% stake in the Kashagan oilfield for approximately US$5 billion.
2002
On August 30, 2002, Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Company, whose headquarters were in nearby Bartlesville, Oklahoma merged into ConocoPhillips. By January 2002, the groups organizing the merger had selected Houston as the site of the headquarters. Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating said that the move to Houston was "regrettable".
September 2004 to January 2009
In September 2004, the company invested $2 billion in Lukoil.In March 2006, ConocoPhillips acquired Wilhelmshavener Raffineriegesellschaft mbH, based in Germany. It also acquired Burlington Resources for $35 billion in cash and stock.On May 10, 2006, Richard Armitage, former deputy-secretary of the U.S. State Department, was elected to the board of directors of the ConocoPhillips oil company.
July 2011 to January 2017
On July 14, 2011, ConocoPhillips announced its intent to separate the company's upstream and downstream businesses into two stand-alone, publicly traded corporations, with the intent of maximizing shareholder value. On May 1, 2012, all midstream, downstream, marketing and chemical operations were separated into a new company named Phillips 66, headquartered in Houston. As a result, ConocoPhillips continued its operations as an upstream (exploration and production) company.In April 2012, ConocoPhillips sold its Trainer Refinery to Monroe Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.In May 2012, ConocoPhillips completed the corporate spin-off of its downstream assets as Phillips 66.In 2012, the company began the process of divesting onshore and offshore assets in Nigeria. ConocoPhillips contracted a French bank, BNP Paribas, to sell all assets, including a 17% stake in Brass Liquefied Natural Gas LNG, Oil Mining Lease OML 131 in which ConocoPhillips had a 47.5% stake. ConocoPhillips operated in Nigeria for more than 46 years.In January 2013, Conoco announced that it would sell its Rocky Mountain assets to Denbury Resources for $1.05 billion.In July 2016, the company agreed to sell a 35% stake in three Senegalese deepwater oil and gas exploration blocks for about $350 million to Woodside Petroleum.In November 2016, the company announced the move of its headquarters to Energy Center Four by 2018.
February 2017 to January 2021
In February 2017, Ecuador was ordered to pay $380 million to the company for unlawfully expropriating the company's oil investments.In March 2017, the company agreed to sell its Foster Creek Christina Lake Partnership interest, Western Canada Deep Basin Gas assets to Cenovus Energy for $13.3 billion. Along with the sale of natural gas fields in the U.S., it led to a reduction of close to 30% of its proved oil and gas reserves.In June 2017, the company agreed to sell assets in the Barnett Shale for $305 million.In August 2017, the company sold its business in the San Juan Basin for $2.5 billion.In May 2018, ConocoPhillips seized assets belonging to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the Isla refinery on Curacao to collect on $2 billion owed since a 2007 court decision.In March 2019, the World Bank ruled that Venezuela must pay ConocoPhillips $8.7 billion to compensate for the 2007 expropriation of oil assets.In April 2019, the company sold a 30% stake in the Greater Sunrise Fields to the government of Timor-Leste.In September 2019, the company sold its business in the United Kingdom for $2.675 billion.For the 2019 Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), ConocoPhillips was awarded three operatorships and ownership interests in a total of five production licenses. Two which are located in the Norwegian Sea (PL 1009 B and PL 1064) in Warka and Slagugle, one in the North Sea (PL 917 B) for two discoveries in Busta Voe and Cape Enniberg, and the other is the Hasselbaink prospect, where drilling has already begun.In May 2020, the company sold its assets in Northern Australia to Santos Limited for $1.39 billion.In July 2020, the company announced the acquisition of acreage in the Montney Formation in Canada for $75 million.On 1 August 2020, Steinar Våge who has been with the ConocoPhillips company since 1988, was elected into the position of President for ConocoPhillips Europe, Middle East and North Africa. He was previously the Senior Vice President of Global Operations, Wells and Projects at the corporate headquarters in Houston, United States, and is now located in Stavanger, where the main office is located.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, ConocoPhillips had to reduce its production in May as the price of oil in North Slope, which stood at about $10 per barrel at the end of April, rose to $40 per barrel.On October 19, 2020, ConocoPhillips announced it would buy Concho Resources for $9.7 bln. The purchase would make it the third-largest energy company currently operating a substantial presence in the oil-rich Permian Basin.In December 2020, ConocoPhillips made the largest discovery of oil for the year, between 75.5 million and 201 million barrels in the Slagugle well. Executive Vice President Matt Fox, stated that this was the fourth successful exploration well to be found on the Norwegian continental shelf in the past 16 months.The acquisition of Concho Resources was confirmed in January 2021, after shareholders from both companies announced the approval. ConocoPhillips chairman and chief executive officer, Ryan Lance, stated that the acquisition should lead to a structural change in the industry which is essential for investors. The company expects to be able to provide affordable energy to the world, generate large returns, and demonstrate ESG Leadership.
September 2021 to the present
In September 2021, ConocoPhillips announced it would buy all of Royal Dutch Shell PLC's assets in the Permian basin for around $9.5 billion in cash.In June 2022, ConocoPhillips became one of the stakeholders in the joint venture with QatarEnergy for the North Field East (NFE) expansion, holding 3.125%, as well as holding 6.25% stakes in the North Field South (NFS), a second phase expansion of the NFE. The NFE expansion is expected to begin production by 2025, and the NFS later in 2028.In year 2023, the Biden administration approved ConocoPhillips' request to drill for oil along the Alaskan coast.
Operations
ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas on a worldwide basis. The company manages its operations through six operating segments, defined by geographic region: Alaska; Lower 48; Canada; Europe, Middle East and North Africa; Asia Pacific; and Other International.
Governance
Leadership
Current board of directors
Charles Bunch, CEO and chairman of PPG Industries
Caroline Maury Devine, former president and managing director of a Norwegian affiliate of ExxonMobil
John V. Faraci, former CEO and chairman of International Paper Company
Jody Freeman, Archibald Cox Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Gay Huey Evans, chairman, London Metal Exchange
Jeffrey A. Joerres, Former Executive Chairman and chief executive officer, ManpowerGroup Inc.
Ryan Lance, CEO and chairman of the board
Tim Leach, Executive Vice President, Lower 48 at ConocoPhillips
Admiral William H. McRaven, Retired U.S. Navy Four-Star Admiral (SEAL)
Sharmila Mulligan, Former Chief Strategy Officer of Alteryx
Eric D. Mullins, chairman and chief executive officer, Lime Rock Resources
Arjun Murti, former partner at Goldman Sachs
Robert Niblock, former CEO, president, and chairman of Lowe's
David T. Seaton, Former Chairman and chief executive officer, Fluor Corporation
R.A.Walker, Former Chairman and chief executive officer, Anadarko Petroleum Company
Environmental record
On April 11, 2007, ConocoPhillips became the first U.S. oil company to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and environmental groups. In January 2007, the partnership advised President George W. Bush that mandatory emissions caps would be needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In 2007, ConocoPhillips announced it would spend $150 million that year on alternative and unconventional energy sources, up from $80 million in 2006. However, ConocoPhillips left the U.S. Climate Action Partnership in February 2010, at the same time as BP and Caterpillar Inc. left the partnership.ConocoPhillips is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. In 2016, ConocoPhillips was ranked as being among the 12th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in the Arctic. In May 2020, it was reported that the company was planning new drillings in Alaska's North Slope which would affect the life of 400 in the Native village of Nuiqsut. According to the 2021 Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI), ConocoPhillips is ranked as the fourth most environmentally responsible company out of 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle.In 1990, ConocoPhillips agreed to pay $23 million to buy 400 homes and compensate families in Ponca City, Oklahoma, who said its refinery gave them cancer and other illnesses.In June 2011, ConocoPhillips China Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, was responsible for the 2011 Bohai bay oil spills in Bohai Bay.In 2015, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 agreed to pay $11.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that hundreds of their gas stations violated California anti-pollution laws since 2006. The civil complaint, filed in January 2013, alleged that the companies violated state laws on the operation and maintenance of underground gasoline storage tanks at more than 560 gas stations in the state. These violations included failing to properly maintain leak detection devices, testing secondary containment systems, conducting monthly inspections and training employees in proper protocol.In May 2019, ConocoPhillips settled a lawsuit with homeowners in northwestern Oklahoma City who accused the company of polluting their soil and water to such a degree that no trees or flowers will grow.In May 2017, ConocoPhillips agreed to a $39 million settlement to resolve complaints brought by New Jersey over groundwater contamination. ConocoPhillips was one of 50 companies named in a 2007 lawsuit filed against manufacturers, distributors and other industrial users of the gasoline additive MTBE, found in groundwater at locations throughout New Jersey.Bobby Berk, one of the stars from Netflix's "Queer Eye," spoke out against ConocoPhillips' water pollution in Missouri, saying that there were so many chemicals at one point, they could "actually light a glass of our water on fire".According to the Political Economy Research Institute, ConocoPhillips ranked 13th among U.S. corporate producers of air pollution.In 2013, ConocoPhillips had the "leakiest" methane in operations compared to its peers.In February 2022, ConocoPhillips announced a pilot program to sell its flare gas to a company operating a bitcoin mine in the Bakken Formation region of North Dakota as part of a company initiative to reduce routine flaring to zero by 2030. In 2021 and 2022, an index constructed by researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that bitcoin mining consumed more electricity during the course of the year than the entire nations of Argentina (a G20 country) and the Netherlands.
Carbon footprint
ConocoPhillips reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 16,200 Kt (-4,300 /-21% y-o-y).
References
External links
Official website
Business data for ConocoPhillips: |
anglogold ashanti | AngloGold Ashanti Limited is an independent and global gold mining company with a diverse high-quality portfolio of cooperation, projects and exploration activities formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. As of 2022, it was a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents, listed on the New York, Johannesburg, Accra, London and Australian stock exchanges, as well as the Paris and Brussels bourses, but left the Johannesburg exchange in 2023. As of May 2023, it was the world’s fourth-largest gold miner with assets in Ghana, Australia, the US and Argentina.
In 2019, the company was claimed to be the 'most sophisticated and technologically advanced' mining operations with strict adherence to safety regulations.AngloGold Ashanti has a history of gross human rights violations and causing grave environmental problems for which it won one of the Public Eye Awards.
History
AngloGold Ashanti was formed on 26 April 2004, after the High Court of Ghana approved the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation three days earlier. AngloGold had been a gold mining company based in South Africa, majority-owned by the Anglo American group. This came almost a year after the merger was announced on 16 May 2003. In the transaction, Ashanti shareholders received 0.29 ordinary shares of AngloGold for every Ashanti share.The new company sold its Union Reef Gold Mine in the Northern Territory of Australia in August 2004, followed by the sale of the Freda-Rebecca Gold Mine in Zimbabwe a month later.In late 2007, Mark Cutifani replaced Bobby Godsell as CEO of AngloGold Ashanti, being appointed a director of the company on 17 September 2007 and as CEO on 1 October that year.Alberto Calderon, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of AngloGold Ashanti. Appointed on ( September 1 2021-)In 2008, AngloGold produced 4.98 million ounces of gold from its operations, estimated to be seven percent of the global production. In 2009, the company's gold output dropped to 4.6 million ounces.As of early 2008, the company had hedged 11.3 million ounces of gold, under previous CEO Bobby Godsell.In January 2009, AngloGold Ashanti sold its 33% stake in the Boddington Gold Mine in Australia to Newmont Mining for US$1.0 billion.In February 2009, the company's Tau Lekoa Gold Mine in South Africa was sold to Buffelsfontein Gold Mines Limited with ownership being transferred on 1 August 2010.In May 2010, Russell Edey, chairman of AngloGold since 2002 and, after the merger also of AngloGold Ashanti, was replaced by Tito Mboweni.In October 2010, the company announced the elimination of the last of its hedge book. Under its new CEO, it gradually reduced the hedge to 3.22 million. In October 2010, this remaining amount was paid off with US$2.63 billion, or US$1,300 per ounce of gold.In 2011, AngloGold Ashanti moved into Eritrea to explore the Arabian-Nubian Shield for gold through a 50/50 joint venture set up in 2009 with Thani Dubai Mining.As of the third quarter of 2014, Anglogold was the world's third-largest producer of gold, behind Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining.As of 2019, the company was claimed to be the 'most sophisticated and technologically advanced' mining operations with strict adherence to safety regulations.In 2020, it sold its last South African mining assets to Harmony Gold for about R4.4 billion. It no longer has any operations left in South Africa but remains listed on the JSE.On 1 September 2020, Chief Financial Officer Christine Ramon became interim CEO following the resignation of Kelvin Dushnisky. There has been speculation that Dushnisky stepped down after shareholders questioned a bonus payment he received from his prior employer Barrick Gold while also taking a signing bonus from AngloGold Ashanti when he was appointed CEO in 2018.As of May 2023, AngloGold Ashanti was the world’s fourth-largest gold miner with assets in Ghana, Australia, the US and Argentina.AngloGold Ashanti is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
Criticism
In August 2008 British charity War on Want published a report accusing Anglo American (who at the time owned 17% of AngloGold Ashanti) of profiting from the abuse of people in the developing countries in which the company operates. The company disclosed itself in 2006 or in 2008 for unacceptable safety performance in its platinum mines. Safety measures were taken. Additionally, in 2005 the staff of the AGA exploration team in Ituri made a US$8,000 payment to the FNI, which had been accused of committing various humans rights abuses.In January 2011, AngloGold Ashanti was awarded the Public Eye Global Award at the Public Eye Awards hosted with Greenpeace in Davos, Switzerland by the Erklärung von Bern, known in English as the Berne Convention. The award has been interpreted as being for the "most irresponsible company". The nominating organisation, WACAM (Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining), said the company had a history of "gross human rights violations and environmental problems."
Key figures
Financial
Financial figures for the company:
Gold production, 2004-2012
Gold production figures for the company's mines since 2004 in ounces per annum were
Figures for 2004 for Freda-Rebecca, Siguiri, Bibiani, Iduapriem and Obuasi are for the period from May to December, from the merger onwards, having belonged to Ashanti Goldfields Corporation before the merger.
Percentage figures behind names indicate the share of production of the mine belonging to AngloGold Ashanti. Production figures shown are those belonging to AngloGold Ashanti, not overall production.
1 The Bibiani Gold Mine was sold 1 December 2006.
2 The Moab Khotsong Gold Mine started production in 2006.
3 The Freda-Rebecca Gold Mine was sold 1 September 2004.
4 The Tau Lekoa Gold Mine was sold to Buffelsfontein Gold Mines Limited, with ownership being transferred on 1 August 2010.
Carbon footprint
AngloGold Ashanti reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2019 at 2,570 Kt (-1/ y-o-y).
Fatalities
Fatalities in the South African gold mining industry, especially the underground mines, are common. As of 2009, 100 to 120 were reported every year. This did represent an improvement since 2007: AngloGold Ashanti has reduced the number of fatalities in its operations by 70%. One of the main reasons for this development was a program led by CEO Mark Cutifani aimed at reducing the company's number of fatalities to zero by 2015. Of the 16 fatalities experienced by the company in 2009, 13 were in South Africa (2007: 27 of 34, 2008: 11 of 14). Statistics company fatalities since 2004 founding:
See also
Sam E. Jonah (ACSM), former president of AngloGold Ashanti.
Gold as an investment
References
Sources
AngloGold's response to Human Rights Watch allegations (pdf), 2005.
D.R. Congo: Gold Fuels Massive Human Rights Atrocities – Human Rights Watch article
Anglo American: The Alternative Report
External links
Official website
Business data for AngloGold Ashanti:
A Glittering Demon: Mining, Poverty and Politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo Archived 19 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine |
magnitogorsk iron and steel works | Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (Russian: Магнитогорский металлургический комбинат, romanized: Magnitogorskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat), abbreviated as MMK, is an iron and steel company located in the city of Magnitogorsk, Russia. As of 2017, it was the 30th largest steel company in the world. In 2021, the company's revenue amounted to 786 billion rubles.
History of Magnitogorsk mining
Historically, the centre of Russian iron production had been focused in the Tula region. However, in the early part of the 18th century, a shift towards developing the industrial capabilities of the Urals took place which more than doubled Russia's iron production. In 1828, a series of geological surveys began as part of an effort to determine the mineral make up of the Magnitnaya Mountain and create estimates of the possible amount of iron contained under it. By the latter part of the 19th century, a small town had grown up which reported more than 10,000 residents. During this time, between 30,000 and 50,000 tons of raw iron were extracted in the area annually.
Establishment of MMK
In the 1870s, most of iron ore, steel and pig iron was produced in Ukraine. In 1913, Ukraine, with its rich deposits and developed industry, accounted for 75% of iron ore production, compared to 21% in the Urals. While Ukraine remained the center of metal production, rival regions were significantly less important. It was only after the October Revolution of 1917 that the effort to expand the steel industry came to the fore.
As part of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's First Five-Year Plan for the rapid development of national industry,the government decided to sponsor a project to build the world's largest steel production complex. Initially the project was planned by the Soviets and then the American-based Arthur McKee & Company was brought into over see its construction and planning. The plan to transform Magnitogorsk into an industrial complex that would become MMK was linked to the construction of the new city of Stalinsk, which had a large supply of coal.While there were disagreements regarding the timetable and massive shortages of supplies, the project to build the complex broke ground in 1929 with the influx of thousands of idealistic Soviet workers. The American contractors were critical of the handling of the project and were frustrated by mismanagement and so the majority of the design ended up falling to the Soviets. Much of the failure to properly organize the construction efforts was due in part to the Soviet government's desired speed, which they deemed essential in order to meet their Five Year Plan. Additionally, there were changes in personnel who had faced removal over political concerns that emerged over loyalty to the Communist Party.In opposition to claims by the advisors from Arthur McKee & Company that the facilities were not yet ready for use, the furnaces at MMK were put into action in 1932 with the first flow of molten pig iron being produced. While this move to initiate activities at the complex was applauded by the Soviet leadership, the plant was forced to halt their production only a few days later due to the need for serious repairs in the furnaces. By 1933, the plant was producing steel.
World War II
MMK played an important role in the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, being the largest steel company in the Soviet Union, and located far away from combat on the Eastern Front. The strategic concept of developing various huge modern iron and steel works deep inside the country relied on the idea that future defence of the socialist homeland was going to require huge amounts of steel, as well as places to produce iron and steel that were as safe as possible from foreign invasion and aerial bombing raids.The notion of protecting the USSR's industrial base from invasion and bombing by locating it deep in the interior was not pursued as completely during the 1930s as it might have been; what parts of it were not overrun and confiscated by the Germans were hastily moved eastward in 1941 and 1942. In 1942, the West knew that "at least one armament factory previously situated near Leningrad has arrived in Magnitogorsk lock, stock, and barrel, complete with personnel, and is already going into production using Magnitogorsk steel.": 258 The extent of Western knowledge of the huge eastward shift was summed up as follows: "...Even before the outbreak of war, large electrical equipment plants were removed from White Belorussia on the German frontier and also from the Leningrad district to the Urals and Western Siberia. One such plant is reported to have been removed to Sverdlovsk during 1940 and to have been producing normally in March, 1941. Any plant except the largest smelting, steelmaking, and chemical works can be moved by railroad fairly quickly and with little damage.": 262–263 [...] "Thus, while no figures will be available for some time, it is my opinion that large portions of the industrial machinery formerly located in areas
now occupied by the Germans, instead of being captured by them, are already in operation a thousand or more miles east of the present front, in Stalin's Ural Stronghold.": 262–263 After the attack on the USSR, on June 22, 1941, MMK obtained its first order for production of metal armor. Instructions were given to proceed to the production of blanks for live shells, and to explore the possibilities of creating specialist products for armored tanks, which required a rebuild of the production facility. The government provided a number of specialists for the development of armored steel. The factory created an Armor Bureau, which was responsible for the development of technology for the production of armored steel products. By July 23, 1941, the third hearth furnace of MMK produced its first steel output for the military.
Armor sheet production at MMK in the end of 1941 exceeded its pre-war production. Simultaneously, specialized areas and workshops for the production of ammunition was improved. Hand grenades, components for missiles, and other defense products were manufactured. Magnitogorsk was converted into the major military arsenal of the country. The construction and commissioning of new production units continued. Attention was concentrated on blast furnaces No. 5 and No. 6, and this blast furnace steel became the biggest in the USSR.A number of novel techniques that enriched the theory and practice of construction were developed at the site. Owing to the completion of such a large plant and its capability to fully cycle ore to final product, the nation survived the loss of huge tracts of territory to the Germans.In 1941, though the factory was not yet completely built, child labour was already being employed at what was called the CL (Central Laboratory).During the first years of the war, about 200,000 teenagers arrived to work at the factory. They worked for 10–11 hours a day, and sometimes in extreme situations as they stayed for 10 days at a time in the factory. It is due to these children that Magnitogorsk was able to build the first tanks and aircraft, as they collected 57 million rubles to help the war front.By February 1, 1941, about 428,000 people were sent to the Chelyabinsk region to help and work at the factory and its surroundings, in order to raise necessary funds for the war effort. There was a huge housing shortage, so on August 25 the factory leadership decided to initiate a project which included the development of barracks and huts. Educational institutions and health centers with hospitals were also planned as the factory grew.Before the first hostilities in 1940, MMK was producing tanks but production was sluggish. It was thus decided to stop production of tractors and other machine products and to concentrate on the development and manufacturing of tanks. According to the direction of the State Defense Committee, it was decided to organize mass production of the T-34 medium tank. The fate of the front and the country largely depended on how soon the factory could begin to produce tanks.
MMK in the post-Soviet era
As with the majority of the state-run industries, MMK underwent a series of shifts towards privatization after the fall of the Soviet Union. In 1992, MMK transitioned to become a joint stock company. Due in part to Russia's economic downturn at the time, MMK suffered a significant drop in its levels of productivity. In 1996, production fell to 5.8 million tons per year.However, in recent years, MMK has rebounded with significantly increased levels of productivity by entering new sectors of the metal works industry. In 2007 the company became a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, and in 2008, crude steel production at the plant was reported to have reached some 12 million tons. There has also been a move to enter into new international markets. Production has increasingly shifted towards the export market with some years reporting the share of exports comprising 70% of total production. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the company was suspended from the LSE, and subsequently delisted.MMK produces 400 different types of steel, and one of its workshops is a mile long.
Joint venture investment in Turkey
On May 23, 2007, the MMK signed a joint venture agreement with the Turkish steel company Atakaş to construct and run a steel plant in the Hatay Province of southern Turkey. On March 15, 2008, the plant's foundation was laid in Dörtyol, Hatay. As of the beginning of 2009, the plant's service center consisted of a hot shear line, as well as a combined cold shear and slitting line.The plant, which has a capacity of 2.5 million tons of steel products a year, was officially opened by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 9, 2011. It is one of the biggest of its art in Turkey. On March 10, 2011, it was reported that the MMK applied to the Turkish competition board to buy its Turkish partner's stake.
Social responsibility
MMK's facilities employ 38% of the city's working-age population. The company accounted for 57% of the city's budget in 2016, an increase of about 7% from 2015.The local hockey team, Metallurg, is also owned by MMK.
Metallurg Charity Foundation
One of the channels of MMK's social investments is the Metallurg Charity Fund, founded in 1993. In 2016, the financial resources of the fund were EUR 8.7 million.
Carbon footprint
Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works reported total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) of 26,798 Kt. for a twelve-month period, ending on 31 December 2020.
See also
Time, Forward!, a 1965 Soviet film about one day of construction of "Magnitka"
References
External links
Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works
(in Russian) Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel
History of MMK. |
fresnillo plc | Fresnillo plc is a Mexican precious metals mining company incorporated in the United Kingdom and headquartered in Mexico City. Fresnillo is the world's largest producer of silver from ore (primary silver) and Mexico's second-largest gold miner. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
Formerly a wholly owned operating division of Industrias Peñoles, a minority stake in the company was spun off on the London Stock Exchange in a May 2008 IPO, with a secondary listing on the Mexican Stock Exchange on the same day.On 15 August 2012, Octavio Alvídrez took over as chief executive from Jaime Lomelín, following a handover period.
Operations
The company operates three gold and silver mines in Mexico (Industrias Peñoles retained the rights to its primary base metals mines when Fresnillo was spun off). The largest mine, in terms of silver output, is Mina Proaño (also known as Fresnillo Mine), located near the city of Fresnillo in the state of Zacatecas; the other mines are at Cienega, in Durango, and Herradura, in Sonora. In 2007, Fresnillo plc produced 34.3 million ounces of silver and 279,614 ounces of gold from its three active mines, as well as around 20 tons each of zinc and lead as by-products.The company also has 21 active exploration projects located across the country. It signalled plans to use the money raised in its IPO to expand into Peru and Chile.
Carbon footprint
Fresnillo reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 842 Kt (-7 /-0.8% y-o-y).
References
External links
Official website
Google Finance profile |
zero-carbon city | A zero-carbon city is a goal of city planners that can be variously defined. In a narrower sense of energy production and use, a zero-carbon city is one that generates as much or more carbon-free sustainable energy as it uses.
In a broader sense of managing greenhouse gas emissions, a zero-carbon city is one that reduces its carbon footprint to a minimum (ideally 0 or negative) by using renewable energy sources; reducing all types of carbon emissions through efficient urban design, technology use and lifestyle changes; and balancing any remaining emissions through carbon sequestration. Since the supply chains of a city stretch far beyond its borders, Princeton University's High Meadows Environmental Institute suggests using a transboundary definition of a net-zero carbon city as "one that has net-zero carbon infrastructure and food provisioning systems".Most cities throughout the world burn coal, oil or gas as a source of energy, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a key greenhouse gas. The development of cities is therefore intimately linked to the causes and impacts of climate change. As of 2019, cities accounted for two thirds of all energy consumption and generated 70% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Over 50% of the people in the world currently live in cities, a proportion that is projected to rise to 70% by 2050, and almost 80% by 2080.
Urban development focused on lowering carbon is seen as an inevitable trend for sustainability in urban spaces. Underlying goals include avoiding harm to the planet and countering the impacts of climate change. As of 2022, over 1000 cities worldwide have undertaken steps to transition in response to climate change as part of the Cities Race to Zero campaign, one part of a larger United Nations Race to Zero campaign. Among them are 25 mega-cities including Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Oslo, Mexico City, Melbourne, London, Milan, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Copenhagen, Vancouver and Hong Kong. In the United States, more than 100 cities have pledged to become carbon neutral.An established modern city attempting to achieve net-zero status needs to assess seven key provisioning systems, for energy, transportation-communications, food, construction materials, water, green infrastructure, and waste-management. Strategies for reaching net zero include developing renewable energy supplies, reducing energy and resource use through better urban design and lifestyle changes, reducing waste, and creating green spaces and carbon sinks to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Approaches to sustainable urban planning of zero carbon cities increasingly emphasize the use of locally sourced food, energy, and renewable resources.Some city planners have designed zero-carbon cities from scratch, instead of using and adapting established cities. This gives city planners greater control over all aspects of city design and how each city can contribute to being without carbon emissions. Such design enables the city to benefit from economies of scale and from construction options that might not be feasible in a city with existing structures. Such zero-carbon cities maintain optimal living conditions and economic development while eliminating environmental impact.
Guiding principles
Net zero is a scientific concept that can be defined in terms of measurable targets. It can provide a frame of reference for understanding and assessing the impact of actions to address climate change. To be used as a framework for climate action, it must be operationalised and measured as part of the ongoing activities of social, political and economic systems.Time scale is an essential factor driving the urgency of net zero interventions. The impact of carbon emissions on surface warming of the planet is monotonic, near-linear (as of 2021) and long term. Attempts to achieve net zero must therefore be long term plans, maintained over multiple decades. The goal of net zero is to achieve a state of balance that can be maintained over multiple decades to centuries.Scientists can measure ongoing changes in the global atmosphere and estimate carbon budgets, but identifying and operationalising interventions occurs at multiple levels worldwide. As a frame of reference for decision-makers, global impact must be translated into definable targets for entities at national, subnational, corporate, organizational and individual levels.In practice, determination of net-zero targets has been self-regulated and voluntary. Entitles set and achieve goals, some participating in voluntary campaigns and initiatives such as the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Race to Zero campaign, Cities Race to Zero, the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, and the Science Based Targets initiative. Regular global progress assessments, including those of independent global initiatives such as CDP and the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), provide a form of feedback. As of 2022, over 1000 cities, including 25 megacities worldwide and 100 cities in the United States, are part of Cities Race to Zero.While the setting of targets is key, it must be followed up through effective mechanisms for governance, monitoring, accountability and reporting. Long-term goals must be translated into practical near-term actions, with detailed plans and methods for establishing baselines, measuring outcomes and assessing impacts.
In many ways, cities are in a critical position to address climate issues effectively: they are large enough to benefit from economies of scale, and close enough to actual problems to focus on developing real implementable strategies. As demands on their infrastructures increase, they have a strong incentive to address issues and find and share solutions.Seven aspects of net zero have been identified as highly important to its successful use as a framework for climate action. These have relevance to the development of net zero cities.
Sooner is better. Front-loading climate action, combined with long-term planning over years or decades, is the most cost-effective way to reach temperature targets, as well as the most flexible in the face of new information.
Be comprehensive. Plans that tackle comprehensive rather than partial emissions reductions are becoming necessary as carbon levels reach critical tipping points. Harder-to-treat problem areas must be addressed as well as easier ones.
Beware of over-reliance on early-stage carbon removal strategies. These are not yet well understood and may enable a "business as usual" attitude to climate change.
Reassess and improve systems for carbon offsets. Such systems have been questioned in terms of their scientific and technical capabilities; environmental integrity; monitoring, reporting and verification structures; and social and environmental impact.
Apply principles of sustainable development. Achieving net zero globally requires implementation of equitable and just transitions that balance social, economic and environmental objectives in areas with very different conditions.
Focus on broad strategies for sustainability. Cities can potentially address multiple problems at once, through solutions that are nature-based, biodiversity-based and people-led. It is important to consider that parents with small children, the poor, the elderly and the disabled may experience a city differently from those who are affluent and more easily mobile.
See opportunities. New net-zero solutions and innovation will drive economic shifts which will include opportunities for investment, renewal and growth.There are strong similarities between zero carbon cities and eco-cities. Discussions of eco-cities tend to focus more broadly on social and environmental issues, with less emphasis on carbon monitoring and the necessity of reaching net zero energy balance.
Many of the principles proposed for developing eco-cities are also relevant to net zero cities, including revising land use priorities to create sustainable mixed-use communities; revising transportation priorities to favor foot, bicycle, cart and public transit over automobiles; increasing environmental awareness; supporting local agriculture and community gardens; and promoting recycling and resource conservation.
City infrastructure
Urban areas involve essential infrastructure for energy, transport, water, food, shelter, construction, public spaces, and waste management. Transforming cities to achieve net zero sustainability means rethinking both supply-side issues (power supplies and transportation) and demand-side issues (reducing use through better urban design and policy.) Key factors in city planning include density, land use mix, connectivity, and accessibility.To achieve net zero, a city must collectively reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to zero and cease all practices that emit greenhouse gases. Achieving net zero sustainability also means considering sources and production of materials, and ensuring that what comes into the city travels via zero-emission transport. Appearing to reduce emissions in one location by shifting emissions-causing activities to a different location will not contribute to the global goal of a sustainable net zero environment.
Energy
To become a zero-carbon city, renewable energy must supersede other non-renewable energy sources and become the sole source of energy, so a zero-carbon city is a renewable-energy-economy city. Transitioning to a zero carbon city means examining the generation of power sources, such as renewable electricity and decarbonising electricity production.Electricity needs are increasingly being met through the development of solar and wind power as energy sources, which are becoming the cheapest forms of power. The shift to solar power, in particular, means that energy can be produced close to its intended use. This is suited to a distributed energy infrastructure in which local areas are connected into a city-wide or region-wide electrical grid. The ability to provide a steady supply of electricity is also being supported by the development of more efficient and cost-effective battery storage technology.
Issues of equity, balance, and efficiency are all relevant to energy distribution and use. A net-zero carbon electricity grid is a necessary foundation for supply side strategies that aim to shift provisioning systems for buildings, energy use, mobility, and light industrial energy use to electric power. The development of a net-zero carbon electric grid can become the basis for transitioning key urban activities such as transportation, heating, and cooking from fossil fuels to zero-carbon electricity.
Transport
Transportation of people and goods is estimated to contribute 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
In terms of transport, approaches to low-carbon urban development often focus on reducing fossil-fuel based transportation, improving public transit, and creating areas of mixed use development so that people are more likely to work and shop near their homes, reducing transportation needs. A study of 274 cities worldwide suggests that compact urban development is important in both affluent mature cities and developing-country cities with emerging infrastructures, reducing urban emissions by up to 25%.The transition from fossil-fuel-based cars and trucks to electric vehicles (EVs) is occurring globally. China has been a major center of technology growth for EVs. Vehicle-fuel technologies that can contribute to reductions in energy use include hybrid electric, plug-in electric, natural gas, and bioethanol-powered vehicles. The last diesel and gasoline cars are expected to be produced in the 2020s, with 25% or more of all vehicles worldwide being electric by 2040 as fossil fuel prices rise.
A narrow focus on electrifying vehicles can lead planners to overlook opportunities for increasing efficiency within existing systems. Good urban planning can develop an infrastructure that combines and supports initiatives in multiple areas. For example, the generation of solar power and the provision of recharge hubs near public transit can support the use of electric vehicles for both private and public transit. Another way to support use of electric vehicles might be to integrate EV charging points into lampposts.Increasingly, city planners are looking to the use of digital technologies to create smarter and more sustainable cities. By gathering large diverse datasets and modelling the impact of possible interventions, planners hope to identify and target key aspects of energy use, air quality, and traffic for improvement. By incorporating smart measurement technology into buildings, lighting, appliances and transportation, systems can better adapt to changing conditions, reduce energy consumption, and improve city services.
Heating, cooling and cooking
Heating, cooling and cooking are also targets for improved energy efficiency and reduction of carbon emissions. Increasingly following Europe and Asia, North Americans are switching from gas or electrical resistance stoves to induction cooking. Consumers are also switching heating systems from coal, fuel oil, or natural gas to electricity-driven steam or hot water; and to air-source or ground-source heat pumps for both heating and cooling.
Food
Food production tends to be heavily dependent on fossil fuels, in the production of nitrogen fertilizer and to power agricultural machinery used in the planting, tending and harvesting of crops. The movement of food from producers to consumers also tends to involve major fossil-fuel costs, since many crops are grown far from their potential market and have a short shelf life. Many countries depend on international markets to obtain critical food supplies. Food production and supply chains are being increasingly destabilized by the effects of climate change on agriculture, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. In the United States, at the same time that millions of Americans experience food insecurity, as much as 40 percent of food is wasted.
At the consumer level, steps towards achieving net zero include eating more local and plant-based foods, minimizing food waste, and composting remaining plant-based wastes. Consumers and investors may also choose to support companies based on their carbon footprint and transparency.In terms of city infrastructure, initiatives to identify and redirect usable food ("food rescue"), to separate waste streams, and to improve handling of food waste are all important.
In low-income countries, small-scale and household-level biogas systems are being used to convert wastes into energy. Composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) are increasingly being used in countries at all income levels.Farmers and farming communities need scientific, technical, and financial support to move to more climate-friendly farming practices and to support initiatives for climate change adaptation, regenerative agriculture and biosequestration. Collaboration between stakeholders at all levels of the private, public and civil sectors is needed to improve food sector infrastructure.
Construction
The energy efficiency of buildings can be assessed and improved in multiple ways that help to reduce carbon emissions.
Insulation and energy-efficient windows are commonly used in colder cities. Incorporation of features such as solar panels, green roofs and walls, and heat pumps into new or existing buildings can significantly reduce energy use.
New types of materials such as smart glass are being developed to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.Energy efficiency is not the only factor to consider. Types of materials used can vary widely in both their up-front and over-time carbon costs. It is important to carefully consider the up-front embodied emissions of existing materials. Researchers are also working to develop construction materials that do not release carbon during manufacturing or that can absorb and store more carbon. Steel and cement are heavily used in construction and are very energy intensive to make. Biomass-based materials such as wood and bamboo have lower energy-formation costs. Practices for recycling and reusing construction waste can also save on the amount of energy that has gone into producing and transporting materials.The size of buildings has an impact on their energy costs in terms of both construction and use. Some recommend a four-storey multi-family building built of low-carbon higher density materials such as straw and wood as an ideal. Mid-size multi-unit buildings can support economies of scale during building and are likely to be more economical in use than single-unit homes. High-rise buildings, particularly in hot climates, are more costly to cool and operate. When planning an area, a mix of mid- and high-rise buildings in a compact urban format is likely to be efficient.
Green infrastructure
Green infrastructure includes private and public garden areas, parks, trees, and urban agriculture. Green infrastructure mitigates the effects of carbon emissions in multiple ways, by naturally removing and storing carbon dioxide, and by shading and cooling surrounding areas which reduces energy needs for cooling. The development of green space in cities, particularly long-lived trees, is a cost-effective method of carbon sequestration. The inclusion of green space in urban areas can also help with wide variety of other issues, from stormwater to mental health.
Waste and energy exchange
Wastes can be managed through a variety of ways, including reuse, recycling, storage, treatment, energy recovery, and disposal.
In some cases, a by-product of one set of processes can be used to advantage by someone else, sometimes referred to as urban industrial symbiosis. For example, waste heat from industries and grocery stores has been used to heat residential and commercial buildings. The city of Charlotte, North Carolina has identified becoming a zero waste city as one of four key areas of performance for the goal of developing a circular economy.
"Waste-to-energy" describes processes through which useful by-products such as energy can be recovered from otherwise unusable sources.
Technologies for carbon capture and storage are being developed to mitigate emissions from fossil fuel power plants and industrial sources.
The collection and disposal of waste can potentially be used for the generation of electricity, steam, or heat, but systems to support this are not yet well developed.Reviews of attempts to attain zero-waste note that the term is used widely and not consistently. Many countries lack an overall zero waste strategy. In most cases in the United States, waste management is inefficient. Without clear national zero waste strategy and policies that identify key areas, it is difficult to coordinate and promote zero waste initiatives in communities and industry.
Measuring net zero
Assessing the urban carbon footprint of cities is a complex issue.
Four major accounting systems for measuring urban greenhouse gases have been developed, each with a slightly different conceptualization of what it means to be a net-zero carbon city: territorial source-based accounting, community-wide infrastructure supply chain greenhouse gas footprinting, consumption-based GHG accounting, and total community-wide greenhouse gas footprinting.
The United Kingdom is one example of a country that is measuring greenhouse gas emissions and assessing its progress towards net zero using a variety of different official measures.
Examples
Converting existing cities
Increasingly, existing cities are planning to become low or zero carbon. As of 2022, over 1000 cities worldwide have undertaken steps to transition in response to climate change as part of the Cities Race to Zero campaign, one part of the larger United Nations Race to Zero campaign. In the United States, more than 100 cities have pledged to participate in Cities Race to Zero.
The following examples illustrate some of the types of initiatives for net zero cities, the extent to which they received multi-level support, and their impact.
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
As the second largest city in Zimbabwe, with an urban population between 680,000 and 1.5 million people, Bulawayo has gone through a period of rapid growth in the twentieth century; an economic decline in the first decade of the twenty-first century; and next a return to rapid growth that incorporates the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into the city's strategic plan. Bulawayo hopes to "leapfrog" over existing technology and recreate its economy by adopting next generation technology.
Initiatives include replacement of the city's power station with renewable solar power, "Trackless Trams" for transit, smart technologies for electrical grid management, and circular economy technologies to manage and reduce waste. Researchers are also examining fuelwood production and the potential for carbon sequestration in Bulawayo's public green spaces.
Canberra, Australia
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) which contains the capital Canberra, Australia was the first area in Australia to adopt a net-zero process for an entire urban region. Canberra is known for its strong urban planning and attention to climate change objectives.ACT passed a Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act as of 2010. Its Climate Council set 5-year goals with regular progress reports. As reported in Climate Change Strategy 2019–2025 (2019), Canberra committed to reducing emissions by 40% from 1990 to 2020. It has achieved that goal by shifting to the purchase of 100% renewable energy sources through the National Electricity Grid. The city has also improved transportation through the use of zero emissions light rail and buses, and added cycling paths. Through these and other initiatives, Canberra's current goal is to use 100% renewable energy by 2045.
Chongming, China
Over the last decade, Shanghai, China has implemented dozens of low carbon policies to reduce energy usage and address the effects of climate change.
Chongming Island, once a rural area of Shanghai, is one focus for net zero city development. In 2001, the Shanghai Municipal Government (SMG) proposed the creation of a low-carbon eco-island to explore the potential for the development of low-carbon cities. The American firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was competitively chosen as the designer of the Chongming Master Plan in 2004.
In 2010, SMG developed the Chongming Eco-Island Construction Outline as a framework with indicators for redesigning Chongming. These included using energy-saving materials, recycled materials and solar energy to construct new buildings; upgrading existing buildings to save energy; closing the existing coal plant; developing renewable energy sources (wind, solar, and biogas); converting buses to electric vehicles and adding foot and bicycle paths; recycling wastewater with low-carbon techniques; reusing wastes for organic fertilizer and biogas; and the development of forests and wetlands to sequester carbon. Factories were required to meet strict ecological requirements or shut down; economic development has been slow and many residents are unemployed.
Copenhagen, Denmark
In 2012 Copenhagen, Denmark created the CPH2025 Climate Plan with the target of becoming the first carbon-neutral capital by 2025 and for Denmark to be entirely carbon-neutral by 2050. The city has shifted energy and heating systems to use wind, solar and biomass for heating and sea water for cooling; improved transit by using electric cars and adding bicycle paths, and renovated buildings to be more energy efficient. From 2009-2022, Copenhagen reduced CO2 emissions by 80%.To achieve the remaining 20% reduction, the city hoped to use carbon capture and storage (CCS). In 2022, the state indicated that the proposed Amager Resource Centre (ARC) incinerator would not qualify for state financial aid under equity capital requirements of the state's CCS funding program. Copenhagen has stated that it still hopes to achieve a 100% reduction in carbon emissions, but will not be able to do so by 2025.
Denver, USA
Denver, Colorado is an established city with aging building stock. It signed its first Climate Action Plan in 2007 with the initial low-carbon goal of reducing emissions per capita by 10% by 2012. Denver achieved this goal as a result of the passage of renewable portfolio standards by the State of Colorado and climate actions on the part of the city.The city carefully tracked the progress of its climate action plans in detail and modelled the effects of its programs. They determined that low-carbon actions focusing on efficiency and conservation would be insufficient to reduce GHG emissions at the levels desired. In 2018, Denver changed its strategy to deep decarbonization. Denver is now proposing to make broad systemic changes with the goal of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.
Constructing new cities
The following examples were prototyped to be newly built zero-carbon cities: Dongtan, China and Masdar City, United Arab Emirates.
Dongtan, Shanghai
Dongtan, China was a sustainable eco-city project planned in the 2000s that was never built. Dongtan was to be located at the east end of Chongming Island, adjacent to the Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve. The developers planned on a fully built city, with 80,000 residents by 2020.The planned city's urban design addressed issues of sustainable energy management, waste management, renewable energy process implementation, architecture, infrastructure, and even the planning of communities and social structures. It proposed to use renewable energy, electric battery or hydrogen-fuel cell transportation, recycled water, hydroponic farming, organic waste recycling and waste-generation of clean energy.However, by 2008, support for the project had disappeared.
Reasons for the project's closure include its proposed location in a highly-valued wetlands area, tensions between its development partners (Arup, a British engineering company, and Shanghai Industrial Investment, a state-owned developer), and loss of political support (due to the jailing of Dongtan's top political backer, former Shanghai Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu, on corruption charges in 2008).Although the project was not implemented, as an example of urban design it has inspired and informed other cities in China and worldwide. Ideas from Dongtan were incorporated into the renovation of the Chongming District. Dongtan became a model for a subsequently planned eco-city outside Tianjin.
Masdar City, United Arab Emirates
For the Masdar Initiative, Foster + Partners designed a 2.5-square-mile sustainable carbon and waste-free city combining the principles of an ancient walled city with modern alternative energy technologies. One of the city's goals was to be self-sufficient in energy by using about 80% solar energy, along with wind and biomass sources. Solar energy was to be generated through photovoltaic panels, concentrated solar collectors, and solar thermal tubes. The city was designed with wind cooling towers and narrow streets to maximize shaded areas and keep cooling costs down. Buildings incorporate solar and geo-thermal cooling as well as using high-tech construction materials and siting.Economically, the city was planned to become a center for alternative energy and technology development as well as an example of their use. The site was located close to Abu Dhabi and an international airport, connecting to surrounding communities through a transportation infrastructure of rail, road and public transit. Transportation within the city was to use battery-powered and auto piloted personal rapid transit systems (PRT) as well as walking and cycling. Visitors to the city must park their cars outside and use public transit.
Construction was planned to occur in phases and began in February 2008. As of 2010, the first buildings went into use in the first section to be completed, a 3+1⁄2-acre zone that included the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.Shams Solar Power Station (SHAMS 1), Masdar City's main source of power, became operational in 2013, with a capacity of 100 megawatts. It was the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) facility in the world at that time.Originally projected to be completed by 2015, the city's construction was significantly delayed due to the global financial crisis.
In 2017, Masdar City completed a pilot project for an Eco-Villa, a 405 square-metre four-bedroom property presented as an affordable net zero energy family home.
As of 2020, only a small part of the city had been finished. Many of those who work there are commuters, not residents. Completion of the city was projected to occur in 2030. In 2022, the city announced its next expansion, Masdar City Square (MC2), to be completed by 2024. It will add seven new office buildings including the city's first net-zero energy office building.Masdar City has experienced setbacks, and has not yet reached its goals. It can be viewed as a lesson in the importance of balancing social, environmental and economic factors in city design. Nonetheless, Masdar City is credited with developing and implementing important technologies for resilient sustainable cities, and with inspiring others worldwide.
See also
15-minute city
BSI PAS 2060
Beyond Zero Emissions
C40 Cities
Carfree city
Compact city
Ecology movement
Electric vehicle network
Environmental movement
Environmental protection
Environmentalism
Geothermal heat pump
Habitat conservation
Healthy city
List of most-polluted cities by particulate matter concentration
List of smart cities
Natural environment
Renewable energy sources
Smart city
Sustainable city
Sustainable development
Thin film solar on standing seam metal roofs
Urban vitality
Zero-emissions vehicle
== References == |
gap inc. | The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company operates four primary divisions: Gap (the namesake banner), Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta. Gap Inc. is the largest specialty retailer in the United States, and is 3rd in total international locations, behind Inditex Group and H&M. As of early 2023, Gap employs about 95,000 people.The Fisher family remains deeply involved in the company, collectively owning much of its stock. Donald Fisher served as chairman of the board until 2004, playing a role in the ouster of then-CEO Millard Drexler in 2002, and remained on the board until his death on September 27, 2009. Fisher's wife and their son, Robert J. Fisher, also serve on Gap's board of directors. Robert succeeded his father as chairman in 2004 and also served as CEO on an interim basis following the resignation of Paul Pressler in 2007, before being succeeded by Glenn K. Murphy up until 2014. From February 2015 to November 2019, Art Peck was CEO of Gap Inc., until he was replaced by Sonia Syngal in March 2020. Syngal stepped down in July 2022, with Executive Chairman Bob Martin serving as interim CEO.
History
In 1969, Don Fisher, a California commercial real estate broker specializing in retail store location, enlisted the help of his friend, Walter Haas Jr., President of Levi Strauss & Co. Fisher was inspired by the sudden success of 'The Tower of Shoes' in an old Quonset hut in a non-retail industrial area of Sacramento, California, that drew crowds by advertising that no matter what brand, style or size of shoes a woman could want it was at The Tower of Shoes. And knowing that even Macy's, the biggest Levi's customer, was constantly running out of the best selling Levi's sizes, and colors, Fisher asked Haas to let him copy The Tower of Shoes' business model and apply it to Levi's products. Haas referred Fisher to Bud Robinson, his Director of Advertising, for what Haas assumed would be a quick refusal; but instead Robinson and Fisher carefully worked out a legal test plan for what was to become The Gap (named by Don's wife Doris Fisher). The name was a reference to the "generation gap".Fisher agreed to stock only Levi's apparel in every style and size, all grouped by size, and Levi's guaranteed The Gap to be never out of stock by overnight replenishment from Levi's San Jose, California warehouse. And finally, Robinson offered to pay 50% of The Gap's radio advertising upfront and avoided antitrust laws by offering the same marketing package to any store that agreed to sell nothing but Levi's products.
Fisher opened the first Gap store near City College on Ocean Avenue in Ingleside, San Francisco on August 21, 1969; its only merchandise consisted of Levi's and LP records to attract teen customers.
In 1970, Gap opened its second store in San Jose. In 1971, Gap established its corporate headquarters in Burlingame, California with four employees. By 1973, the company had over 25 locations and had expanded into the East Coast market with a store in the Echelon Mall in Voorhees, New Jersey. In 1974, Gap began to sell private label merchandise.In the 1990s, Gap assumed an upscale identity and revamped its inventory under the direction of Mickey Drexler. However, Drexler was removed from his position after 19 years of service in 2002 after over-expansion, a 29-month slump in sales, and tensions with the Fisher family. Drexler refused to sign a non-compete agreement and eventually became CEO of J. Crew. One month after his departure, merchandise that he had ordered was responsible for a strong rebound in sales. Robert J. Fisher recruited Paul Pressler as the new CEO; he was credited with closing under-performing locations and paying off debt. However, his focus groups failed to recover the company's leadership in its market.
In 2007, Gap announced that it would "focus [its] efforts on recruiting a chief executive officer who has deep retailing and merchandising experience ideally in apparel, understands the creative process and can effectively execute strategies in large, complex environments while maintaining strong financial discipline". That January, Pressler resigned after two disappointing holiday sales seasons and was succeeded by Robert J. Fisher on an interim basis. He began working with the company in 1980 and joined the board in 1990, and would later assume several senior executive positions, including president of Banana Republic and the Gap units. The board's search committee was led by Adrian Bellamy, chairman of The Body Shop International and included founder Donald Fisher. On February 2, Marka Hansen, the former head of the Banana Republic division, replaced Cynthia Harriss as the leader of the Gap division. The executive president for marketing and merchandising Jack Calhoun became interim president of Banana Republic. In May, Old Navy laid off approximately 300 managers in lower volume locations to help streamline costs. That July, Glenn Murphy, previously CEO of Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada, was announced as the new CEO of Gap, Inc. New lead designers were also brought on board to help define a fashionable image, including Patrick Robinson for Gap Adult, Simon Kneen for Banana Republic, and Todd Oldham for Old Navy. Robinson was hired as chief designer in 2007, but was dismissed in May 2011 after sales failed to increase. However, he enjoyed commercial success in international markets. In 2007, Ethisphere Magazine chose Gap from among thousands of companies evaluated as one of 100 "World's Most Ethical Companies".In October 2011, Gap Inc. announced plans to close 189 US stores, nearly 21 percent, by the end of 2013; however, it also plans to expand its presence in China. The company announced it would open its first stores in Brazil in the Fall of 2013.In January 2015, Gap Inc. announced plans to close their subsidiary Piperlime in order to focus on their core brands. The first and only Piperlime store, based in SoHo, New York City, closed in April.In September 2018, Gap Inc. began publicizing Hill City, a men's athletic apparel brand that launched in October 2018.In June 2020, Gap Inc. announced its collaboration with Kanye West's Yeezy Brand: Yeezy Gap. The announcement of the company's 10-year long contract with the music icon turned fashion innovator saw Gap Inc. garner $34.9 million in media impact value.
In August 2020, the company announced that it, alongside its Banana Republic brand, would close over 225 store locations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Less than two months later, the company announced that the total number of stores to be closed by 2024 was 350. (220 Gap stores and 130 Banana Republic stores.) The original plan of the company was to close only 90 stores, however, they expanded the number as a consequence of the financial effects caused by the pandemic restrictions. Most of the stores closed were ones set in malls.
In November 2020, Gap Inc. partnered with Afterpay. This collaboration was planned to improve the digital shopping experience.In February 2021, Gap Inc. announced a $140 million investment to build an 850,000 square foot distribution center in Longview, Texas, because it forecasts that its online business will double over the next two years. The new center will be able to process one million packages per day once completed in 2022.In September 2021, Gap Inc. cut the ribbon for the $41.7 million facility expansion in Gallatin, TN. In addition to hiring 1,100 employees to meet the demands of market share growth and peak season, Gap partnered with AHS to implement an automated order fulfillment system.
In September 2022, the company announced it would end its partnership with Kanye West. Several days later, Gap announced it would cut some 500 corporate positions in its San Francisco and New York offices. The firm also cut corporate jobs in Asia. Gap announced that the layoffs were unrelated to the decision to end its partnership with West. Gap announced more layoffs in April 2023.Gap Inc. has decided to completely leave Russia, as well as close all stores in the country, due to the unpopularity of the brand in Russia.
Corporate identity
Logo
Gap Inc. owns a trademark to its name, "Gap". The Gap's original trademark was a service mark for retail clothing store services. The application was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 29, 1972, by The Gap Stores; registration was granted on October 10, 1972. The first use of the trademark was on August 23, 1969, and expanded to commercial usage on October 17, 1969. A second application was filed by Gap Stores, Inc. on September 12, 1970, this time for a trademark filed for shirts. The first usage for shirts and clothing products was on June 25, 1974. Trademark registration was granted on December 28, 1976. Both the service mark and trademark are registered and owned by Gap (Apparel), LLC of San Francisco, California.On October 4, 2010, in an effort to establish a contemporary presence, Gap introduced a new logo. It was designed with the Helvetica font and reduced the prominence of the brand's iconic blue box. After much public outcry, the company reverted to its previous "blue box" logo on October 11, after less than a week in use. Marka Hansen, the executive who oversaw the logo change, resigned February 1, 2011.
Brands
Banana Republic
Banana Republic, a small safari-themed clothing retailer, was purchased by Gap in 1983 and was rebranded as an upscale clothing retailer in the late 1980s.
Old Navy
Old Navy was launched in 1994 as a value chain. On February 28, 2019, Gap Inc., announced that Old Navy will spin-off from the company, making Old Navy independent from Gap Inc. This was reversed on January 16, 2020, when Gap Inc. announced that the separation had been called off.
Athleta
Athleta was originally founded in 1998 as an independent company focused on women's athletic apparel. Gap acquired Athleta in 2008. Gap opened the first brick and mortar Athleta store in 2011.
Forth & Towne
Forth & Towne, the company's fourth traditional retail concept, was launched on August 24, 2005, featuring apparel targeted toward women 35 years and older. On February 26, 2007, after an 18-month trial period, it was discontinued. The Gap originally targeted the younger generation when it opened, with its name referring to the generation gap of the time. It originally sold everything that Levi Strauss & Co made in every style, size, and color, and organized the stock by size. The Gap was the first of many shops that carried only Levi's. In 1973, Gap started making their own jeans as a way to differentiate themselves from department stores. Gap's current marketing works to appeal to a broad demographic of customers, whereas Banana Republic presents a sophisticated image with a self expressing easygoing personality and Old Navy focuses "fun, fashion, and value" for families and younger customers. While the company has been criticized for blandness and uniformity in its selling environments, it maintains that it tailors its stores "to appeal to unique markets" by developing multiple formats and designs. The domain www.gap.com attracts over 18 million visitors annually, according to a 2008 Compete.com survey. The brand is being criticized in the UK because the merchandise that is offered to the UK customers cost double the prices (or even a direct $/£ swap) found in the United States. Gap also does not offer XXL or larger sizes in the UK stating the UK market does not require them in contrast to market leader NEXT who offer a variety of larger sizes in the UK. In 2018, a Gap ad campaign featuring a young girl wearing a hijab has been stirring up controversy in France.
International presence
Including both company-owned and franchised stores, as of June 2018, there were Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix, or Old Navy stores in 43 countries. In January 2008, Gap signed a deal with Marinopoulos Group to open Gap and Banana Republic stores in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Croatia. In February 2009, Elbit Imaging, Ltd. secured a franchise to open and operate Gap and Banana Republic stores in Israel. In August 2010, the company opened its first store in Melbourne, Australia at Chadstone Shopping Centre. In September 2011, Komax opened the first Gap store in Chile, due to a franchise. In October 2011, the first GAP store opened in Warsaw, Poland, but shut it down and two other locations in Wrocław and Katowice in 2015. Gap now has a store in New Delhi, India which opened in May 2015. On February 20, 2016, Gap launched stores in Mumbai at Oberoi Mall and Infinity-2.
In May 2016, Gap Inc. announced it would shutter all Old Navy stores in Japan in response to poor Q1 performance for Old Navy and consistent losses across the organization.In 2017, Gap closed all seven of its stores in Israel. In 2018, Gap closed all its stores in Australia.By May 2021, Gap operated company-owned stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, India, Italy, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, China, and Taiwan as of May 2021.However, in June 2021, Gap confirmed plans to close all its 81 stores in the UK and Ireland and go online-only. The company said it would close all its stores "in a phased manner" between the end of August and the end of September. At the same time, Gap said it was in negotiations with another firm to take over all of its French stores. In Italy, Gap said it was in discussions with a partner for the potential acquisition of the stores there. In September 2021, Gap and British clothes retailer Next announced a joint venture that will see Next manage Gap's UK website and place Gap concessions in some stores. The deal preserves Gap's presence on the UK high street following the closure of its own stores. In November 2022, Baozun announced it intended to purchase Gaps's China unit, and that it would continue to operate Gap stores in China and Taiwan as franchises.
Product Red
In 2006, Gap took part in the Product Red campaign with the launch of a special RED collection, including a T-shirt manufactured in Lesotho from African cotton. The expanded Gap Product Red collection was released on October 13, 2006. 50 to 100 percent of the profits went to the Global Fund, depending on the item. The company continued the products into 2007, especially in the lead up to Valentine's Day, using slogans such as "Admi(RED)" and "Desi(RED)". National Labor Committee for Worker and Human Rights activists criticized Gap's partnerships because Gap has historically been accused of sweatshop-like conditions. Product Red has contributed over $45 million to the Global Fund, more than any other private donation received to date. Other launch partners included American Express, Apple Inc., Converse, Hallmark, Emporio Armani, and Motorola.
Controversies
Reports from news outlets of sweatshop workers in Saipan not being paid for overtime work, being subjected to forced abortion, and being required to work in unsafe working conditions surfaced in 1999. In 2003, a class action lawsuit against Gap and 21 other companies was started which ended when a settlement of 20 million dollars was reached.In May 2006, adult and child employees of Western Factory, a supplier in Irbid, Jordan, were found to have worked up to 109 hours per week and to have gone six months without being paid. Some employees claimed they had been raped by managers. The government of Jordan launched an investigation into the supplier and other textile factories and announced actions to prevent future abuses. Walmart, who also sources from the supplier, confirmed "serious problems with working conditions" at Western Factory and other Jordanian suppliers. As of May 2018, Gap had ceased their relationship with Western Factory.On October 28, 2007, BBC footage showed child labor in Indian Gap factories. The company denied knowledge of the happenings; it subsequently removed and destroyed the single piece of clothing in question, a smock blouse, from a British store. Gap promised to investigate breaches in its ethical policy.On February 19, 2014, Glenn Murphy, CEO of Gap Inc., announced Gap will raise the minimum wages for its 65,000 U.S. store employees.In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including Gap Inc, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang.In 2020, a partnership between Gap and the rapper Kanye West was announced as a part of a 10-year deal. However, West accused Gap of failing to honor terms of the deal and decided to end the partnership in September 2022.
Carbon footprint
Gap reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 241 Kt (-123 /-33.8% y-o-y) and plans to reduce total emissions 90% by 2030 from a 2017 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
Management
Leadership
The current leadership is:
Richard Dickson, Chief Executive Officer, Gap Inc.
Katrina O'Connell, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Breitbard, President & CEO, Gap
Chris Blakeslee, President and CEO, Athleta
Haio Barbeito, Brand President & CEO, Old Navy
Sandra Stangl, Brand President & CEO, Banana Republic
Julie Gruber, EVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer, Gap Inc.
Sally Gilligan, Chief Information Officer
Board of directors
Board as of July 2022:
Robert J. Fisher
William S. Fisher
Tracy Gardner
Bob L. Martin (Chairperson)
Chris O'Neill
Mayo A. Shattuck III
Kathryn A. Hall
Amy Miles
Salaam Coleman Smith
Stores
As of the end of Q3 2018, Gap Inc. had 3,688 company-operated or franchised stores in operation across 43 countries and had the ability to ship to 90 countries. Stores in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, UK, and US (including Puerto Rico) are company-owned; those outside of these countries are owned and operated by franchises.
In addition to previous store closures (such as the 2011–2013 closures in the U.S.), hundreds of stores were closed worldwide over several years, starting in 2020. (See § International presence section for details.) Being mostly based on 2018 data, the table below is largely out-of-date.
See also
Bonds (clothing)
H&M
Forever 21
Calvin Klein
Hollister Co.
References
External links
Media related to Gap Inc. at Wikimedia Commons
Official website
Business data for Gap Inc.:
Daily Telegraph: Don Fisher obituary
Gap sorry for selling T-shirt with 'incorrect' map of China |
emission intensity | An emission intensity (also carbon intensity or C.I.) is the emission rate of a given pollutant relative to the intensity of a specific activity, or an industrial production process; for example grams of carbon dioxide released per megajoule of energy produced, or the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions produced to gross domestic product (GDP). Emission intensities are used to derive estimates of air pollutant or greenhouse gas emissions based on the amount of fuel combusted, the number of animals in animal husbandry, on industrial production levels, distances traveled or similar activity data. Emission intensities may also be used to compare the environmental impact of different fuels or activities. In some case the related terms emission factor and carbon intensity are used interchangeably. The jargon used can be different, for different fields/industrial sectors; normally the term "carbon" excludes other pollutants, such as particulate emissions. One commonly used figure is carbon intensity per kilowatt-hour (CIPK), which is used to compare emissions from different sources of electrical power.
Methodologies
Different methodologies can be used to assess the carbon intensity of a process. Among the most used methodologies there are:
The whole life-cycle assessment (LCA): this includes not only the carbon emissions due to a specific process, but also those due to the production and end-of-life of materials, plants and machineries used for the considered process. This is a quite complex method, requiring a big set of variables.
The well-to-wheels (WTW), commonly used in the Energy and Transport sectors: this is a simplified LCA considering the emissions of the process itself, the emissions due to the extraction and refining of the material (or fuel) used in the process (also "Upstream emissions"), but excluding the emissions due to the production and end-of-life of plants and machineries. This methodology is used, in the US, by the GREET model and in Europe in the JEC WTW.
WTW-LCA hybrid methods, trying to fill in the gap between the WTW and LCA methods. In example, for an Electric Vehicle, an hybrid method considering also the GHG due to the manufacturing and the end of life of the battery gives GHG emissions 10–13% higher, compared to the WTW
Methods not considering LCA aspects but only the emissions occurring during a specific process; i.e. just the combustion of a fuel in a power plant, without considering the Upstream emissions.Different calculation methods can lead to different results. The results can largely vary also for different geographic regions and timeframes (see, in example, how C.I. of electricity varies, for different European countries, and how varied in a few years: from 2009 to 2013 the C.I. of electricity in the European Union fell on average by 20%, So while comparing different values of Carbon Intensity it is important to correctly consider all the boundary conditions (or initial hypotheses) considered for the calculations. For example, Chinese oil fields emit between 1.5 and more than 40 g of CO2e per MJ with about 90% of all fields emitting 1.5–13.5 g CO2e. Such highly skewed carbon intensity patterns necessitate disaggregation of seemingly homogeneous emission activities and proper consideration of many factors for understanding.
Estimating emissions
Emission factors assume a linear relation between the intensity of the activity and the emission resulting from this activity:
Emissionpollutant = Activity * Emission Factorpollutant
Intensities are also used in projecting possible future scenarios such as those used in the IPCC assessments, along with projected future changes in population, economic activity and energy technologies. The interrelations of these variables is treated under the so-called Kaya identity.
The level of uncertainty of the resulting estimates depends significantly on the source category and the pollutant. Some examples:
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the combustion of fuel can be estimated with a high degree of certainty regardless of how the fuel is used as these emissions depend almost exclusively on the carbon content of the fuel, which is generally known with a high degree of precision. The same is true for sulphur dioxide (SO2), since sulphur contents of fuels are also generally well known. Both carbon and sulphur are almost completely oxidized during combustion and all carbon and sulphur atoms in the fuel will be present in the flue gases as CO2 and SO2 respectively.
In contrast, the levels of other air pollutants and non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions from combustion depend on the precise technology applied when fuel is combusted. These emissions are basically caused by either incomplete combustion of a small fraction of the fuel (carbon monoxide, methane, non-methane volatile organic compounds) or by complicated chemical and physical processes during the combustion and in the smoke stack or tailpipe. Examples of these are particulates, NOx, a mixture of nitric oxide, NO, and nitrogen dioxide, NO2).
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils are highly uncertain because they depend very much on both the exact conditions of the soil, the application of fertilizers and meteorological conditions.
Electric generation
A literature review of numerous total life cycle energy sources CO2 emissions per unit of electricity generated, conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2011, found that the CO2 emission value, that fell within the 50th percentile of all total life cycle emissions studies were as follows.
Note: 3.6 MJ = megajoule(s) == 1 kW·h = kilowatt-hour(s), thus 3.6 g/MJ = 1 g/kW·h.
Legend: B = Black coal (supercritical)–(new subcritical), Br = Brown coal (new subcritical), cc = combined cycle, oc = open cycle, TL = low-temperature/closed-circuit (geothermal doublet), TH = high-temperature/open-circuit, WL = Light Water Reactors, WH = Heavy Water Reactors, #Educated estimate.
Carbon intensity of regions
The following tables show carbon intensity of GDP in market exchange rates (MER) and purchasing power parities (PPP). Units are metric tons of carbon dioxide per thousand year 2005 US dollars. Data are taken from the US Energy Information Administration. Annual data between 1980 and 2009 are averaged over three decades: 1980–89, 1990–99, and 2000–09.
In 2009 CO2 intensity of GDP in the OECD countries reduced by 2.9% and amounted to 0.33 kCO2/$05p in the OECD countries. ("$05p" = 2005 US dollars, using purchasing power parities). The USA posted a higher ratio of 0.41 kCO2/$05p while Europe showed the largest drop in CO2 intensity compared to the previous year (−3.7%). CO2 intensity continued to be roughly higher in non-OECD countries. Despite a slight improvement, China continued to post a high CO2 intensity (0.81 kCO2/$05p). CO2 intensity in Asia rose by 2% during 2009 since energy consumption continued to develop at a strong pace. Important ratios were also observed in countries in CIS and the Middle East.
Carbon intensity in Europe
Total CO2 emissions from energy use were 5% below their 1990 level in 2007. Over the period 1990–2007, CO2 emissions from energy use have decreased on average by 0.3%/year although the economic activity (GDP) increased by 2.3%/year. After dropping until 1994 (−1.6%/year), the CO2 emissions have increased steadily (0.4%/year on average) until 2003 and decreased slowly again since (on average by 0.6%/year). Total CO2 emissions per capita decreased from 8.7 t in 1990 to 7.8 t in 2007, that is to say a decrease by 10%.
Almost 40% of the reduction in CO2 intensity is due to increased use of energy carriers with lower emission factors.
Total CO2 emissions per unit of GDP, the “CO2 intensity”, decreased more rapidly than energy intensity: by 2.3%/year and 1.4%/year, respectively, on average between 1990 and 2007.However, while the reports from 2007 suggest that the CO2 emissions are going down recent studies find that the global emissions are rapidly escalating. According to the Climate Change 2022 Mitigation of Climate Change report, conducted by the IPCC, it states that it 2019 the world emissions output was 59 gigatonnes. This shows that global emissions has grown rapidly, increasing by about 2.1% each year compared from the previous decade.The Commodity Exchange Bratislava (CEB) has calculated carbon intensity for Voluntary Emissions Reduction projects carbon intensity in 2012 to be 0.343 tn/MWh.According to data from the European Commission, in order to achieve the EU goal of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990, EU-based energy investment has to double from the previous decade to more than €400 billion annually this decade. This includes the roughly €300 billion in yearly investment required for energy efficiency and the roughly €120 billion required for power networks and renewable energy facilities.
Emission factors for greenhouse gas inventory reporting
One of the most important uses of emission factors is for the reporting of national greenhouse gas inventories under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The so-called Annex I Parties to the UNFCCC have to annually report their national total emissions of greenhouse gases in a formalized reporting format, defining the source categories and fuels that must be included.
The UNFCCC has accepted the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, developed and published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the emission estimation methods that must be used by the parties to the convention to ensure transparency, completeness, consistency, comparability and accuracy of the national greenhouse gas inventories. These IPCC Guidelines are the primary source for default emission factors. Recently IPCC has published the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. These and many more greenhouse gas emission factors can be found on IPCC's Emission Factor Database. Commercially applicable organisational greenhouse gas emission factors can be found on the search engine, EmissionFactors.com.Particularly for non-CO2e emissions, there is often a high degree of uncertainty associated with these emission factors when applied to individual countries. In general, the use of country-specific emission factors would provide more accurate estimates of emissions than the use of the default emission factors. According to the IPCC, if an activity is a major source of emissions for a country ('key source'), it is 'good practice' to develop a country-specific emission factor for that activity.
Emission factors for air pollutant inventory reporting
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the EU National Emission Ceilings Directive (2016) require countries to produce annual National Air Pollution Emission Inventories under the provisions of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP).
The European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) Task Force of the European Environment Agency has developed methods to estimate emissions and the associated emission factors for air pollutants, which have been published in the EMEP/CORINAIR Emission Inventory Guidebook on Emission Inventories and Projections TFEIP.
Intensity targets
Coal, being mostly carbon, emits a lot of CO2 when burnt: it has a high CO2 emission intensity. Natural gas, being methane (CH4), has 4 hydrogen atoms to burn for each one of carbon and thus has medium CO2 emission intensity.
Sources of emission factors
Greenhouse gases
2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (reference manual).
IPCC Emission Factor Database
National Inventory Report: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada.
United Kingdom's emission factor database.
Air pollutants
AP 42, Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors US Environmental Protection Agency
EMEP/CORIMAIR 2007 Emission Inventory Guidebook.
Fugitive emissions leaks from ethylene and other chemical plants.
Well-to-refinery carbon intensity (CI) of all major active oil fields globally
In an August 31, 2018 article by Masnadi et al. which was published by Science, the authors used "open-source oil-sector CI modeling tools" to "model well-to-refinery carbon intensity (CI) of all major active oil fields globally—and to identify major drivers of these emissions." They compared 90 countries with the highest crude oil footprint. The Science study, which was conducted by Stanford University found that Canadian crude oil is the "fourth-most greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive in the world" behind Algeria, Venezuela and Cameroon.
See also
Air pollution
AP 42 Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors
Carbon footprint
Emission inventory
Energy intensity
Greenhouse gas and Greenhouse effect
IPCC list of greenhouse gases
Kaya identity
List of countries by carbon intensity of GDP
Low-carbon economy
Low-carbon fuel standard
Mobile emission reduction credit
Radiative forcing
Resource intensity
Vehicle emission standard
References
External links
Washington Post article with an example of change in carbon intensity
A Note On Variations in UK Grid Electricity CO2e Intensity with Time
IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios
Statistical Energy Review 2012
World Energy Council:Odyssee Database
International Energy Agency: CO2 emissions from fuel combustion Archived 2018-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
Electricity carbon intensity in European Member States: Impacts on GHG emissions of electric vehicles
A hybrid LCA-WTW method to assess the carbon footprint of electric vehicles
Carbon emissions intensity from different regions |
polymetal international | Polymetal International plc is an Anglo-Russian precious mining company registered in Saint Helier, Jersey. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Moscow Exchange.
History
Polymetal Group of companies was founded in 1998 in Saint Petersburg by Alexander Nesis of ICT Group and since then it has built a portfolio of gold and silver mines in Russia, Kazakhstan and Armenia. In October 2011, Polymetal successfully completed the placing of £491m of shares on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at £3.55bn and making it the first Russian-founded company to obtain a premium listing at the LSE. In December 2011 Polymetal International became one of the first two Russian-originated companies to be included in the FTSE 100 Index. In 2016, Polymetal was ranked as the 9th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in the Arctic.In August 2023, the company completed redomiciliation of the company from Jersey to Astana International Financial Centre (Astana, Kazakhstan) and selected Astana International Exchange as a primary stock exchange. A delisting from the LSE was also proposed.
Operations
In 2021, Polymetal produced 1.4 million ounces of gold, 20.4 million ounces of silver and 1,900 tons of copper.Polymetal owns mines and carries out exploration activities in six regions of Russia (the Magadan Region, the Khabarovsk Territory, the Sverdlovsk Region, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Republic of Karelia and Sakha Republic), Kazakhstan and Armenia. Its portfolio of projects contains 36 licences covering a territory of over 7,800 km2. The Group organises its operations into six operational units, which are categorised into centralised processing hubs and stand-alone mines.In November 2021, Polymetal invested US$447 million in the Veduga goldfield in Krasnoyarsk Krai; the company's share of the project was 59.4%. In December 2021, the Federal Antimonopoly Service approved the consolidation of Polymetal's investment in the Veduga project, allowing the company to buy the other 40.6% that it did not already own.In March 2022, Polymetal consolidated its 100% investment in the Novopetrovskoye Polymetal field in Bashkortostan, after its purchase of 25% of the field from the Rosgeologia exploration company and its prior acquisition of 75% of the field in 2020.Hubs:
The Dukat hub consists of the Omsukchan concentrator, which processes ore from the Dukat and Goltsovoye mines, and the Lunnoye processing plant, which processes ore from the Lunnoye and Arylakh mines, as well as concentrate from the Omsukchan concentrator.
The Amursk hub is Polymetal's largest project. It comprises two high-grade refractory gold deposits, Albazino and Mayskoye, the Amursk hydrometallurgical plant, the Albazino concentrator and the Mayskoye concentrator. First gold was poured at the Amursk POX facility in April 2012.
The Omolon hub consists of the Kubaka processing plant, which processes ore from the Birkachan mine and is expected to serve as a centralised processing facility for the operating Sopka mine, and other new mines.Stand-alone mines:
The Voro stand-alone mine consists of the main production site with two open-pit mines and two processing facilities. It is also currently processing ore from two small satellite mines.
The Khakanja stand-alone mine consists of the main production site with open-pit mines and a processing plant. It is also currently processing ore from a small satellite mine and a trial mine at one of the advanced exploration projects.
The Varvara stand-alone mine, located in Kazakhstan, consists of a production site with an open-pit mine and a processing plant. The Company believes that due to its scale, location and transportation infrastructure, Varvara has the potential to become a processing hub in the future, treating ore from other deposits in the surrounding region.
Ownership
As of 31 December 2021, Polymetal International plc had a free float of 75.2%. Most of the remainder (23.9%) was owned by ICT group whose major shareholder was Alexander Nesis. The family of the late Czech businessman Petr Kellner owned 3.3% via PPF Group.
Carbon footprint
Polymetal reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 1,103 Kt (-95 /-7.9% y-o-y).
References
External links
Official Polymetal International website |
at&t | AT&T Inc. (with "AT&T" being an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company) is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's fourth-largest telecommunications company by revenue and the largest wireless carrier in the United States. As of 2023, AT&T was ranked 13th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations, with revenues of $120.7 billion.During most of the 20th century, AT&T had a monopoly on phone service in the United States. The company began its history as the American District Telegraph Company, formed in St. Louis in 1878. After expanding services to Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas through a series of mergers, it became Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1920, which was then a subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The latter was a successor of the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1877. The American Bell Telephone Company formed the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) subsidiary in 1885. In 1899, AT&T became the parent company after the American Bell Telephone Company sold its assets to its subsidiary. The company was rebranded as AT&T Corp. in 1994. The 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit resulted in the divestiture of AT&T's ("Ma Bell") local operating subsidiaries which were grouped into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), commonly referred to as "Baby Bells", resulting in seven independent companies, including Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC). The latter changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995.In 2005, SBC purchased its former parent AT&T Corp. and took on the latter's branding, history, and stock trading symbol, as well as a version of its iconic logo. The merged entity, naming itself AT&T Inc., launched on December 30, 2005. The newly merged and renamed AT&T Inc. acquired BellSouth Corporation in 2006, the last independent Baby Bell company, making BellSouth and SBC (AT&T Inc.)'s formerly joint venture Cingular Wireless (which had itself acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004) a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. Cingular was then rebranded as AT&T Mobility. AT&T Inc. also acquired Time Warner in 2016, with the proposed merger confirmed on June 12, 2018 and the aim of making AT&T Inc. the largest and controlling shareholder of Time Warner, which it then rebranded as WarnerMedia in 2018. The company later withdrew its equity stake in WarnerMedia in 2022 and merged it with Discovery, Inc. to create Warner Bros. Discovery, divesting itself of its media arm.
The current AT&T reconstitutes most of the former Bell System, and includes four of the seven "Baby Bells" along with the original AT&T Corp., including the long-distance division.
History
Origin and growth (1885–1981)
AT&T was founded as Bell Telephone Company by Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson and Gardiner Greene Hubbard after Bell's patenting of the telephone in 1875. By 1881, Bell Telephone Company had become the American Bell Telephone Company. One of its subsidiaries was the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), established in 1885. On December 30, 1899, AT&T acquired the assets of its parent American Bell Telephone, becoming the new parent company. AT&T established a network of local telephone subsidiaries in the United States. AT&T and its subsidiaries held a phone service monopoly, authorized in 1913 by government authorities with the Kingsbury Commitment, throughout most of the twentieth century. This monopoly was known as the Bell System, and during this period, AT&T was also known by the nickname Ma Bell.
Breakup and reformation (1982–2004)
In 1982, U.S. regulators broke up the AT&T monopoly, requiring AT&T to divest its local subsidiaries, which it did by grouping them into seven individual companies. These new companies were known as Regional Bell Operating Companies, or more informally, Baby Bells. AT&T continued to operate long-distance services but faced increasing competition from overseas supplied competitors such as MCI and Sprint.Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC) was one of the companies created by the breakup of AT&T Corp. The company soon started a series of acquisitions, including the 1987 acquisition of Metromedia mobile business and the acquisition of several cable companies in the early 1990s. In the latter half of the 1990s, the company acquired several other telecommunications companies, including two Baby Bells (Pacific Telesis Group and Ameritech Corporation), while selling its cable business. During this time, the company changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. In early 1997 C. Michael Armstrong was named CEO, and Armstrong appointed John Zeglis as president later in that same year. By 1998, the company was in the top 15 of the Fortune 500, and by 1999, when Zeglis assumed the positions of chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless, AT&T was part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (lasting through 2015). Zeglis ended his service as president of AT&T in 2001 and resigned from his positions in AT&T Wireless in 2004.
Purchase of former parent and acquisitions (2005–2013)
On November 18, 2005, SBC Communications, Inc. purchased its former parent, AT&T Corporation for $16 billion. After this purchase, SBC adopted the better-known AT&T name and brand, with the original AT&T Corporation still existing as the long-distance landline subsidiary of the merged company. The current AT&T Inc. claims the original AT&T Corpation's history (dating to 1877) as its own, but retains SBC's pre-2005 corporate structure and stock price history. As well, all SEC filings before 2005 are under SBC, not AT&T.
AT&T made an attempt in 2011 to purchase T-Mobile for a $39 billion stock and cash offer. The bid was withdrawn after the takeover company was faced with significant regulatory and legal hurdles, along with heavy resistance from the U.S. government. As per the original acquisition agreement, T-Mobile received $3 billion in cash as well as access to $1 billion worth of AT&T-held wireless spectrum.In September 2013, AT&T announced it would expand into Latin America through a collaboration with América Móvil. In December 2013, AT&T announced plans to sell its Connecticut wireline operations to Stamford-based Frontier Communications.AT&T acquired BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006, following FCC approval. The transaction consolidated ownership and management of Cingular Wireless. AT&T rebranded its wireless retail stores from Cingular to AT&T in January 2007.
Recent developments (2013–present)
In late 2014, AT&T purchased Mexican cellular carrier Iusacell, and two months later, it purchased the Mexican wireless business of NII Holdings. AT&T merged the two companies to create AT&T Mexico.In July 2015, AT&T purchased DirecTV for $48.5 billion. AT&T then announced plans to converge its existing U-verse home internet and IPTV brands with DirecTV, to create AT&T Entertainment.On October 22, 2016, AT&T announced a deal to buy Time Warner for $108.7 billion in an effort to increase its media holdings. On November 20, 2017, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim filed a lawsuit for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division to block the merger with Time Warner, saying it "will harm competition, result in higher bills for consumers and less innovation." On June 12, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that the merger could go forward. The merger closed two days afterwards, with Time Warner becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. A day later, the company was renamed WarnerMedia. Among other key assets, the acquisition of WarnerMedia by AT&T included the Warner Bros. film and television studios, U.S. cable/satellite channels such as HBO, Adult Swim, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TNT, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies and a 50% stake in The CW (ViacomCBS, now Paramount Global, owns the other 50%).
Three months after completing the acquisition, AT&T reorganized into four main units: Communications, including consumer and business wireline telephony, AT&T Mobility, and consumer entertainment video services; WarnerMedia, including Turner cable television networks, Warner Bros. film and television production, and HBO; AT&T Latin America, consisting of wireless service in Mexico and video in Latin America and the Caribbean under the Vrio brand; and Advertising and Analytics, since renamed Xandr.On July 13, 2017, it was reported that AT&T would introduce a cloud-based DVR streaming service as part of its effort to create a unified platform across DirecTV and its DirecTV Now streaming service, with U-verse to be added soon. The service, named HBO Max, launched in May 2020.On September 12, 2017, it was reported that AT&T planned to launch a new cable TV-like service for delivery over-the-top over its own or a competitor's broadband network sometime the following year.On March 7, 2018, the company prepared to sell a minority stake of DirecTV Latin America through an IPO, creating a new holding company for those assets named Vrio Corp. However, on April 18, just a day before the public debut of Vrio, AT&T canceled the IPO due to market conditions.As of 2019, AT&T is the world's largest telecommunications company. AT&T is also the largest provider of mobile telephone services and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States.In September 2019, activist investor Elliott Management revealed that it had purchased $3.2 billion of AT&T stock (a 1.2% equity interest), and had pushed for the company to divest assets to improve its share value.On March 4, 2020, AT&T announced its intent to perform major cost-cutting moves, including cuts to capital investment, and plans to promote AT&T TV (which officially launched nationally on March 2) as its primary pay television service offering. AT&T stated it would still primarily promote DirecTV "where cable broadband is not prevalent", and as a specialty option.On April 24, 2020, AT&T announced that effective July 1, 2020, company COO John Stankey would replace Randall L. Stephenson as CEO of AT&T. It was also acknowledged that AT&T's acquisitions of DirecTV and Time Warner had by this point resulted in a massive debt burden of $200 billion for the company.As a result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic-related growth in the video gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics, Lego Star Wars, and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics.Crunchyroll was sold to Sony's Funimation for US$1.175 billion in December 2020, with the acquisition closing in August 2021.On February 25, 2021, AT&T announced that it would spin-off DirecTV, U-Verse TV, and DirecTV Stream into a separate entity, selling a 30% stake to TPG Capital (owners of Astound Broadband cable), while retaining a 70% stake in the new standalone company. The deal was closed on August 2, 2021.On May 17, 2021, AT&T announced plans to relinquish its equity interest in WarnerMedia, and have it merge with Discovery, Inc. in a US$43 billion deal to establish a new media company.Electronic Arts, which was a bidder in the proposed sale of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, purchased the mobile gaming studio Playdemic from WBIE for US$1.4 billion in June 2021.In September 2021, Fox Corporation acquired TMZ from WarnerMedia in a deal worth about $50 million with TMZ being operated under the Fox Entertainment division.On December 21, 2021, AT&T announced that they had agreed to sell Xandr (and AppNexus) to Microsoft for an undisclosed price. The deal was completed in June 2022.On April 8, 2022, the spinoff of WarnerMedia and its subsequent merger with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery was completed. As a result of this merger, HBO Max and other video services were dropped from AT&T's unlimited plan offering.
Landline operating companies
Of the eight companies that were part of the Breakup of the Bell System, these five are a part of the current AT&T:
Ameritech, acquired by SBC in 1999
AT&T Corp., acquired by SBC in 2005
BellSouth, acquired by AT&T in 2006
Pacific Telesis, acquired by SBC in 1997
Southwestern Bell, rebranded as SBC Communications in 1995
Chart of AT&T Baby Bells
Former operating companies
The following companies have become defunct or were sold under SBC/AT&T ownership:
Southern New England Telephone: sold to Frontier Communications in 2014.Woodbury Telephone: merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.
Decline of rural landlines
Of the Baby Bells, Ameritech sold some of its Wisconsin landlines to CenturyTel, in 1998; BellSouth sold some of its lines to MebTel, during the 2000s; US West sold many historically Bell landlines to Lynch Communications and Pacific Telecom, in the 1990s; Verizon sold many of its New England lines to FairPoint, in 2008, and its West Virginia operations to Frontier Communications, in 2010.
On October 25, 2014, Frontier Communications took over control of the AT&T landline network in Connecticut after being approved by state utility regulators. The deal was worth about $2 billion, and included Frontier inheriting about 2,500 of AT&T's employees and many of AT&T's buildings.
Corporate structure
Facilities and regions
The company is headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. On June 27, 2008, AT&T announced that it would move its corporate headquarters from downtown San Antonio to One AT&T Plaza in downtown Dallas. The company said that it moved to gain better access to its customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources needed as it continues to grow, domestically and internationally. AT&T Inc. previously relocated its corporate headquarters to San Antonio from St. Louis, Missouri, in 1992, when it was then named Southwestern Bell Corporation. The company's Telecom Operations group, which serves residential and regional business customers in 22 U.S. states, remains in San Antonio. Atlanta, Georgia, continues to be the headquarters for AT&T Mobility, with significant offices in Redmond, Washington, the former home of AT&T Wireless. Bedminster, New Jersey, is the headquarters for the company's Global Business Services group and AT&T Labs and is where the original AT&T Corp. remains located. St. Louis continues as home to the company's Directory operations, AT&T Advertising Solutions.AT&T also offers services in many locations throughout the Asia Pacific; its regional headquarters is located in Hong Kong. The company is also active in Mexico, and on November 7, 2014, it was announced that Mexican carrier Iusacell would be acquired by AT&T. The acquisition was approved in January 2015. On April 30, 2015, AT&T acquired wireless operations Nextel Mexico from NII Holdings (now AT&T Mexico).
Corporate governance
AT&T's current board of directors as of April 2022:
The current management as of April 2022 includes:
John Stankey – Chief executive officer
Thaddeus Arroyo – Chief Strategy and Development Officer
Pascal Desroches – Senior Executive Vice President & Chief financial officer
Ed Gillespie – Senior Executive Vice President - External and Legislative Affairs
David S. Huntley – Senior Executive Vice President & Chief compliance officer
Kellyn Smith Kenny – Chief Marketing & Growth Officer
Lori Lee – CEO – AT&T Latin America & Global Marketing Officer
Jeremy Legg – Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Services, Inc.
David R. McAtee II – Senior Executive Vice President and General counsel
Jeff McElfresh – CEO, AT&T Communications
Angela Santone – Senior Executive Vice President – Human resources
Political involvement
According to OpenSecrets, AT&T was the fourteenth-largest donor to United States federal political campaigns and committees from 1989 to 2019, having contributed more than US$84.1 million, 42% of which went to Republicans and 58% of which went to Democrats. As an example, in 2005, AT&T was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush. Bill Leahy, representing AT&T, sits on the Private Enterprise Board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives that drafts and shares model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States.During the period of 1998 to 2019, the company expended US$380.1 million on lobbying in the United States. A key political issue for AT&T has been the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States. The company has also lobbied in support of several federal bills. AT&T supported the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 3675; 113th Congress), a bill that would make a number of changes to procedures that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) follows in its rulemaking processes. The FCC would have to act in a more transparent way as a result of this bill, forced to accept public input about regulations. AT&T's Executive Vice President of Federal Relations, Tim McKone, said that the bill's "much needed institutional reforms will help arm the agency with the tools to keep pace with the Internet speed of today's marketplace. It will also ensure that outmoded regulatory practices for today's competitive marketplace are properly placed in the dustbin of history."In May 2018, reports emerged that AT&T made 12 monthly payments between January and December 2017 to Essential Consultants, a company set up by President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, totaling $600,000. Although initial reports on May 8 mentioned only four monthly payments totaling $200,000, documents obtained by the Washington Post on May 10 confirmed the figure of 12 payments, which had begun three days after the President was sworn into office. AT&T confirmed the report the same day. The report from The Washington Post, as well as additional reporting from Bloomberg, revealed the payments had been made for Cohen to "provide guidance" relating to the attempted $85 billion merger with Time Warner, to gain information on the Trump administration's planned tax reforms, as well as about potential changes to net neutrality policies under the new FCC. However, Chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai denied Cohen ever inquired about net neutrality on AT&T's behalf. A spokesperson for AT&T said that the company had been contacted by the Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller regarding the payments, and had provided all the information requested in November and December 2017.In early 2019, the Democratic House Judiciary requested records related to the AT&T-Time Warner merger from the White House.While it has expressed support for LGBTQ causes, AT&T has also donated to sponsors of anti-transgender legislation in several US states, especially those predominantly Republican-governed, including Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas and Florida.
Historical financial performance
The financial performance of the company is reported to shareholders on an annual basis and a matter of public record. Where performance has been restated, the most recent statement of performance from an annual report is used.
Carbon footprint
AT&T reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 5,788 Kt (-737 /-11.3% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions by 63% by 2030 from a 2015 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
Criticism and controversies
Hemisphere database
The company maintains a database of call detail records of all telephone calls that have passed through its network since 1987. AT&T employees work at High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area offices (operated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy) in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston so data can be quickly turned over to law enforcement agencies. Records are requested via an administrative subpoena, without the involvement of a court or grand jury.
Censorship
In September 2007, AT&T changed its legal policy to state that "AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice for conduct that AT&T believes ... (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries." By October 10, 2007, AT&T had altered the terms and conditions for its Internet service to explicitly support freedom of expression by its subscribers, after an outcry claiming the company had given itself the right to censor its subscribers' transmissions.
Privacy controversy
In 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation lodged the class action lawsuit Hepting v. AT&T, which alleged that AT&T had allowed agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone and Internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. If true, this would violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. AT&T has yet to confirm or deny that monitoring by the NSA is occurring. In April 2006, retired former AT&T technician Mark Klein lodged an affidavit supporting this allegation. The Department of Justice stated it would intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege.In July 2006, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – in which the suit was filed – rejected a federal government motion to dismiss the case. The motion to dismiss, which invoked the State Secrets Privilege, had argued that any court review of the alleged partnership between the federal government and AT&T would harm national security. The case was immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit. It was dismissed on June 3, 2009, citing retroactive legislation in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.In May 2006, USA Today reported that all international and domestic calling records had been handed over to the National Security Agency by AT&T, Verizon, SBC, and BellSouth for the purpose of creating a massive calling database. The portions of the new AT&T that had been part of SBC Communications before November 18, 2005, were not mentioned.
On June 21, 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that AT&T had rewritten rules on its privacy policy. The policy, which took effect June 23, 2006, says that "AT&T – not customers – owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.'"On August 22, 2007, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell confirmed that AT&T was one of the telecommunications companies that assisted with the government's warrantless wire-tapping program on calls between foreign and domestic sources.On November 8, 2007, Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, told Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that all Internet traffic passing over AT&T lines was copied into a locked room at the company's San Francisco office – to which only employees with National Security Agency clearance had access.AT&T keeps for five to seven years a record of who text messages whom and the date and time, but not the content of the messages.AT&T has a one star privacy rating from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Copyright enforcement
In January 2008, reports emerged that the company planned to begin filtering all Internet traffic which passed through its network for intellectual property violations. Media commentators speculated that if this plan was implemented, it would have led to a mass exodus of subscribers from AT&T, although Internet traffic of non-subscribers may have gone through the company's network anyway. Internet freedom proponents used these developments as justification for government-mandated network neutrality.
Under AT&T's current copyright enforcement program, content owners may notify AT&T when they allege unlawful sharing of material. The program is based on IP addresses visible to content owners in peer-to-peer networks, not on filtering. AT&T has terminated the broadband service of some customers accused of copyright infringement.
Discrimination against local public-access television channels
In 2009 AT&T was accused by community media groups of discriminating against local public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels, by "impictions that will severely restrict the audience".According to Barbara Popovic, executive director of the Chicago public-access service CAN-TV, the new AT&T U-verse system forced all Public-access television into a special menu system, denying normal functionality such as channel numbers, access to the standard program guide, and DVR recording. The Ratepayer Advocates division of the California Public Utilities Commission reported: "Instead of putting the stations on individual channels, AT&T has bundled community stations into a generic channel that can only be navigated through a complex and lengthy process."Sue Buske (president of telecommunications consulting firm the Buske Group and a former head of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers/Alliance for Community Media) argue that this is "an overall attack [...] on public access across the [United States], the place in the dial around cities and communities where people can make their own media in their own communities".
Information security
In June 2010, a hacker group known as Goatse Security discovered a vulnerability within AT&T that could allow anyone to uncover email addresses belonging to customers of AT&T 3G service for the Apple iPad. These email addresses could be accessed without a protective password. Using a script, Goatse Security collected thousands of email addresses from AT&T. Goatse Security informed AT&T about the security flaw through a third party. Goatse Security then disclosed around 114,000 of these emails to Gawker Media, which published an article about the security flaw and disclosure in Valleywag. Praetorian Security Group criticized the web application that Goatse Security exploited as "poorly designed".In April 2015, AT&T was fined $25 million over data security breaches, marking the largest ever fine issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for breaking data privacy laws. The investigation revealed the theft of details of approximately 280,000 people from call centers in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines.
Accusations of enabling fraud
In March 2012, the United States federal government announced a lawsuit against AT&T. The specific accusations state that AT&T "violated the False Claims Act by facilitating and seeking federal payment for IP Relay calls by international callers who were ineligible for the service and sought to use it for fraudulent purposes. The complaint alleges that, out of fears that fraudulent call volume would drop after the registration deadline, AT&T knowingly adopted a non-compliant registration system that did not verify whether the user was located within the United States. The complaint further contends that AT&T continued to employ this system even with the knowledge that it facilitated the use of IP Relay by fraudulent foreign callers, which accounted for up to 95 percent of AT&T's call volume. The government's complaint alleges that AT&T improperly billed the TRS Fund for reimbursement of these calls and received millions of dollars in federal payments as a result." In 2013, AT&T entered into a consent decree with the FCC and paid a total of $21.75 million.
Aaron Slator controversy
On April 28, 2015, AT&T announced that it had fired Aaron Slator, President of Content and Advertising Sales, for sending text messages critics described as racist. African-American employee Knoyme King filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Slator. The day before that, protesters arrived at AT&T's headquarters in Dallas and its satellite offices in Los Angeles as well as at the home of CEO Randall Stephenson to protest alleged systemic racial policies. According to accounts, the protesters demanded that AT&T begin working with 100% black-owned media companies.On January 24, 2017, Slator sued AT&T in the Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the company of defamation and wrongful termination. Slator had been involved in organizing AT&T's planned $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV since 2014, and he claimed that when news headlines speculated that his text messages could prevent the acquisition from going through, he was fired as a "scapegoat" by company executives. He also claimed that the executives had known about the text messages since at least late 2013, and had promised him at the time that he would not be fired for them. The company stood by its decision to terminate Slator.
Overcharging government agencies
In 2020 AT&T paid out $48 million to settle a lawsuit with 30 government entities. The suit (under the California False Claims Act) related to contractual undertakings to provide services at "the lowest cost available". AT&T denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
One America News Network
An investigative report by Reuters in 2021 revealed that AT&T played a key role in creating, funding and sustaining One America News Network (OAN), a far-right TV network known for promoting conspiracy theories. According to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant, 90% of OAN's revenue came from AT&T. According to OAN founder Robert Herring Sr., AT&T wanted to create a conservative network to compete with Fox News. Court documents showed OAN promised to "cast a positive light" on AT&T during newscasts. AT&T denied the allegations. Comedian John Oliver criticized AT&T in his weekly show for funding OAN.
Leaking data to Wall Street
In March 2021 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against AT&T and three of its executives for violating the Fair Disclosure Rule against making selective disclosures of "material nonpublic information" to analysts and others. The SEC alleged that beginning in early 2016 these executives leaked key information to Wall Street analysts in order to manipulate revenue forecasts for the company.In December 2022, without acknowledging any guilt, AT&T agreed to pay $6.25 million in fines to settle the lawsuit. The individual executives were also on the hook for $25,000 each.
Naming rights and sponsorships
Buildings
Whitacre Tower (One AT&T Plaza) – corporate headquarters, Dallas, Texas
AT&T 220 Building – building in Indianapolis, Indiana
AT&T Building – building in Detroit, Michigan
AT&T Building – building in Indianapolis, Indiana
AT&T Building – building in Kingman, Arizona
AT&T Building – (aka "The Batman Building") in Nashville, Tennessee
AT&T Building – building in Omaha, Nebraska
AT&T Building Addition – building in Detroit, Michigan
AT&T Building – building in San Diego
AT&T Center – building in Los Angeles
AT&T Center – building in St. Louis, Missouri
AT&T City Center – building in Birmingham, Alabama
AT&T Corporate Center – building in Chicago, Illinois
AT&T Huron Road Building – skyscraper in Cleveland, Ohio
AT&T Lenox Park Campus – AT&T Mobility Headquarters in DeKalb County just outside Atlanta, Georgia
AT&T Midtown Center – building in Atlanta, Georgia
AT&T Switching Center – building in Los Angeles
AT&T Switching Center – building in Oakland, California
AT&T Switching Center – building in San Francisco
AT&T Tower – building in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AT&T Building – building in Meriden, Connecticut
AT&T Entertainment Group HQ – DirecTV corporate campus in El Segundo, California
Venues
AT&T Center – San Antonio, Texas (formerly SBC Center)
AT&T Field – Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly BellSouth Park)
AT&T Plaza – Chicago, Illinois (public space that hosts the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park)
AT&T Performing Arts Center – Dallas, Texas
AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas (formerly Dallas Cowboys Stadium)
AT&T Stadium – Glen Jean, West Virginia (outdoor open-seating stadium at the Boy Scouts of America's Summit Bechtel Reserve
Jones AT&T Stadium – Lubbock, Texas (formerly Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium, Jones SBC Stadium)
Sponsorships
100 Thieves (esports)
AT&T Byron Nelson – Irving, Texas (golf)
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (golf)
AT&T Red River Showdown – Dallas, Texas (formerly "Red River Rivalry", Red River Shootout, SBC Red River Rivalry) (football)
Capitanes de Ciudad de México (basketball)
Chicago Bulls (basketball)
College Football Playoff National Championship
Dallas Stars (ice hockey)
Houston Rockets (basketball)
Major League Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation, including the U.S. men's and U.S. women's national teams and the Major League Soccer All-Star Game from 2009
Mexico national football team
National Collegiate Athletic Association (Corporate Champion)
National Basketball Association, Women's National Basketball Association, NBA G League, USA Basketball and NBA 2K League (basketball, esports)
Red Bull Racing (Formula 1 racing team) – technical support and sponsorship, 2011 to 2020
Cloud9, sponsorship since March 2019
Club América – sponsorship since July 19, 2018
See also
References
External links
Corporate informationOfficial website
Bell Operating Companies (from Bell System Memorial)
Business data for AT&T Inc.:
AT&T – History and science resources at The Franklin Institute's Case Files online exhibit (archived 30 August 2011) |
wellesley, massachusetts | Wellesley () is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College are located in the town.
History
Wellesley was settled in the 1600s as part of Dedham, Massachusetts. It was subsequently a part of Needham, Massachusetts called West Needham, Massachusetts. On October 23, 1880, West Needham residents voted to secede from Needham, and the town of Wellesley was later christened by the Massachusetts legislature on April 6, 1881. The town was named after the estate of local benefactor Horatio Hollis Hunnewell.Wellesley's population grew by over 80 percent around the 1920s.
Geography
Wellesley is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.49 square miles (27.2 km2), of which 10.18 square miles (26.4 km2) is land and 0.32 square miles (0.83 km2) is water.
Neighborhoods
Climate
Wellesley has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb under the Köppen climate classification system), with high humidity and precipitation year-round.
Demographics
The Census Bureau has also defined the town as a census-designated place with an area exactly equivalent to the town.As of the census of 2000, there were 26,613 people, 8,594 households, and 6,540 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,614.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,009.3/km2). There were 8,861 housing units at an average density of 870.4 per square mile (336.1/km2). According to a 2007 Census Bureau estimate, the racial makeup of the town was 84.6% White, 10.0% Asian, 2.2% Black, 0.01% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4% of the population.There were 8,594 households, out of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.2% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.9% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14.In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.1 males.The median income for a household was $159,167, and the median income for a family was $186,518. The per capita income in the town was $72,046. About 2.4% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Wellesley is home to the headquarters of many local, national and global businesses including Benchmark Senior Living, Blank Label Apparel, Eagle Investment Systems, EPG Incorporated, GrandBanks Capital, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Livingston and Haynes PC, and Sun Life Financial U.S.
Top employers
According to Wellesley's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
Arts and culture
Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend
Each year the weekend before Memorial Day, the town sponsors the annual Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend, which includes the annual veterans' parade and fireworks. On May 18, 2008, The Beach Boys performed in a concert on the Wellesley High School athletic fields in front of an estimated 10,000 town residents and fans. The funds for the performance, an estimated $250,000, were made as a gift by an anonymous donor and lifelong fan of the band.
Wellesley Symphony Orchestra
The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra presents classical, pops, and family concerts at Mass Bay Community College at its Wellesley campus.
Religious institutions
The town of Wellesley is home to several religious institutions. Wellesley contains two Jewish institutions including Temple Beth Elohim and the Wellesley Chabad Center. Predominantly Christian Wellesley contains many churches, including Wellesley Congregational Church, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, St. Paul's Catholic Church, Christ Church United Methodist, Wellesley Hills Congregational Church (also known as The Hills Church), First Church of Christ, Scientist, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the Metrowest Baptist Church, Milestone Wellesley, and Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills, and Wellesley Friends Meeting (Quakers).
Horticulture
The Wellesley College campus includes greenhouses and the H. H. Hunnewell Arboretum. This is not to be confused with the neighboring private H. H. Hunnewell estate. The Elm Bank Horticulture Center is home to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Although the entrance is in Wellesley, access is over a small private bridge over the Charles River, so Elm Bank is therefore in the neighboring town of Dover.
Historic district
The town designated Cottage Street and its nearby alleys as the historic district in its zoning plan. Most houses in this district were built around the 1860s and qualify as protected buildings certified by the town's historic commission.
Recent construction
The town's historic 19th-century inn was demolished to make way for condominiums and mixed-use development in 2006. The Wellesley Country Club clubhouse, which is the building where the town was founded, was demolished in 2008, and a new clubhouse was built. The town's pre-World War II high school building was torn down and replaced with a brand new high school finished in 2012. The entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square"—a shopping district that includes a flagship Roche Bros. supermarket, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, along with a mixture of national chains and local shops.
Library
Wellesley opened its new Free Library building in 2003, which is part of the Minuteman Library Network. Due to the structure of budget override votes and perhaps the size of the new main branch of the library, the two branch libraries—one in Wellesley Hills, which was purpose-built to be a branch library in the 1920s, another in Wellesley Fells—closed in the summer of 2006. The branch libraries reopened in September 2008. The main library branch near Wellesley Square underwent a major interior renovation in 2021.
Government
The town government has been run by town meeting since the town's founding. Since Proposition 2½ limited property tax increases to 2.5% per year in 1980, the town has had to ask residents for a number of overrides to maintain funding for certain programs. Although the main 2005 override passed, a simultaneous supplemental override to preserve certain specific programs and services failed by 17 votes. The 2006 override passed with a large majority. Wellesley also receives funding from the state government. Local roads have been repaved several times in the 1990s and 2000s.
The town is part of the Massachusetts Senate's Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex district.
On December 18, 2014, Wellesley College and the Town of Wellesley announced that the College's Board of Trustees had chosen the town's $35-million bid for the purchase of 46 acres of land adjacent to its campus. Under this agreement, at least 50% of the North 40 property will be preserved in perpetuity as open space. A special town meeting in January 2015 resulted in a near-unanimous vote in favor of the purchase, and in March 2015, 80 percent of residents that cast votes at the Town election, voted to approve the purchase.
Reducing carbon footprint
In 2009 the town established the Municipal Energy Efficiency Committee (MEEC) made up of representatives from various town departments, to develop and evaluate municipal policies to reduce energy use.
In 2010 Wellesley's Sustainable Energy Committee (SEC) was formed by Town Meeting. The committee's primary objective was a 10% town-wide reduction in Wellesley's carbon footprint and 20% reduction in carbon footprint for all municipal departments by the end of 2013. In 2014 Town Meeting voted to support a new goal of 25% reduction by 2020 using 2007 as the base year. The committee is responsible for Wellesley's adoption of the Massachusetts Stretch Building Code approved by Town Meeting effective January 2012.In 2013, the committee organized Wellesley's Green Collaborative, a group of organizations that are concerned about environmental issues in Wellesley and beyond. Dozens of like-minded organizations are represented including the Natural Resources Commission, a five-member elected board of town residents; Wellesley Conservation Council, a private, non-profit, land trust and conservation education organization incorporated in 1958; and Sustainable Wellesley, a group of volunteers who encourage sustainability in Wellesley and the surrounding area through events, education, and action.
In 2014 the Sustainable Energy Committee served to double participation in the town's POWER TO CHOOSE program and organized the "More POWER TO CHOOSE" solar program.
Natural resources protection
Wellesley is the longest running Tree City USA community of any city or town in Massachusetts. Wellesley's Tree Bylaw became effective July 1, 2011, requiring property owners to protect certain trees and critical root zones during construction projects, and replace trees that are cut down or donate money to a special tree fund. The town's Natural Resource Protection (NRP) Development bylaw, approved by Town Meeting in 2013, applies to any subdivision generating five or more lots. This bylaw requires a minimum of 50% of the property be preserved as open space in exchange for reduced lot sizes without increasing density.
Established in 1979, Wellesley has a unique elected Natural Resources Commission (NRC) bearing the statutory authority and responsibility of Park Commissions, Conservation Commissions, Tree Wardens, Town Forest Committees, and Forestry and Pest Control Officers. The commission maintains Wellesley's two Community Gardens and maintains a trail network that includes 26 miles of marked trails interconnecting open spaces and conservation lands for walking, dog walking, jogging, bicycling, cross-country skiing, and more.
In 2001 the commission, in collaboration with the Health, Public Works and School department, developed a pesticide awareness program resulting in an Organic Pest Management Policy governing pesticide use on all town-owned property.
In 2003 the commission created the Preservation Master Plan for Fuller Brook Park in collaboration with Wellesley's Department of Public Works. This major restoration project was completed in 2017. In 2009, the commission launched the Green Wellesley Campaign advocating for sustainability by raising awareness and promoting increased environmental action. That campaign has been renamed the Grow Green Wellesley initiative, which promotes earth-friendly lawn and landscaping practices.
Education
On the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, the district regularly scores higher than the state average. The school system also contains a middle school and seven elementary schools (Bates, Upham, Schofield, Fiske, Hardy, Hunnewell, and Sprague). Wellesley includes a primary and secondary school which are Wellesley Middle School (also known as Wellesley Junior High) and Wellesley High School, respectively; and are the home of the Raiders.The town contains a private elementary school, Tenacre Country Day School, one private Catholic elementary school (St. John the Evangelist) and a preparatory school for girls, Dana Hall School. Also, the Wellesley A Better Chance outfit started in the early 1970s brings promising young women from underserved areas into town to attend Wellesley High School and live nearby.Wellesley also contains the main campus of three colleges: Wellesley College, a women's liberal arts college, Massachusetts Bay Community College, a two-year public college, and Babson, a business college.
Green Schools
Wellesley Green Schools was established in 2006. The No Idling Campaign received an Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Award from the state of Massachusetts in 2014.
The town's new high school opened in February 2012 and includes such elements as green vegetated roof, geothermal heat pump and Solar thermal cooling, Solar Photovoltaic system, and rainwater recovery systems.
Media
Events of significance to members of the Wellesley community are recorded in two local news publications: The Wellesley Townsman has been published since 1906, and The Swellesley Report since 2005. Both are available online and digitized copies of the paper-based Townsman are available from the Wellesley Free Library.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Wellesley has had rail service to Boston since 1833. Rail service is currently provided through Wellesley's participation in the MBTA, which offers a total of 17 weekdays Commuter Rail trains inbound towards Boston and outbound towards Framingham and Worcester. Wellesley's stations are (east to west) Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Hills, and Wellesley Square. The Wellesley Farms station is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. MWRTA bus service also runs along Walnut Street, Cedar Street, and Route 9.
The highways Interstate 95/Massachusetts Route 128, Massachusetts Route 9, Massachusetts route 16 (as Washington Street) and Massachusetts route 135 run through Wellesley.
For elders and people with disabilities there is a specific MBTA-based service, The Ride, which offers free or low-cost door-to-door service by appointment.Wellesley's Council on Aging contracts out a daily low-cost minibus service offering elderly access to several local medical facilities and the Woodland MBTA station. Further afield is the Springwell Senior Medical Escort Program / Busy Bee Transportation Service for rides to medical & non-medical services in the area. There is also a monthly minibus to the Natick Mall.
Municipal light plant
Wellesley is serviced by the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant.
the three colleges voluntarily pay a premium to purchase electricity generated by wind power.
In 2012, Wellesley was designated a Green Power Community by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Notable people
Danny Ainge, executive director of basketball operations and general manager of the Boston Celtics
Ray Allen, former player for the Boston Celtics
Emily Greene Balch, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Roger Nash Baldwin, co-founder of American Civil Liberties Union
Arthur Batcheller, U.S. radio inspector
Katharine Lee Bates, author of "America the Beautiful"
Gamaliel Bradford, poet, biographer
Dee Brown, former basketball player for the Boston Celtics
Laurence E. Bunker, United States Army colonel, aide to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, leader within the John Birch Society
R. Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Under Secretary of State, Ambassador to NATO and to Greece, and State Department spokesman
Karl E. Case, developer of the Case–Shiller index
Dan Chiasson, poet and New Yorker critic
Gene Clapp, Olympic silver medalist men's eight
Katharine Coman, historian, professor of economics and sociology, author
Greg Comella, former professional football player with the New York Giants, Titans, Texans and Buccaneers
Jane Curtin, comedian, original cast member of Saturday Night Live
Richard Darman, economist, former head of the Office of Management and Budget
Erik Davis (baseball), former pitcher for the Washington Nationals
Blake Dietrick, WNBA basketball player with the Seattle Storm and former standout with the Princeton Tigers
Dennis Eckersley, former pitcher for the Oakland A's
Carl Everett, former center fielder for the Boston Red Sox
Nicole Freedman (born 1972), Olympic cyclist
Nate Freiman (born 1986), first baseman for the Oakland Athletics
Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr., U.S. District Court judge
Curt Gowdy, sports commentator
Michael S. Greco, President of American, Massachusetts & New England bar associations
Lester Grinspoon, psychiatrist, professor, and drug policy reform advocate
Gordon Hayward, small forward for the Boston Celtics
H. H. Hunnewell (1810-1902), railroad financier and horticulturist
Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products
Phil Laak, professional poker player, winner of 2004 World Poker Tour
Christopher Leggett, film producer
Xihong Lin, Department of Biostatistics chair at the Harvard School of Public Health
Gregory Mankiw, Harvard economics professor
Daisuke Matsuzaka, former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
Fred McLafferty, professor, analytical chemist, author, inventor, leading developer of mass spectrometry
Drew Meekins, figure skater
Ossian Everett Mills, founder of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America
Bill Mueller, former third baseman for the Boston Red Sox
Joseph E. Murray, surgeon, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1990
Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American author
Joe Nash, retired NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks
Sylvia Plath, poet and author, The Bell Jar
Richard Preston and Douglas Preston, best-selling authors
Aneesh Raman, former presidential speechwriter at the White House and CNN Middle East Correspondent
Edward Thomas Ryan, president, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; professor, Harvard University
James St. Clair, defense lawyer for Richard Nixon during Watergate
Jack Sanford, former MLB pitcher, 1957 MLB Rookie of the Year Award recipient
Billy Squier, rock musician
Brad Stevens, head coach of the Boston Celtics
Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder
Steven Tyler, rock musician, lived in Wellesley during the late 1990s and early 2000s
Michael von Clemm, banker, anthropologist and founder of Canary Wharf
Rasheed Wallace, retired professional basketball player
Greg Yaitanes, Emmy Award-winning film director, writer, actor
Eddie Yost, baseball player and coach
References
External links
Town of Wellesley website |
low-carbon economy | A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mid-20th century. Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause long-lasting changes around the world, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive, and irreversible effects for people and ecosystems. Shifting to a low-carbon economy on a global scale could bring substantial benefits both for developed and developing countries. Many countries around the world are designing and implementing low-emission development strategies (LEDS). These strategies seek to achieve social, economic, and environmental development goals while reducing long-term greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resilience to the effects of climate change.Globally implemented low-carbon economies are therefore proposed as a precursor to the more advanced, zero-carbon economy. The GeGaLo index of geopolitical gains and losses assesses how the geopolitical position of 156 countries may change if the world fully transitions to renewable energy resources. Former fossil fuel exporters are expected to lose power, while the positions of former fossil fuel importers and countries rich in renewable energy resources is expected to strengthen.
Rationale and aims
Nations may seek to become low-carbon or decarbonised economies as a part of a national climate change mitigation strategy. A comprehensive strategy to mitigate climate change is through carbon neutrality.
The aim of a LCE is to integrate all aspects of itself from its manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and power generation, etc. around technologies that produce energy and materials with little GHG emission, and, thus, around populations, buildings, machines, and devices that use those energies and materials efficiently, and, dispose of or recycle its wastes so as to have a minimal output of GHGs. Furthermore, it has been proposed that to make the transition to an LCE economically viable we would have to attribute a cost (per unit output) to GHGs through means such as emissions trading and/or a carbon tax.
Some nations are presently low carbon: societies that are not heavily industrialized or populated. In order to avoid climate change on a global level, all nations considered carbon-intensive societies and societies that are heavily populated might have to become zero-carbon societies and economies. EU emission trading system allows companies to buy international carbon credits, thus the companies can channel clean technologies to promote other countries to adopt low-carbon developments.According to Roger A. Pielke Jr., many people do not understand the magnitude of the challenge. In 2018, the world consumed 11,743 million toe in the form of coal, natural gas and oil. To achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, the world would need to deploy three nuclear power plants of similar power to Turkey Point every two days from 2019 until 2050 or 1,500 wind turbines of 2.5 MW each over approximately 800 km2 every day. This scenario takes into account the increase in global energy consumption, but not carbon dioxide sequestration nor solar technologies.
Benefits
Low-carbon economies present multiple benefits to ecosystem resilience, trade, employment, health, energy security, and industrial competitiveness.
Ecosystem resilience
Low emission development strategies for the land use sector can prioritize the protection of carbon-rich ecosystems to not only reduce emissions, but also to protect biodiversity and safeguard local livelihoods to reduce rural poverty - all of which can lead to more climate resilient systems, according to a report by the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP). REDD+ and blue carbon initiatives are among the measures available to conserve, sustainably manage, and restore these carbon rich ecosystems, which are crucial for natural carbon storage and sequestration, and for building climate resilient communities.
Economic benefits
Job creation
Transitioning to a low-carbon, environmentally and socially sustainable economies can become a strong driver of job creation, job upgrading, social justice, and poverty eradication if properly managed with the full engagement of governments, workers, and employers’ organizations.Estimates from the International Labour Organization’s Global Economic Linkages model suggest that unmitigated climate change, with associated negative impacts on enterprises and workers, will have negative effects on output in many industries, with drops in output of 2.4% by 2030 and 7.2% by 2050.Transitioning to a low-carbon economy will cause shifts in the volume, composition, and quality of employment across sectors and will affect the level and distribution of income. Research indicates that eight sectors employing around 1.5 billion workers, approximately half the global workforce, will undergo major changes: agriculture, forestry, fishing, energy, resource intensive manufacturing, recycling, buildings, and transport.During the green transition, workers in carbon-intensive industries are more likely to lose their jobs. The transition to a carbon-neutral economy will put more jobs at danger in regions with higher percentages of employment in carbon-intensive industries. Employment opportunities by the green transition are associated with the use of renewable energy sources or building activity for infrastructure improvements and renovations.
Business competitiveness
Low emission industrial development and resource efficiency can offer many opportunities to increase the competitiveness of economies and companies. According to the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), there is often a clear business case for switching to lower emission technologies, with payback periods ranging largely from 0.5–5 years, leveraging financial investment.
Improved trade policy
Trade and trade policies can contribute to low-carbon economies by enabling more efficient use of resources and international exchange of climate-friendly goods and services. Removing tariffs and nontariff barriers to trade in clean energy and energy efficiency technologies are one such measure. In a sector where finished products consist of many components that cross borders numerous times - a typical wind turbine, for example, contains up to 8,000 components - even small tariff cuts would reduce costs. This would make the technologies more affordable and competitive in the global market, particularly when combined with a phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies.
Energy policy
Renewable energy and energy efficiency
Recent advances in technology and policy will allow renewable energy and energy efficiency to play major roles in displacing fossil fuels, meeting global energy demand while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Renewable energy technologies are being rapidly commercialized and, in conjunction with efficiency gains, can achieve far greater emissions reductions than either could independently.Renewable energy is energy that comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). In 2015, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewables. During the five years from the end of 2004 through 2009, worldwide renewable energy capacity grew at rates of 10–60 percent annually for many technologies. For wind power and many other renewable technologies, growth accelerated in 2009 relative to the previous four years. More wind power capacity was added during 2009 than any other renewable technology. However, grid-connected photovoltaics increased the fastest of all renewables technologies, with a 60 percent annual average growth rate for the five-year period.Energy for power, heat, cooling, and mobility is the key ingredient for development and growth, with energy security a prerequisite economic growth, making it arguably the most important driver for energy policy. Scaling up renewable energy as part of a low emission development strategy can diversify a country's energy mixes and reduces dependence on imports. In the process of decarbonizing heat and transport through electrification, potential changes to electricity peak demand need to be anticipated whilst switching to alternative technologies such as heat pumps for electric vehicles.Installing local renewable capacities can also lower geopolitical risks and exposure to fuel price volatility, and improve the balance of trade for importing countries (noting that only a handful of countries export oil and gas). Renewable energy offers lower financial and economic risk for businesses through a more stable and predictable cost base for energy supply.Energy efficiency gains in recent decades have been significant, but there is still much more that can be achieved. With a concerted effort and strong policies in place, future energy efficiency improvements are likely to be very large. Heat is one of many forms of "energy wastage" that could be captured to significantly increase useful energy without burning more fossil fuels.Significant volumes of decarbonized electrical energy will be needed to decarbonize the global economy. Demand is generated by conventional electrical energy-based applications, the electrification of energy-intensive sectors, transportation and heating, and indirect electrification using hydrogen and synthetic fuels.
Automotive industry
Bosch has reduced its CO2 emissions from 3.3 Mt in 2018 to 1.9 Mt in 2019 and expected its 400 sites worldwide to be neutral by the end of 2020. BMW plans to reduce 80% by to 2030 the 300 kg of CO2 it releases for each vehicle assembled.In 2021, Volkswagen launched its Way to Zero program to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 and reduce its CO2 emissions per vehicle in Europe by 40% by 2030. It entered into a partnership with RWE for the construction of new wind farms and power plants in several parts of Europe by 2025. From 2030, all VW factories worldwide, except for China, will have to run entirely on green electricity. The battery cell production giga-factories will be supplied with completely green electricity. Sustainable components will be required from suppliers and the systematic recycling of batteries will in the future allow the reuse of more than 90% of raw materials.Renault announced in April 2021 its intention to reduce CO2 emissions from its factories in Europe to zero by 2030, and from 2025 in the north of France. In November 2022, it announced three strategic partnerships intended to achieve the objective in France : an agreement with Voltalia provides for the installation of 350 MW of solar panels between 2025 and 2027, the electricity of which will be purchased by Renault under a fifteen-year power purchase agreement (PPA), covering up to 50% of electricity consumption at its ElectriCity pole (Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz) and at its Cléon motor plant. An agreement is reached with Engie on a deep geothermal project within the Douai plant would provide 40 MW of heat to replace the natural gas it uses today. A third agreement provides for the installation by Dalkia of biomass boilers and waste heat recovery systems in the Maubeuge plant which, with a power of 15 MW, will cover 65% of its needs.
Sustainable biofuels
Biofuels, in the form of liquid fuels derived from plant materials, are entering the market, driven by factors such as oil price spikes and the need for increased energy security. However, many of the biofuels that are currently being supplied have been criticised for their adverse impacts on the natural environment, food security, and land use.The challenge is to support biofuel development, including the development of new cellulosic technologies, with responsible policies and economic instruments to help ensure that biofuel commercialization is sustainable. Responsible commercialization of biofuels represents an opportunity to enhance sustainable economic prospects in Africa, Latin America and Asia.Biofuels have a limited ability to replace fossil fuels and should not be regarded as a ‘silver bullet’ to deal with transport emissions. However, they offer the prospect of increased market competition and oil price moderation. A healthy supply of alternative energy sources will help to combat gasoline price spikes and reduce dependency on fossil fuels, especially in the transport sector. Using transportation fuels more efficiently is also an integral part of a sustainable transport strategy.
Nuclear power
Nuclear power has been offered as the primary means to achieve a LCE. In terms of large industrialized nations, mainland France, due primarily to 75% of its electricity being produced by nuclear power, has the lowest carbon dioxide production per unit of GDP in the world and it is the largest exporter of electricity in the world, earning it approximately €3 billion annually in sales.Concern is often expressed with the matter of spent nuclear fuel storage and security; although the physical issues are not large, the political difficulties are significant. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) has been suggested as a solution to the concerns posed by conventional nuclear.France reprocesses their spent nuclear fuel at the La Hague site since 1976 and has also treated spent nuclear fuel from France, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.
Some researchers have determined that achieving substantial decarbonization and combating climate change would be much more difficult without increasing nuclear power. Nuclear power is a reliable form of energy that is available 24/7, relatively safe, and can be expanded on a large scale. Nuclear power plants can replace fossil fuel-based power plants — shifting to a low carbon economy.
As of 2021, the expansion of nuclear energy as a method of achieving a low-carbon economy has varying degrees of support. Agencies and organizations that believe decarbonization is not possible without some nuclear power expansion include the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Energy Impact Center (EIC). Both IEA and EIC believe that widespread decarbonization must occur by 2040 in order mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and that nuclear power must play a role. The latter organization suggests that net-negative carbon emissions are possible using nuclear power to fuel carbon capture technology.
Smart grid
One proposal from Karlsruhe University developed as a virtual power station is the use of solar and wind energy for base load with hydro and biogas for make up or peak load. Hydro and biogas are used as grid energy storage. This requires the development of a smart intelligent grid hopefully including local power networks than use energy near the site of production, thereby reducing the existing 5% grid loss.
Decarbonisation technologies
There are five technologies commonly identified in decarbonisation:
Electrifying heat as furnaces are powered by electricity rather than burning fuels. Green energy must still be used.
The use of hydrogen as a furnace steam, a chemical feedstock, or a reactant in chemical processes.
The use of biomass as a source of energy or feedstock. In other words, replacing coal with bio coal or gas with bio-gas. One example is charcoal, which is made by converting wood into coal and has a CO2 footprint of zero.
Carbon capture and storage. This is where greenhouse gases are isolated from other natural gases, compressed, and injected into the earth to avoid being emitted into the atmosphere.
Carbon capture and usage. The aim of this method is to turn industrial gases into something valuable, such as ethanol or raw materials for the chemical industry.
Decarbonization strategies
A comprehensive decarbonization plan describes how to generate enough green energy to replace coal, oil, and natural gas; and takes into consideration factors such as increasing GDP, increasing standard of living, and increasing efficiencies. Each year the world consumes 583 exajoules of heat energy. With 35% efficient turbines, this yields 56000 TWh of electricity yearly. To decarbonize, that amount of electricity must be generated through means with very low CO2 emissions, such as hydroelectric dams, nuclear energy, wind farms and solar parks. If 56000 TWh were to be generated solely with the most powerful existing facility of each type of energy source, it would require:
540 hydroelectric dams equivalent to the Three Gorges Dam, which generated 103.6 TWh in 2021.
1100 nuclear power plants equivalent to the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, which generated 48.2 TWh in 2016.
8600 geothermal power plants equivalent to the Geysers, which generated 6.5 TWh in 2018.
22 400 wind farms equivalent to the London Array, which generated 2.5 TWh in 2015.
76 400 solar parks equivalent to the Bhadla Solar Park, which generates 0.7 TWh per year.Below are example global decarbonization plans:
Chapter 11 of How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, by Bill Gates
Power Electronics' Plan To Get to Zero CO2 Emissions
A Global Decarbonization Plan, by the Manhattan 2 ProjectBelow are example plans that decarbonize the United States:
The Net-Zero America Project, by Princeton University
Getting To Zero, by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
America's Zero Carbon Action Plan, by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network
"Energy Decarb" scenario within DOE's 2021 Solar Futures Study.Tools that create decarbonization plans are in various stages of development:
C-Roads Climate Policy Simulator
Power Electronics' Develop Your Own Decarbonization Plan
Carbon-neutral hydrocarbons
Carbon capture and storage
Combined heat and power
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is a technology which by allowing the more efficient use of fuel will at least reduce carbon emissions; should the fuel be biomass or biogas or hydrogen used as an energy store then in principle it can be a zero carbon option. CHP can also be used with a nuclear reactor as the energy source; there are examples of such installations in the far North of the Russian Federation. By 2050, the energy requirement for transportation might be satisfied by hydrogen and synthetic fuels between 20% and 30%.
Decarbonisation activity by sector
Primary sector
Agriculture
Most of the agricultural facilities in the developed world are mechanized due to rural electrification. Rural electrification has produced significant productivity gains, but it also uses a lot of energy. For this and other reasons (such as transport costs) in a low-carbon society, rural areas would need available supplies of renewably produced electricity.Irrigation can be one of the main components of an agricultural facility's energy consumption. In parts of California, it can be up to 90%. In the low carbon economy, irrigation equipment will be maintained and continuously updated and farms will use less irrigation water.
Livestock operations can also use a lot of energy depending on how they are run. Feedlots use animal feed made from corn, soybeans, and other crops. Energy must be expended to produce these crops, process, and transport them. Free-range animals find their own vegetation to feed on. The farmer may expend energy to take care of that vegetation, but not nearly as much as the farmer growing cereal and oil-seed crops.
Many livestock operations currently use a lot of energy to water their livestock. In the low-carbon economy, such operations will use more water conservation methods such as rainwater collection, water cisterns, etc., and they will also pump/distribute that water with on-site renewable energy sources (most likely wind and solar).
Due to rural electrification, most agricultural facilities in the developed world use a lot of electricity. In a low-carbon economy, farms will be run and equipped to allow for greater energy efficiency. Changes in the dairy industry include heat recovery, solar hearing, and use of biodigesters:Replacing livestock with plant-based alternatives is another way of reducing our carbon emissions. The carbon footprint of livestock is large - it provides just 18% of total calories but takes up 83% of farmland.
Forestry
Protecting forests provides integrated benefits to all, ranging from increased food production, safeguarded local livelihoods, protected biodiversity and ecosystems provided by forests, and reduced rural poverty. Adopting low emission strategies for both agricultural and forest production also mitigates some of the effects of climate change.
In the low-carbon economy, forestry operations will be focused on low-impact practices and regrowth. Forest managers will make sure that they do not disturb soil-based carbon reserves too much. Specialized tree farms will be the main source of material for many products. Quick maturing tree varieties will be grown on short rotations in order to maximize output.
Mining
Flaring and venting of natural gas in oil wells is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Its contribution to greenhouse gases has declined by three-quarters in absolute terms since a peak in the 1970s of approximately 110 million metric tons/year, and in 2004 accounted for about 1/2 of one percent of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.The World Bank estimates that 134 billion cubic meters of natural gas are flared or vented annually (2010 datum), an amount equivalent to the combined annual gas consumption of Germany and France or enough to supply the entire world with gas for 16 days.
This flaring is highly concentrated: 10 countries account for 70% of emissions, and twenty for 85%.
Secondary sector
Basic metals processing
high efficiency electric motors
induction furnaces
heat recovery
Nonmetallic product processing
variable speed drives
injection molding - replace hydraulic with electric servo motors
glass melting furnace - heating with green generated electric power, bio fuels, hydrogen
Wood processing
high efficiency motors
high efficiency fans
dehumidifier driers
Paper and pulp making
variable speed drives
high efficiency motors
Food processing
high efficiency boilers
heat recovery e.g. refrigeration
solar hot water for pre-heating
bio fuels e.g. tallow, wood
Tertiary sector
Building and Construction
In 2018, building construction and operations accounted for 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The construction industry has seen marked advances in building performance and energy efficiency over recent decades, but there continues to be a large need for additional improvement in order to decarbonize this sector. International and government organizations have taken actions to promote the decarbonization of buildings, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997, and many countries' Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) of the Paris Climate Agreement which was signed in 2016.The largest contributor to building sector emissions (49% of total) is the production of electricity for use in buildings. To decarbonize the building sector, the production of electrical energy will need to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, and instead shift to carbon-free alternatives like solar, wind, and nuclear. Currently many countries are heavily dependent on fossil fuels for electricity generation. In 2018, 61% of US electricity generation was produced by fossil fuel power plants (23% by coal and 38% by natural gas).Of global building sector GHG emissions, 28% are produced during the manufacturing process of building materials such as steel, cement (a key component of concrete), and glass. The conventional process inherently related to the production of steel and cement results in large amounts of CO2 emitted. For example, the production of steel in 2018 was responsible for 7 to 9% of the global CO2 emissions. However, these industries lend themselves very well for carbon capture and storage and carbon capture and utilization technology as the CO2 is available in large concentration in an exhaust gas, which is considered a so-called point source. GHG emissions which are produced during the mining, processing, manufacturing, transportation and installation of building materials are referred to as the embodied carbon of a material. The embodied carbon of a construction project can be reduced by using low-carbon materials for building structures and finishes, reducing demolition, and reusing buildings and construction materials whenever possible.The remaining 23% of global building sector GHG emissions are produced directly on site during building operations. These emissions are produced by fossil fuels such as natural gas which are burned on site to generate hot water, provide space heating, and supply cooking appliances. These pieces of equipment will need to be replaced by carbon-free alternatives such as heat pumps and induction cooktops to decarbonize the building sector.
Retail
Retail operations in the low-carbon economy will have several new features. One will be high-efficiency lighting such as compact fluorescent, halogen, and eventually LED light sources. Many retail stores will also feature roof-top solar panel arrays. These make sense because solar panels produce the most energy during the daytime and during the summer. These are the same times that electricity is the most expensive and also the same times that stores use the most electricity.
Transportation
Sustainable, low-carbon transport systems are based on minimizing travel and shifting to more environmentally (as well as socially and economically) sustainable mobility, improving transport technologies, fuels and institutions. Decarbonisation of mobility by means of:
More energy efficiency and alternative propulsion:
Increased focus on fuel efficient vehicle shapes and configurations, with more vehicle electrification, particularly through battery electric vehicles (BEV) or all-electric vehicles
More alternative and flex-fuel vehicles (based on local conditions and availability)
Driver training for more fuel efficiency.
Low-carbon biofuels cellulosic (biodiesel, bioethanol, biobutanol)
Petroleum fuel surcharges will be a more significant part of consumer costs.
Less international movement of physical objects, despite more overall trade (as measure by value of goods)
Greater use of marine and electric rail transport, less use of air and truck transport.
Increased non-motorised transport (i.e. walking and cycling) and public transport usage, less reliance on private motor vehicles.
More pipeline capacity for common fluid commodities such as water, ethanol, butanol, natural gas, petroleum, and hydrogen (in addition to gasoline and diesel).
Small and mid-size shipping companies can reduce bunker fuel consumption and vessel emissions by dynamically and smartly adjusting vessel speeds according to port congestions, shipping requirements, and weather conditions. One particular strategy is the virtual arrival policy which brings economic and environmental benefits to shipping companies, ports, and society as a whole.Sustainable transport has many co-benefits that can accelerate local sustainable development. According to a series of reports by the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), low carbon transport can help create jobs, improve commuter safety through investment in bicycle lanes and pedestrian pathways, make access to employment and social opportunities more affordable and efficient. It also offers a practical opportunity to save people's time and household income as well as government budgets, making investment in sustainable transport a 'win-win' opportunity.
Health services
There have been some moves to investigate the ways and extent to which health systems contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and how they may need to change to become part of a low-carbon world. The Sustainable Development Unit of the NHS in the UK is one of the first official bodies to have been set up in this area, whilst organisations such as the Campaign for Greener Healthcare are also producing influential changes at a clinical level. This work includes
Quantification of where the health services emissions stem from.
Information on the environmental impacts of alternative models of treatment and service provisionSome of the suggested changes needed are:
Greater efficiency and lower ecological impact of energy, buildings, and procurement choices (e.g., in-patient meals, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment).
A shift from focusing solely on cure to prevention, through the promotion of healthier, lower-carbon lifestyles, e.g. diets lower in red meat and dairy products, walking or cycling wherever possible, better town planning to encourage more outdoor lifestyles.
Improving public transport and liftsharing options for transport to and from hospitals and clinics.
Tourism
Low-carbon tourism includes travels with low energy consumption, and low CO2 and pollution emissions. Change of personal behavior to more low-carbon oriented activities is mostly influenced by both individual awareness and attitudes, as well as external social aspect, such as culture and environment. Studies indicate that educational level and occupation influence an individual perception of low-carbon tourism.
Actions taken by countries
A good overview of the history of international efforts towards a low-carbon economy, from its initial seed at the inaugural UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, has been given by David Runnals.
On the international scene, the most prominent early step in the direction of a low-carbon economy was the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in 2005, under which most industrialized countries committed to reduce their carbon emissions. Europe is the leading geopolitical continent in defining and mobilising decarbonisation policies. For instance, the UITP - an organisation advocating sustainable mobility and public transport - has an EU office, but less well developed contacts with, for example, the US. The European Union Committee of the UITP wants to promote decarbonisation of urban mobility in Europe. However, the 2014 Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI) ranks 60 nations on their green economic performance, finding that the Nordic countries and Switzerland have the best combined performance around climate change and green economy.
In Europe, there are differences between regions on how the transition to a green economy functions. Many businesses in cohesion regions are now concerned that the shift to a low-carbon economy would affect their industry. In less developed and transition areas, more people tend to view the climate shift as a risk than an opportunity. Only in non-cohesion regions, a larger proportion of businesses see the change as overall advantageous.
China
In China, the city of Dongtan is to be built to produce zero net greenhouse gas emissions.The Chinese State Council announced in 2009 it aimed to cut China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40%-45% in 2020 from 2005 levels. However carbon dioxide emissions were still increasing by 10% a year by 2013 and China was emitting more carbon dioxide than the next two biggest countries combined (U.S.A. and India). Total carbon dioxide emissions were projected to increase until 2030.
United States
Costa Rica
Costa Rica sources much of its energy needs from renewables and is undertaking reforestation projects. In 2007, the Costa Rican government announced the commitment for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. Costa Rica would be, according to its leaders, the first country in the world to have launched in 2019 a comprehensive decarbonization plan (zero carbon emissions by 2050).
Iceland
Iceland began utilising renewable energy early in the 20th century and so since has been a low-carbon economy. However, since dramatic economic growth, Iceland's emissions have increased significantly per capita. As of 2009, Iceland energy is sourced from mostly geothermal energy and hydropower, renewable energy in Iceland and, since 1999, has provided over 70% of the nation's primary energy and 99.9% of Iceland's electricity. As a result of this, Iceland's carbon emissions per capita are 62% lower than those of the United States despite using more primary energy per capita, due to the fact that it is renewable and low-cost. Iceland seeks carbon neutrality and expects to use 100% renewable energy by 2050 by generating hydrogen fuel from renewable energy sources.
Peru
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates that economic losses related to climate change for Peru could reach over 15% of national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2100. Being a large country with a long coastline, snow-capped mountains and sizeable forests, Peru's varying ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Several mountain glaciers have already begun to retreat, leading to water scarcity in some areas. In the period between 1990 and 2015, Peru experienced a 99% increase in per capita carbon emissions from fossil fuel and cement production, marking one of the largest increases amongst South American countries.Peru brought in a National Strategy on Climate Change in 2003. It is a detailed accounting of 11 strategic focuses that prioritize scientific research, mitigation of climate change effects on the poor, and creating Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) mitigation and adaptation policies.In 2010, the Peruvian Ministry of Environment published a Plan of Action for Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change. The Plan categorises existing and future programmes into seven action groups, including: reporting mechanisms on GHG emissions, mitigation, adaptation, research and development of technology of systems, financing and management, and public education. It also contains detailed budget information and analysis relating to climate change.
In 2014, Peru hosted the Twentieth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP20) negotiations. At the same time, Peru enacted a new climate law which provides for the creation of a national greenhouse gas inventory system called INFOCARBONO. According to the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), INFOCARBONO is a major transformation of the country's greenhouse gas management system. Previously, the system was under the sole control of the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment. The new framework makes each relevant ministry responsible for their own share of greenhouse gas management.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Climate Change Act 2008 outlining a framework for the transition to a low-carbon economy became law on November 26, 2008. It was the world's first long-term legislation to reduce carbon emissions. This act requires an 80% cut in the UK's carbon emissions by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels), with an intermediate target of between 26% and 32% by 2020. Thus, the UK became the first country to set such a long-range and significant carbon reduction target into law.
A meeting at the Royal Society on 17–18 November 2008 concluded that an integrated approach, making best use of all available technologies, is required to move toward a low-carbon future. It was suggested by participants that it would be possible to move to a low-carbon economy within a few decades, but that 'urgent and sustained action is needed on several fronts'.In June 2012, the UK coalition government announced the introduction of mandatory carbon reporting, requiring around 1,100 of the UK's largest listed companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions every year. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed that emission reporting rules would come into effect from April 2013 in his piece for The Guardian.In July 2014, the UK Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) came into force. This requires all large businesses in the UK to undertake mandatory assessments looking at energy use and energy efficiency opportunities at least once every four years.The low carbon economy has been described as a "UK success story", accounting for more than £120 billion in annual sales and employing almost 1 million people. A 2013 report suggests that over a third of the UK's economic growth in 2011/12 was likely to have come from green business. This data is complementary to the strong correlation between GDP per capita and national rates of energy consumption.
See also
Carbon neutrality
Carbon-neutral fuel
Fossil fuel phase-out
Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy sources
Vehicle emission standard
Emissions trading
Environmental economics
Global Green Growth Institute
Green industrial policy
Low-energy house
Low-carbon diet
Low-carbon fuel standard
Sustainable energy
World energy consumption
References
== External links == |
cummins | Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission control, electrical power generation systems, and trucks.
Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, Cummins sells in approximately 190 countries and territories through a network of more than 600 company-owned and independent distributors and approximately 7,200 dealers. Cummins reported a net income of $2.15 billion on sales of $28 billion in 2022.
History
The Cummins Engine Company was founded in Columbus, Indiana on February 3, 1919 by mechanic Clessie Cummins and banker William Glanton Irwin. The company focused on developing the diesel engine invented 20 years earlier. Despite several well-publicized endurance trials, it was not until 1933 that their Model H engine, used in small railroad switchers, proved successful. The Cummins N Series engines became the industry leader in the post-World War II road building boom in the United States, with more than half of the heavy-duty truck market using Cummins engines from 1952 to 1959. In the 1960s, the company opened an assembly plant in Shotts, Scotland (closed in 1996). By 2013, Cummins had operations in 197 countries and territories.
Business units
Cummins Engine Business
Cummins Engine Business Unit consists of Aftermarket support, Mid-Range, Heavy-Duty, and High-Power Engines. Its markets include heavy-and medium-duty trucks, buses, recreational vehicles (RV), light-duty automotive, and several industrial uses including construction, mining, marine, oil and gas, railroad and military equipment.One of the most popular engines built is the 5.9-liter I6 engine used in the Dodge Ram heavy-duty pickups starting in 1988.5. In 2007.5, a 6.7-liter version of the Cummins straight-six engine became optional on the RAM pickup. In 2008, Cummins was a named defendant in a class-action suit related to 1998-2001 model year Dodge Ram trucks, model 2500 or 3500, originally equipped with a Cummins ISB 5.9 liter diesel engine built using a pattern 53 Block. The case has been settled, but some qualified Chrysler owners may receive $500 for repairs to the block, which was alleged to crack and create a coolant leak.
In April 2013, Cummins utilized technology developed by Westport Innovations to begin shipping large natural gas-fueled engines to truck manufacturers in the United States as trucking companies began converting portions of their fleets to natural gas and the natural gas distribution network in the United States began to expand.Cummins has a technical center in Darlington, England, where it develops products for the European, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets.
Cummins Power Systems Business (formerly Cummins Power Generation)
Cummins Power Systems Business Unit consists of Alternators, Automatic Transfer Switches, Commercial Power Systems, Consumer Systems, Engines, and Paralleling Systems.
All of the above stem from the Cummins Onan Corporation, which products remain in service today.
This Business Unit was formed recently, following a merge of the Power Generation Unit and High Horsepower Sub-Division.
On August 22, 2017, United Rentals announced it had acquired all mobile power generation assets from Cummins. To maintain fleet and customer service continuity, a small number of Cummins employees joined United Rentals.
Cummins Component Business
Cummins Component Business Unit consists of Emission Solutions, Filtration (Fleetguard), Fuel Systems, Turbo Technologies (Holset), and Electronics. The Cummins Turbo Technologies unit designs and manufactures turbochargers and related products, on a global scale, for diesel engines above 3 liters. Its Emission Solutions unit develops and supplies catalytic exhaust systems and related products to the medium-and heavy-duty commercial diesel engine markets. Cummins Filtration designs, manufactures and distributes heavy-duty and light-duty air, fuel, hydraulic and lube filtration, chemicals and exhaust system technology products for diesel and gas-powered equipment, while Cummins Electronics designs engine control units and sensors for Cummins diesel engines.
Cummins Distribution Business
Cummins Distribution Business consists of Engine and Power Generation Distribution as well as Service and Parts. The distribution unit of Cummins consists of 17 Cummins owned distributors and 10 joint ventures, covering 90 countries and territories through 234 locations.
Subsidiaries
Cummins Turbo Technologies
The Holset Engineering Co. was a British company that produced turbochargers, primarily for diesel and heavy-duty applications.
In 1973 the company was purchased by Cummins after briefly being owned by the Hanson Trust. Holset now operates facilities in China, India, Brazil, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In 2006, the division officially changed its name to Cummins Turbo Technologies to be identified more closely with its parent company. The turbocharger products still use the Holset brand name.
Cummins Power Systems
In 1986 Cummins began the acquisition of Onan and completed it in 1992. Since then, Onan has evolved into Cummins Power Generation (now Cummins Power Systems), a wholly-invested division of Cummins. The Onan name continues to be used for modern versions of their traditional engine-driven generators for RV, marine, commercial mobility, home standby, and portable use.
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) announced that it will be unifying its brand strategy across its Power Systems business segment, which provides high-speed engines from 760 – 4400 HP and power generation equipment from 2–3,500 kW, including standby and prime power gen sets, alternators, switchgear and other components. Currently, the portfolio features the Cummins, Cummins Power Generation and Cummins Onan brands. With immediate effect, the branding will be consolidated under the Cummins brand. The Cummins Power Generation and Cummins Onan brands will be retired and the Onan name synonymous with mobile gensets, will be repositioned as a generator product line under the newly unified Cummins brand in the RV market.
Cummins Inc. will also be permanently changing all “Fun Roads” branding to Cummins RV moving forward as well and the Fun Roads brand will also be retired. As Onan will now be repositioned as an RV product line, with the new rv.cummins.com website and social media platforms serving as tools for RVers across the country to find relevant information like product specs and a sales and service locator.
“Looking to unify Cummins into one cohesive, unified brand, we decided that consolidating both products (engines and generators) into the Cummins RV family only strengthens the brand and more uniformly speaks to our manufacturers and consumers,” said Jodie Wilson. “The brand changing will not affect product or service offerings, but will help us to continue on our promise of delivering dependability across the globe.”
Rebranding took place globally on all marketing activities, as product branding changed across all manufacturing plants beginning July 2017.President Joe Biden visited the Cummins plant in Fridley, Minnesota on April 3, 2022. It was part of his "Investing in America" tour. Cummins had announced a US$1 billion initiative to produce clean energy technology, including electrolyzers for hydrogen cells in Fridley.
Cummins Emission Solutions
Exhaust and emissions after-treatment company Nelson Industries was purchased in 1999, due to the increasing importance of exhaust after-treatment systems for meeting future emissions standards. The division changed its name to Cummins Emission Solutions to be identified more closely with their parent company.
China operations
Cummins has some joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers, such as Dongfeng Cummins, a joint venture with Dongfeng Automobile Company, as well as Guangxi Cummins Industrial Power with LiuGong. One of the most successful joint ventures is the joint venture with Foton called Bejing Foton Cummins Engine Company. This JV developed the ISG/X12 engine platform in the mid 2010s. The ISG/X12 in China has surpassed 240,000 units per year making it the highest volume heavy duty engine in the Cummins product line. The ISG/X12 is the foundation for all Cummins future engine platforms.
Other entities were Cummins Beijing, Chongqing Cummins Engine, Xi’an Cummins Engine, Wuxi Newage Alternators, Xiangfan Fleetguard, Wuxi Cummins Turbo Technologies.
India operations
Cummins India is the Indian subsidiary of Cummins. Cummins India is publicly traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). Cummins began its India operations on 17 February 1962 in a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group. The ownership structure of the joint venture was divided as follows:
Cummins - 50%
Kirloskar Group - 25.5%
Retail Investors - 24.5%In 1996 Cummins Inc. bought Kirloskar shares. Now it is a Cummins Inc. subsidiary.
As of 2013, the Cummins group had revenues over $1.5 billion, 20 factories and 9000 employees in India.
Cummins conducts a significant part of its R&D in India at the Cummins Research and Technology centre that was established in 2003. Cummins has built a technical centre in Pune which houses over 2500 engineers, called CTCI (Cummins Technical Centre India).Cummins India has made significant contributions to local skill development by establishing the MKSSS's Cummins College of Engineering for Women, a women-only engineering college in Pune.
Applications
IS (Interact Series) - family of engines used for on-highway applications, trucks, buses and RVs
ISF 2.8-liter I4 - used in GAZ GAZelle (Business and Next series) and Foton Tunland light trucks
ISV 5.0-liter V8 - used in the 2016 and newer Nissan Titan XD truck, up to 2019 model year
ISB 5.9-liter I6, 190 HP - used in first, second, and third-generation Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks until 2007
ISB 6.7-liter I6 - used in third, fourth and fifth generation Ram 2500-5500 trucks, school buses, Alexander Dennis buses, medium-duty trucks, such as Freightliner and International. Also used in Kenworth and Peterbilt called the Paccar PX6 or PX7.
ISC 8.3-liter I6 - discontinued
ISL 8.9-liter - I6 - used for a variety of applications, and a very common engine for buses
ISL G 8.9-liter - I6 natural-gas-powered, used for a variety of applications
ISM 11-liter I6 - used for a variety of vocational applications in lesser regulated areas
ISG 12-liter I6 - used primarily in Chinese HD trucks
ISX 12-liter I6 - used in heavy-duty trucks
ISX G 12-liter I6 - natural-gas-powered; used in heavy-duty trucks
ISD 12.4-liter I6 - used in tractor applications in lesser regulated areas
ISX 15 liter I6 - used in heavy-duty trucks
V555 9.1-liter V8 - used in heavy machinery and large trucks
V903 14.8-liter V8 - used in Bradley fighting vehicles and other military applications
QS (Quantum Series) - family of engines used for off-highway applications, such as marine, rail/industrial, construction, power generation and agriculture
QSF 2.8-liter I4
QSF 3.8-liter I4
QSB 4.5-liter I4
QSB 6.7-liter I6
QSL 9-liter I6
QSG 12-liter I6
QSX 15-liter I6
QSK 19-liter I6
QSK 23-liter I6
QST 30-liter V12
QSK 38-liter V12
QSK 45-liter V12
QSK 50-liter V16
QSK 60-liter V16
QSK 78-liter V18
QSK 95-liter V16
X Series (Next-Generation) - evolution of IS engine family
X12
X15 Performance 15-liter I6
X15 Efficiency 15-liter I6
Concept vehicles
Cummins Aeos - An electric-powered conventional truck.
Clean Air Act violation
In 1998, the EPA announced fines totaling $83.4 million against Cummins and six other diesel engine manufacturers, the largest fine to date. The fines came after manufacturers evaded testing by deliberately deactivating emissions controls during highway driving, to give the appearance of being in full regulatory compliance during standard laboratory testing. The manufacturers also agreed to spend more than $1 billion to correct the problem. The trucks used engine ECU software to engage pollution controls during the 20-minute lab tests to verify compliance with the Clean Air Act, but then quietly disabled the emissions controls during normal highway cruising, thereby emitting up to three times the maximum allowed NOx pollution.
Carbon footprint
Cummins reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 595 Kt (-94 /-13.7% y-o-y). The company plans to reduce total emissions (Direct + Indirect) 50% by 2030 from a 2018 base year and also aims to reach net-zero by 2050.
See also
Cummins Corporate Office Building
Cummins UK
Cummins-Wärtsilä
Komatsu
J. Irwin Miller
Brammo
References
External links
Cummins Corporate Web Site
Cummins Spare Parts Catalogue
Business data for Cummins: |
arcelormittal | ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second largest steel producer in the world, with an annual crude steel production of 88 million metric tonnes as of 2022. It is ranked 197th in the 2022 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's largest corporations. It directly and indirectly employs around 200,000 people and its market capital is $25 billion. The total value of company assets is estimated to be around $100 billion.
History
ArcelorMittal was formed from the acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal Steel; Mittal Steel was in turn formed from the merger of ISPAT International and LNM Holdings. The company traces its history back to 1976.
2006–2008: Formation and scalebacks
ArcelorMittal was created by the takeover of Western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned multinational steel maker Mittal Steel in 2006, at a cost of €40.37 per share, approximately $33 billion total. Mittal Steel launched a hostile takeover bid, which replaced a previously planned merger between Arcelor and Severstal that had lacked sufficient shareholder approval.The resulting merged business was named ArcelorMittal and was headquartered in Luxembourg City. The resulting firm produced approximately 10% of the world's steel, and was by far the world's largest steel company. Total revenues in 2007 were $105 billion.By February 2008, the company had 320,000 employees in 60 countries. In October 2008, the market capitalisation of ArcelorMittal was over $30 billion, after peaking at $32.5 billion in September 2008. At the end of 2008, the company reported operating income of around $12 billion.In December 2008, ArcelorMittal announced several plant sales, to which it had been ordered by U.S. antitrust authorities as a condition of approval of Mittal Steel’s takeover of Arcelor SA, including the Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna, New York, to the Russian company Severstal. Other plants were closed by the company due to economic reasons, including LTV Steel in Hennepin, Illinois. After purchase of Kryvorizhstal, Ukraine's largest steel producer, employment was scaled back from 57,000 employees to 30,000.
2011–2014: Losses and Senegal agreement
In 2010, the company's operating income had fallen to $4.9 billion, with sales down 10 per cent from the year earlier, and income down 50 per cent as steel prices slumped. In 2011, the company began curtailing its European production to match the reduced demand for steel. It also sold Skyline Steel and Astralloy to a rival, Nucor, for $605 million. On 26 January 2011, the stainless steel division split off as a new company, Aperam. As of 2012, due to overcapacity and reduced demand in Europe, it had idled 9 of 25 blast furnaces; in October 2012 it permanently shut down two blast furnaces at Florange, France. On 31 October 2012, the company reported a third-quarter loss of $709 million as compared to a $659 million profit for the same period a year ago, citing the slow down in China's economy. In 2012 ArcelorMittal had $22 billion of debt.In January 2013, ArcelorMittal bid $1.5 billion to acquire ThyssenKrupp AG's rolling mill in Calvert, Alabama, United States. On 26 February 2014, ThyssenKrupp sold their Calvert carbon steel facility to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel for $1.55 billion, as a new joint venture. The facility was renamed AM/NS Calvert through the 50/50 joint partnership with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. The firm also entered into a $2.2 billion contract to develop an iron ore deposit in Senegal. This included construction of a 750 km (466 mi) railway line. After it stalled on the contract and failed to build according to schedule, the Government of Senegal sued. In September 2013, the government of Senegal won a court case before an international tribunal to rescind a $2.2 billion deal with ArcelorMittal after the company suspended work on an iron ore mine in the country. In June 2014, the International Chamber of Commerce's arbitration court in Paris awarded Senegal $150 million.Dealing with price and demand fluctuations in the steel market, from 2012 to 2014 ArcelorMittal restructured its European division by reducing employee numbers and closing plants. In May 2014, ArcelorMittal, citing economic self-interest, declared its opposition to sanctions on Russia. As of June 2014, ArcelorMittal accounted for 7 per cent of world steel production. After being shut out of the Chinese steel industry in 2005, along with other foreign companies, in 2014 the company announced it was planning new plants in China. In 2014, the company had an annual crude steel production of 98.1 million tons.
2008–2016: Price fixing convictions
Following an investigation first launched in 2008, in August 2016 the Competition Commission (South Africa) found the company guilty of price fixing. ArcelorMittal was fined US$110.9 million and, as part of the settlement, also agreed to invest R4.64 billion in capital over five years. According to the findings, the firm had been part of a 17-member-steel group nicknamed "Club Zürich", that later became known as "Club Europe". Between January 1984 and September 2002, the companies fixed the market, prices, and exchanged confidential corporate information.
2015–2016: Recent acquisitions
In 2015, the company had a net loss of $7.9 billion. Between February 2015 and February 2016, share value dropped 60%, making the company the "worst performer" in the FTSEurofirst300 index. The CEO said the company had performed poorly in 2015 due to "Chinese exports depressing prices". Early in 2016, the company announced it had raised $3 billion in new investment capital to help reduce debt to $11.7 billion of debt. In early 2016 the company also announced a program to boost core profit by $3 billion by 2020 "through a mixture of cost-cutting, increased production and a focus on higher-value forms of steel". Chairman Lakshmi Mittal announced doubled earnings the following year in May 2017. Along with the increase in capital, the company also sold its 35% stake in Gestamp Automacion for $979 million, with the goal of reducing ArcelorMittal's debt to less than $12 billion. By February 2016, the company made about 6% of the world's steel. It ranked 108th in the 2016 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's biggest corporations.
2017: Market changes
In February 2017 ArcelorMittal announced its first annual profits in five years. In February 2017, ArcelorMittal and Votorantim announced plans to combine their long steel operations in Brazil. Under the deal, Votorantim Siderurgia became a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal Brasil. In late May 2017, ArcelorMittal and the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) agreed on preliminary terms to form a $913 million joint venture to export a fifth of the auto-grade steel made by the venture. In March 2017, the company proposed a new US$6.5 billion steel project in Karnataka, after entering into a pact with the Karnataka government in February 2017. In April 2017, Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House Group announced it had agreed to acquire ArcelorMittal's Georgetown Steelworks in South Carolina. It is ranked 123 in the 2017 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's biggest corporations.By March 2017, ArcelorMittal was leading a consortium bidding for Ilva. An Italian company, Ilva owns the Taranto steelworks in southern Italy, which has Europe's largest steel output. The steelworks had been accused of toxic emissions linked to local cancer rates, and had been nationalized by the government years prior. The buyers were the AM Investco consortium, which beyond ArcelorMittal included Marcegaglia and Banca Intesa Sanpaolo. In May 2017, ArcelorMittal was announced as the preferred bidder over a different consortium led by JSW Steel, after it was able to pledge a production increase and guarantee employment levels. The final decision was waiting on Italy's ministry of economic development. On 5 June 2017, ArcelorMittal won approval to purchase Ilva for €1.8 billion. In its bid, AM Investco had pledged to make investments into Ilva of €2.4bn until 2023. On 1 November 2018, ArcelorMittal assumed ownership of Ilva steel operations and ArcelorMittal Italia was formed.In July 2017 the company reported a 19.3 per cent year-on-year rise in its earnings for the year's second quarter. The amount was lower than predicted by analysts, with the company citing the volatility in market prices. Also, in July 2017, the European Court of Justice ruled against ArcelorMittal in its lawsuit against how the EU allocates free carbon permits.
2018: Black snow controversy
In January 2018, black snow fell in the city of Temirtau, Kazakhstan where an ArcelorMittal plant is located. Local citizens complained that the pollution was caused by an ArcelorMittal plant. A spokesperson for ArcelorMittal explained that the discoloration of the snow was caused by a lack of wind which would otherwise blow the pollution away.
2019: Notice to terminate to Ilva
On 4 November 2019, Arcelor Mittal (Am Investco Italy) sent to Ilva's Commissioners a notice to terminate the Ilva lease agreement, citing as reasons that the Italian Parliament had removed the legal protection necessary for the company to implement its environmental plan without the risk of criminal liability and that a recent decision by the criminal court of Taranto would effectively force Mittal to close blast furnace #2 by 13 December 2019. A legal and media battle with the Italian state started immediately, as Ilva is not only the single primary steel mill Mittal operates in Italy but also the largest employer in Taranto.
2020: Sale of U.S. Operations to Cleveland-Cliffs
On September 28, 2020, the company sold its US-Business to Cleveland-Cliffs for approximately $1.4 billion.
Company structure
Lakshmi Mittal (owner of Mittal Steel) is the executive chairman. His family owns 40% of the shares and voting shares in the company. After a $3 billion rights issue earlier in April 2016, the company by 21 April 2016 had a share value of 16,616 million euros, distributed in 3,065,710,869 shares.
Predecessor companies
Acquired by Mittal Steel Company:
International Steel Group (acquired 2004)
Bethlehem Steel - United States (acquired 2003)
ISG Weirton Steel - United States (acquired 2002)
LTV-Steel Cleveland, OH - United States (acquired 2002)Republic Steel - United States (acquired 1984)
Jones and Laughlin Steel - United States (acquired 1984)
Acme Steel - Chicago, US (acquired 2002)
Ispat International (acquired 2004)
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih - Ukraine (acquired 2005)Acquired by Arcelor:
Aceralia - Spain (merger 2001)
Usinor - France (merger 2001)
Acesita - Brazil (acquired 1998)
ARBED - Luxembourg (merger 2001)
Acindar - Argentina (acquired 2006)
Dofasco - Canada (acquired 2006)
Board of directors
Comprised as follows by nine people as of June 2017:
Aditya Mittal, CEO and Founder of ArcelorMittal (Chairman of the Board)
Bruno Lafont, Co-chairman and former CEO of LafargeHolcim
Tye Burt, former CEO and President of Kinross Gold
Jeannot Krecké, Member of Parliament for Luxembourg and former Minister for the Economy and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg
Suzanne Nimocks, former Director for Energy at McKinsey & Company
Karel De Gucht, former European Commissioner for Trade and Belgian Foreign Minister
Michel Wurth, former CFO of ARBED
Karyn Ovelmen, CFO of Flowserve
Employees
As of 2012, the company had thousands of workers at 12 major facilities in the United States, in states such as Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. All non-salary employees in North America, with the exception of the Dofasco facility in Hamilton, Ontario, are represented by the United Steelworkers union, the largest industrial union in North America. Also, at the time around 100,000 of the company's 260,000 employees were in Europe. As of 31 December 2013, the company employed over 232,000 people, of which 37% were in the EU, with a further 16% in non-EU European countries, 17% in Asia, 16% in North America, the remainder split between South America and the Middle East and Africa. ArcelorMittal is also Luxembourg's largest private employer. At the beginning of 2014, it employed 4,600 employees in the Grand Duchy. By 2020 the company had over 18,000 employees in North and South America.
Facilities
Headquarters and offices
The head office of ArcelorMittal is in Luxembourg City. The building was the head office of Arbed before that company merged with Aceralia and Usinor.
Major plant locations
Operated by ArcelorMittal:
ArcelorMittal Timóteo - Minas Gerais, Brazil (through Aperam South America)
ArcelorMittal Ghent - Zelzate, plants in Geel, Genk and Liège, Belgium
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine
Plants in Aktau, Temirtau, Kazakhstan
Plants in Ostrava, Czech Republic
Plant in Dunkerque, Desvres, Fos-sur-Mer, Mardyck, Montataire, Basse-Indre, Florange, Mouzon, Saint-Chély-d'Apcher, France
Plants in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Duisburg Germany
ArcelorMittal Mexico - Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico
ArcelorMittal Poland - Dąbrowa Górnicza, Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks in Kraków, Sosnowiec, Swietochlowice, Chorzów, Zdzieszowice, Poland
Hunedoara steel works - Hunedoara, Galați steel works - Galaţi, (operated by Liberty Galati).,
ArcelorMittal Spain, plants in Avilés and Gijón, Etxebarri, Lesaka and Legasa, Sagunto and Sestao (part of Greater Bilbao), Bergara, Olaberria
Plant in Belval, Esch-sur-Alzette, Differdange and Rodange, Luxemburg
ArcelorMittal Annaba - El Hadjar, Algeria
ArcelorMittal Dofasco - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Acindar - Villa Constitución, Argentina
Ilva - Taranto, Italy
Hibbing Taconite - Hibbing, United States
Vanderbijlpark, South AfricaJoint ventures:
AM/NS India - Hazira (joint venture with Nippon Steel)
Annaba steel complex - Anaba, Algeria (joint venture with Sidar)
Ouenza and Boukhadra mines - Algeria (joint venture with Sidar)
I/N Kote - New Carlisle, United States (built 1991, joint venture with Nippon Steel)
AM/NS Calvert - Calvert, United States (50/50 joint partnership with Nippon Steel)
ArcelorMittal Aços Longos - Brazil (also owned by Belgo-Mineira)
Carbon footprint
ArcelorMittal reported Total CO2e emissions (direct + indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 150.8 Tg (teragram) (-31,100 /-17.1% y-o-y). The decline accelerated compared to the CAGR of -7.2% since 4Q'18.
Products and activities
The company is involved in research and development, mining, and steel. ArcelorMittal in 2016 produced around 90 million tons of steel. As of May 2017, the company made 200 unique steel grades for automotive purposes, half of which were introduced since 2007. Among the steel varieties are Usibor 2000, which the company announced in June 2016 and released later that year. Upon release, the high-strength automotive steel was said to be about one-third stronger than other steels then available for carmaking.
See also
List of steel producers
Steel industry in Luxembourg
ArcelorMittal Orbit (building sponsored by chairman)
Economy of Belo Horizonte
Kostenko mine disaster
References
External links
Business data for ArcelorMittal:
Official website |
union pacific corporation | Union Pacific Corporation is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It was incorporated in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent company of the current, Delaware-registered, form of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the company, along with Berkshire Hathaway-owned rival BNSF, has a near-duopoly on freight railroad transportation west of the Mississippi River.Union Pacific was located in New York City from the company's re-founding in 1969 until Drew Lewis became CEO in the mid-1980s. He relocated the corporate headquarters to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Later the headquarters was shifted to Dallas, Texas, before relocating the corporate headquarters to Omaha to join the Union Pacific Railroad headquarters.The Union Pacific Corporation has a portfolio of acquiring the Missouri Pacific Railroad which included the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, the Western Pacific Railroad, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, the SPCSL Corporation, and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. All railroads not including the Southern Pacific Transportation Company were merged into the previous form of the Union Pacific Railroad. As part of the UP-SP merger which included the merging of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation into the previous form of the Union Pacific Railroad, the Union Pacific Corporation merged the previous form of the Union Pacific Railroad into the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to the current form of the Union Pacific Railroad.
History
Origins
The first Union Pacific Railroad was incorporated on July 1, 1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union. It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, which was constructed eastward from San Francisco Bay. The combined Union Pacific-Central Pacific line became known as the First transcontinental railroad and Overland Route. The original UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872. Later, the original UP was in financial troubles because of the financial crisis of 1873 but did not go into bankruptcy.
The original company was taken over by the new Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880 and the original company was merged into the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific Railway declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893.
In 1897 a new "Union Pacific Railroad" was formed and the Union Pacific Railway was merged into the new Union Pacific Railroad. This Union Pacific Railroad is the third incarnation, and the third incarnation makes up the bulk of the Union Pacific history. The third Union Pacific Railroad lasted until 1998 when it was replaced by the fourth incarnation, formerly the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, the last incarnation of the Southern Pacific railroad. The Union Pacific Corporation was established during the tenure of the third Union Pacific Railroad.
Establishment and current ownership of the current Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Corporation was established in 1969 with its incorporation in Utah and it was established to take control of the then third incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad later referred to as Mark I and its non-railroad subsidiaries.
The Union Pacific Corporation was established the same year the current Union Pacific railroad began. The current Union Pacific Railroad is the fourth incarnation and it is referred to as Mark II; the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad is formerly known as the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, the last incarnation of the Southern Pacific railroad. The Union Pacific Corporation merged the third Union Pacific Railroad into the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and then renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to the current Union Pacific Railroad.
Subsidiary history
The Union Pacific Corporation is the parent company of all UP subsidiaries and operating companies besides the current Union Pacific Railroad (the largest operating company). The Union Pacific Corporation, under the current Union Pacific Railroad, owns the Alton and Southern Railway, a switching railroad.
The Union Pacific Corporation operated the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (formerly the second Rio Grande Industries and former parent company for the current Union Pacific railroad) until 2015 when it was merged into the current primary railroad subsidiary.Union Pacific Corporation used to have short lived subsidiaries:
UP Leasing Corporation
UP Rail (or UP Rail, Inc.)
UP Holdings (or UP Holdings, Inc.), originally known as Union Pacific Holdings (or Union Pacific Holdings, Inc.)
UP Holding Company (or UP Holding Company, Inc. and UP Holding)
Union Pacific Merger Company (Union Pacific Merger Co., or UP Merger and UP Mergerco)
UP Acquisition Corporation (or UP Acquisition)
Union Pacific Resources Group (Union Pacific Resources Group, Inc. or simply Resources and Union Pacific Resources)
Overnite Transportation Company (or "Overnite Transportation"), includes Overnite subsidiary Motor Cargo.The Union Pacific Corporation operated the Overnite Transportation Company, a trucking company, until it was sold to United Parcel Service (UPS) and renamed UPS Freight.
Union Pacific spun off Union Pacific Resources in 1996. Anadarko Petroleum acquired Union Pacific Resources in 2000.
Merger history and subsidiary involvement during the merger history
The Union Pacific merger history began with the Union Pacific Corporation acquiring the Missouri Pacific Railroad (which included the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, and the Western Pacific Railroad. The Union Pacific Corporation merged the Western Pacific Railroad into the third Union Pacific Railroad and then merged the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad into the Missouri Pacific Railroad and transferred direct ownership of the Missouri Pacific Railroad to the third Union Pacific Railroad. The Missouri Pacific Railroad continued operations until January 1, 1997 when it was merged into the third Union Pacific Railroad by the Union Pacific Corporation.The subsidiaries UP Leasing Corporation, UP Rail and UP Holdings were part of the Union Pacific take over of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company which was renamed to its original name Chicago and North Western Railway, and its holding company, the Chicago and North Western Holdings Corporation which was renamed to the second Chicago and North Western Transportation Company.In April 1995, the former Chicago and North Western Holdings Corporation (the second Chicago and North Western Transportation Company), along with the Chicago and North Western Railway (formerly the first Chicago and North Western Transportation Company), was acquired by the Union Pacific Corporation.UP Holdings was merged into UP Rail. The Union Pacific Corporation merged UP Rail into the third Union Pacific Railroad. Finally, the Union Pacific Corporation merged the second Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (formerly Chicago and North Western Holdings Corporation) and the Chicago and North Western Railway (formerly the first Chicago and North Western Transportation Company) into the third Union Pacific Railroad, the Chicago and North Western system is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad system. A joint UP-CNW subsidiary, Western Railroad Properties (or "Western Railroad Properties, Inc."), was also merged into the Union Pacific system.
The subsidiaries UP Holding Company, Union Pacific Merger Company and UP Acquisition Corporation were part of the Union Pacific take over of the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (formerly the second Rio Grande Industries) and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, the current Union Pacific Railroad. Southern Pacific had financial problems and its mileage was dropped to 13,715 miles (22,072 km) by 1996.
The Union Pacific Corporation purchased the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation which included the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation. The Union Pacific Corporation originally purchased a portion of the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation under the UP Acquisition Corporation subsidiary; the UP Acquisition Corporation subsidiary originally acquired 25 percent of SP's outstanding common shares for $25 per share cash. In June 1996, the UP Acquisition Corporation was merged into the Union Pacific Corporation, the 25 percent of SP's outstanding common shares is now controlled by the Union Pacific Corporation, leaving only 75 percent of SP common shares not owned by the Union Pacific Corporation that was originally going to the UP Acquisition Corporation subsidiary. In September 1996, the Union Pacific Corporation acquired the remaining 75 percent of SP common shares not previously owned by the Union Pacific Corporation. On September 10, 1996, the Union Pacific Merger Company was merged into the Union Pacific Corporation.The Union Pacific Corporation merged the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the SPCSL Corporation into the third Union Pacific Railroad.
The Union Pacific Corporation merged the third Union Pacific Railroad into the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1998; the Southern Pacific Transportation Company becomes the surviving railroad and at the same time the Union Pacific Corporation renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to fourth incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad. The former Southern Pacific Transportation Company is now operating as the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific Rail Corporation remained a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation until 2015 when it was merged into the former Southern Pacific Transportation Company, the current Union Pacific Railroad.
According to the Utah corporation database, it has been suggested that the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation was merged into UP Holding Company and UP Holding Company was renamed Southern Pacific Rail Corporation, becoming a second incarnation of the Southern Pacific Rail Corporation. It has also been suggested that UP Holding Company was originally known as "CNW Holdings" (or "CNW Holdings, Inc."). CNW Holdings could be mistaken for the Chicago and North Western Holdings Corporation, the former parent company of the Chicago and North Western.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2017, Union Pacific reported earnings of US$3.388 billion, with an annual revenue of US$24.46 billion, an increase of 6.5% over the previous fiscal cycle. Union Pacific's shares traded at over $31 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$105.2 billion in October 2018.
Carbon footprint
Union Pacific Corporation reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 9,157 Kt (-1,258 /-12.1% y-o-y) and aims to achieve net zero by 2050.
See also
Union Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Rio Grande Industries
Economy of Omaha, Nebraska
References
External links
Official Union Pacific company website
Business data for Union Pacific:
System map
Photographs of the Construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1868–69 at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University |
freeport-mcmoran | Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, is a major copper producer and operates the world's largest gold mine, the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia.
History
The current company was created in 1981 through the merger of Freeport Minerals, formerly Texas Freeport Sulphur Company and McMoRan Oil & Gas Company, becoming Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
Early history
Freeport Sulphur Company was founded July 12, 1912, by the eldest son of Svante Magnus "E.M." Swenson, banker Eric Pierson Swenson, with a group of investors, to develop sulfur mining at Bryan Mound salt dome, along the US Gulf Coast. Freeport, Texas was also established in Nov. 1912 to house workers, and serve as a port for Houston, rivaling Galveston and Corpus Christi.Freeport mined sulfur along the Gulf Coast using the Frasch Process, the patents for which had expired in 1912. Previously, Union Sulphur Company founder and patent-holder Herman Frasch had enjoyed a monopoly on the process. The company became known as Freeport Sulphur, later changing its corporate name to Freeport Minerals.
In 1922, Freeport started producing sulfur from Hoskins Mound in Brazoria County, Texas.: 111–117
Freeport Texas Company
Enterprise to support Freeport Sulphur's business and the new town's infrastructure led to the incorporation of a holding company on September 30, 1913, to join the newer assets with Freeport Sulphur. Officers of the new holding company, Freeport Texas Company, were:
Eric. P. Swenson, President and Director (Freeport Sulphur founder, son of Swante M. Swenson)
Edward E. Dickinson, Vice-President and Director
F.M. Altz, Secretary
Swante M. Swenson, Treasurer (son of Eric P. Swenson)
Charles H. Findlay, Auditor (son of Hugh Findlay and his third wife, Mary Ellen Smith)
Richard H. Williams, Director (son of Richard H. Williams)
Harry K. Knapp, Director
Samuel McRoberts, Director
Charles P. Northrop, Director
Charles A. Stone, Director
Frank A. Vanderlip, Director
Sidell Tilghman, Director (son of General Lloyd Tilghman)
Eppa Hunton Jr., Director (son of late Virginia Senator, Brig. Gen. Eppa Hunton)
Charles E. Herrmann, Director.The new corporation's principal assets were listed as:
Freeport Sulphur
Freeport Gas Co.
Freeport Sulphur Transportation Company
Freeport Town Site Co.
Freeport Terminal Co.
Freeport Light, Water & Ice Co.
South Texas Stevedore Co.
La Espuela Oil Co.
Société pour l'Importation et la Vente des Soufres
Houston & Brazoz Valley RyIn 1919, minority stockholders John R. Williams & Sons, First National Bank of Richmond, Virginia vice-president, W. M. Addison, Benjamin P Alsopp, E. L. Norton, and Samuel W. Travers solicited proxies to use at the April 5th annual stockholders' meeting, claiming, according to reports, that "management has refused them adequate information regarding the property. President E.P. Swenson denies that information has been thus withheld and states that the board, which represents the dominant interests, has no vacancies at the present time."
1928–1931 shareholder proxy fight
In 1928, shareholder and scion of one of the founding investment firms, John Langbourne Williams & Sons, Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr. launched a proxy fight for control of the company. In 1929, he then sought help from his former supervisor at Lee, Higginson & Co., J.T. Claiborne, who then enlisted clerk John Hay Whitney – who had become one of the wealthiest men in America following the 1927 death of his father, Payne Whitney. Williams eventually gained control of the company from founder Swenson, becoming its president in 1931, with Claiborne as a Vice-President, and Whitney as Chairman. Williams also served as Chairman during 1958–1967.Williams led the company's diversification, beginning with the purchase of manganese deposits in Oriente Province, Cuba.
1930s
In 1932, Freeport Sulphur Company acquired the sulfur rights for Lake Grande Ecaille and vicinity in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and escalated the development of sulfur deposits in the Grand Ecaille dome in 1933, still using the Frasch Process developed by Dr. Herman Frasch, who had, in 1895, enjoined the American Sulphur Company into a partnership, forming the Union Sulphur Company, to initiate the first successful sulfur mining at Grand Ecaille, with which Freeport, like other competitors, would compete upon expiry of the Frasch patents in 1908. From its earliest inception, sulfur mining was the catalyst that developed Port Sulphur, Louisiana.
1950s
The company produced nickel during World War II and potash in the 1950s. In 1955, Freeport Nickel invested $119 million, of which $100 million came from the U.S. government, into construction of a nickel-cobalt mine at Moa Bay, Cuba, and a refinery at Port Nickel, Louisiana. On March 11, 1957, the U.S. government announced a contract to buy nickel and cobalt from the company.In 1956, the company formed the Freeport Oil Company. In 1958, the company sold an oil discovery near Lake Washington in Louisiana for approximately $100 million to Magnolia Petroleum Company.In 1959, Freeport geologists confirmed the 1936 Dutch discovery of the rich Ertsberg copper and gold deposits, now known as the Grasberg mine, in extremely rugged, remote country in the Jayawijaya Mountains in what was then called the Netherlands New Guinea.
1960s
In 1960, Fidel Castro implemented a 25% ore tax, effectively nationalizing and seizing Freeport's nickel-mining operations in Cuba.
In 1961, the company entered the kaolin business after purchasing the assets of Southern Clays Inc. In 1964, the company formed Freeport of Australia to pursue mining opportunities there and in the surrounding Pacific Ocean region.
Development of the Ertsberg deposit
In 1967, the company negotiated a contract with the Indonesian government to develop the Ertsberg deposit. In their feasibility study, Freeport geologists estimated that the orebody totaled 33 million tons averaging 2.5% copper, making it the largest above-ground copper deposit ever discovered. Construction of an open pit mine began in May 1970 and in mid-1973 the mine was declared fully operational. Officials at Bechtel, the primary project contractor, called mine development at Ertsberg "the most difficult engineering project they had ever undertaken." The challenges included building a 101-kilometre (63 mi) long access road (a project that required boring kilometer long tunnels through two mountains) and constructing the world's longest single span aerial tramway. The tramways were needed to move people, supplies and ore because a 2,000-foot (610 m) cliff separates the Ertsberg mine (at 12,000 feet (3,700 m) elevation) from the mill (at 10,000 feet). Moving copper concentrate from that mill to the shipping port required installation of a 109-kilometre (68 mi) slurry pipeline – then the world's longest. Mine construction and startup cost about US$200 million. The Ertsberg project was an engineering marvel, but the mine's early financial performance was disappointing. Depressed copper prices and high operating costs kept profits marginal during the 1970s.In 1969, McMoRan Exploration Company was founded, which, in 1981, would merge with Freeport Minerals, formerly Freeport Sulphur, to form Freeport-McMoRan.
1970s
In 1971, the company changed its name to Freeport Minerals Company, (not to be confused with Freeport Minerals Corporation, founded in 1834).
1980s
In 1981, Freeport Minerals Company merged with the McMoRan Oil and Gas Company. The McMoRan Oil and Gas Company was founded in 1967 by three partners, William Kennon McWilliams Jr. ("Mc"), James Robert (Jim Bob) Moffett ("Mo"), who were both petroleum geologists, and Mack Rankin ("Ran"), "a specialist in land-leasing and sales operations."In 1981, the company formed a 70/30 joint venture with an affiliate of FMC Corporation to operate the Jerritt Canyon gold mine near Elko, Nevada. In 1985, the company headquarters moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. The company also sold a 25% interest in oil and gas assets primarily in the western United States to Britoil for $73.5 million.In 1989, the company sold about $1.5 billion in assets to finance development of the Grasberg mine and the Main Pass offshore sulfur-oil-gas deposit off Louisiana.
1990s
In 1994, the company completed the corporate spin-off of its entire interest in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which owned the Grasberg mine.
In 1995, RTZ, a predecessor of Rio Tinto Group, made a $450 million investment in the company.In 1997, IMC Global, a large fertilizer producer, acquired Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the former parent company that now owned the sulfur and fertilizer businesses, in a $750 million transaction. Shareholders of Freeport-McMoRan received shares of IMC Global.The Indonesian government asked Freeport to substantiate Bre-X's claims of having found the largest gold mine ever discovered. In 1997, the company announced that its prospective partner Bre-X did not have gold reserves at its Indonesian mine, as it had reported. Bre-X subsequently was exposed as a fraud and went bankrupt.In 1998, low commodity prices forced the company to suspend its dividend.
2000s
In 2003, the company was subpoenaed as part of an investigation by anti-trust authorities in the United States, Canada, and Europe into price fixing in the copper industry.On March 19, 2007, the company acquired Phelps Dodge (for $25.9 Billion) and became the largest copper producer of any public company in the world. The corporate headquarters was moved from New Orleans, Louisiana to Phoenix, Arizona.
2010s
In 2012, the company announced agreements to acquire affiliated companies McMoRan Exploration Company and Plains Exploration & Production Company for a total enterprise value of over $20 billion. The transaction added significantly to the company's petroleum assets. The transaction was criticized as a conflict of interest due to the common ownership of the companies. In 2015, the company paid a $137.5 million settlement to resolve claims that executives and directors had conflicts of interest that resulted in the company overpaying in that transaction.In 2014, the company sold its assets in the Eagle Ford shale to Encana for $3.1 billion. In 2015, the company announced job cuts at its Sierrita Mine in Arizona due to low copper and molybdenum prices.On December 28, 2015, the company announced that James R. Moffett would resign as chairman of the company and be replaced by Gerald J. Ford. Moffett received $16.1 million in severance pay and cash retirement plans totaling more than $63 million. Moffett continued to consult for the company for annual fees of $1.5 million.In May 2016, the company sold a 13% interest in its Morenci Mine to Sumitomo Group for $1 billion in cash.In 2016, Freeport sold its deepwater assets, including the Marlin TLP, and the Holstein and Horn Mountain spars, to Anadarko Petroleum.
In August 2017, the company agreed to give a 51% interest in the Grasberg mine to the Government of Indonesia and build a smelter in exchange for a special permit to operate the mine until 2041.In 2018, the company ranked at number 176 on the Fortune 500 list. During this year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also planned to take control of 51% of Freeport Indonesia's equity, effectively handing over control of Freeport Control to Indonesian government. The Indonesian government will need to settle payments of $3.85 billion during the takeover process. The Indonesian government finalized the process on December 21, 2018.
Current operations
Freeport is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, and one of the largest producers of copper. In 2019, 79% of its revenues were from the sale of copper, 11% were from the sale of gold, and 8% were from the sale of molybdenum. In 2019, sales to the company's copper refining joint venture in Gresik Regency accounted for 13% of the total revenues of the company.Some of the company's mining operations are as follows:
Africa
Freeport Cobalt held a 100% interest in Kisanfu, a copper and cobalt exploration project located near Tenke, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This subsidiary also owns a large cobalt refinery in Kokkola, Finland, along with a related sales and marketing business. FCX has an effective 56% of that enterprise. Negotiations in 2016 to include these cobalt projects in a sale to China Molybdenum of Tenke Fungurume Mine, a cobalt/copper mine in DRC Congo, were not successful. Instead, the Kisanfu mine was sold to China Molybdenum in a separate transaction in 2020.
Europe
In December 2019, Freeport Cobalt (a joint venture between Freeport-McMoRan and Lundin Mining) sold its cobalt refinery in Kokkola, Finland to Umicore. FCX held an effective 56% interest in that enterprise.
North America
Morenci, Arizona – 72% owned (copper)
Bagdad, Arizona – 100% owned (copper, molybdenum)
Sierrita mine, Arizona (includes Twin Buttes & Esperanza) – 100% owned (copper, molybdenum)
Miami, Arizona – 100% owned (copper)
Safford mine, Safford, Arizona – 100% owned (copper)
Chino mine, Santa Rita, New Mexico – 100% owned (copper, molybdenum)
Tyrone, New Mexico – 100% owned (copper)
Henderson molybdenum mine, Empire, Colorado – 100% owned (molybdenum)
Climax mine, Leadville, Colorado – 100% owned (molybdenum)
South America
El Abra, Chile – 51% owned (copper)
Cerro Verde, Peru – 54% owned (copper, molybdenum)
Europe
Atlantic Copper, Huelva, Spain – 100% owned copper refinery
Indonesia
Grasberg, Central Papua, Indonesia – 49% owned (copper, gold, silver)
Past holdings
Jerritt Canyon mine, near Elko, Nevada has produced over 8 million ounces of gold since 1981. Originally a joint venture of Freeport McMoRan (FCX) with FMC Corporation, then FMC Gold then Meridian Gold, Freeport's share of Jerritt Canyon was then sold to Independence Mining Co., a subsidiary of Minorco (an Anglo American Corporation subsidiary). Minorco later divested all its gold mining assets to AngloGold. AngloGold and Meridian Gold sold the mine to Queenstake Resources in 2003. In 2007 Queenstake and Yukon Gold Corp merged to become Yukon-Nevada Gold, which in 2012 became Veris Gold. Veris Gold operated under U.S. Bankruptcy Code and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act bankruptcy protections of Canada from June 9, 2014. Sprott Mining bought the concern after the Canadian bankruptcy court ordered Veris to sell its assets.
In May 2016 Freeport announced an agreement to sell its interests in TF Holdings to China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. (CMOC) for $2.65 billion in cash and possibly more if the average copper price rose enough to trigger the increase in the following 24 months. TF Holdings was a Bermuda holding company with indirect ownership of 80% of Tenke Fungurume Mine. Since FCX had owned 70% ownership of TF Holdings, the sale gave China Molybdenum a 56% interest in Tenke Fungurume Mine. The parties discussed including Kokkola refinery and Kisanfu Exploration in the sale, but did not agree on the terms to do so.
In December 2020, Freeport completed the sale of its interests in the Kisanfu undeveloped project in Democratic Republic of Congo to a wholly owned subsidiary of China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. for US$550 million.
Past board members
Past board members include Henry Kissinger, John Hay Whitney, Robert A. Lovett, Benno C. Schmidt Sr., Gus Long, Arleigh Burke, J. Stapleton Roy, Godfrey Rockefeller and his cousin-in-law, Jean Mauzé.
Controversies
Safety record
In 2011, Freeport was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration over the death of a miner. The 67-year-old man had fallen into a hole created by the removal of two steel gratings. It was concluded that Freeport had not done enough to indicate that the hole was there.
Grasberg Mine
The company operates the world's largest and most profitable gold mine, the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia.
In 2003, a landslide killed eight workers. A government study concluded that the incident was the result of negligence. Important warning signs had been detected two days prior. In response to this, management moved some equipment, but did not keep workers out of the area. A month later two workers died from being exposed to sulfur fumes. The government ultimately overturned its conclusion and attributed the incident to natural causes.
In 2005, The New York Times reported that the company paid local military and police generals, colonels, majors and captains, and military units, a total of nearly US$20 million between 1998 and 2004. One individual received up to US$150,000. The payments were meant to secure the reserve. The company responded that the payments did not go to individuals, but went into infrastructure, food, housing, fuel, travel, vehicle repairs, and allowances to cover incidental and administrative costs. According to the report, anonymous sources within the company claimed that company chairman James R. Moffet courted Indonesia's dictator Suharto and "his cronies", cutting them in on deals. Another employee is said to have worked on a program to monitor environmentalists' telephone and email conversations, in collaboration with Indonesian military intelligence officers.The Grasberg mine's tailings "severely impacted" more than 11 square miles (28 km2) of rainforest, according to a 1996 Dames & Moore environmental audit. The report, endorsed by Freeport, also estimated that during the life of the mine 3.2 billion tons of waste rock – large components of which generate acid – would be dumped into the local river system. Overburden (waste rock) from the mine had already polluted a nearby lake due to acid mine drainage.Citing extensive, long-term and irreversible environmental damage in New Guinea, The Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded Freeport-McMoRan from its investment portfolio, following a recommendation from the fund's ethical council.In 2013, a tunnel collapse killed twenty eight workers. The Freeport geological team claimed that the collapse at the Big Gossan tunnel was caused by erosion of the ceiling, brought about by the continuous infiltration of the limestone wallrocks by corrosive acidic groundwater. Freeport was accused of negligence by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission.
Human rights record in Indonesia
The company is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. However, the company has been accused of funding the Indonesian government to secure its reserve through militaristic oppression of the native West Papuan people. Freeport has had a troubled relationship with the Amungme and Kamoro peoples since it arrived in Indonesia in 1967. Freeport allegedly damaged 30.000 hectares of the rainforest and two major rivers, on which they depend for their food, water, livelihoods, and traditions. Pressured by cultural and economic deterioration, there were numerous quarrels, between the tribes, Freeport, and the Indonesian military. Some unarmed natives were killed or tortured by the military, or became part of the Free Papua Movement insurgence.
Environmental record
Based on 2014 data, the Political Economy Research Institute ranked Freeport-McMoRan 13th among corporations emitting airborne pollutants in the U.S. The ranking is based on emission quantities and toxicity.On October 15, 2009 the City of Blackwell filed suit against Freeport-McMoRan over the contamination caused by its Blackwell Zinc Smelter. The city considered the contamination a nuisance, and alleged that 58 million pounds of toxic waste remained in the city, causing illness within its 7,200 residents. The City of Blackwell and Freeport settled for $54M in February 2010. In 2012, Freeport agreed to a $119M settlement with the residents.On April 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Freeport McMoran would pay $6.8M to settle federal and state charges pertaining to the toxic outflow from its Morenci mine in Arizona. According to the complaint waters, soils, habitats, and birds were either injured or lost as a result of the dangerous substances.
Carbon footprint
Freeport-McMoRan Inc reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 7,116 Kt (-653 /-8.4% y-o-y). Emissions have been on a declining trend since 2015.
References
External links
Official websiteBusiness data for Freeport-McMoRan Inc.:
Earth Observatory Satellite Picture of Grasberg Mine" |
southern company | Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is the second largest utility company in the U.S. in terms of customer base, as of 2021. Through its subsidiaries it serves 9 million gas and electric utility customers in 6 states. Southern Company's regulated regional electric utilities serve a 120,000-square-mile (310,000 km2) territory with 27,000 miles (43,000 km) of distribution lines.
Overview
Southern Company is one of the largest energy providers in the United States and is ranked 126th on the Fortune 500 listing of the largest U.S. corporations. The company has approximately 31,300 employees. It has more than 500,000 shareholders (NYSE: SO) and has been traded since September 30, 1949.
Southern Company subsidiaries are operating or developing renewable: solar, wind, and biomass facilities across the U.S., as well as the first new nuclear units in the U.S. in 30 years at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia.
Southern Company's three retail operating companies—Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power—serve 120,000 square miles (310,000 km2) in three states. Southern Power serves wholesale electricity customers across the U.S. Southern Company Gas serves utility customers in seven states.
Southern Company owns the following companies:
Alabama Power - operating company, based in Birmingham, Alabama. Serves the southern two-thirds of Alabama.
Georgia Power - operating company, based in Atlanta. Serves all of Georgia, except for mostly rural counties.
Mississippi Power - operating company, based in Gulfport, Mississippi. Serves the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Southern Company Services (originally named Southern Services, Inc.) - Birmingham, Alabama - Common Services
Southern Linc - cellular telephone provider - Atlanta, Georgia
Southern Nuclear - engineering and operations for nuclear power plants - Birmingham, Alabama. (Southern Company is the majority owner and operator of the Farley, Hatch, and Vogtle nuclear power plants.)
Southern Company Generation - fossil fuels and hydro operations - Birmingham, Alabama.
Southern Power - wholesale power generation - Birmingham, Alabama.
Southern Telecom - wholesale fiber optic communications and data services - Atlanta, Georgia.
Southern Company Gas - serves gas utility customers and operates natural gas pipelines - Atlanta, Georgia.
PowerSecure - distributed infrastructure technologies - Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Atlanta Gas Light - provides natural gas delivery service to more than 1.6 million customers in Georgia.
Chattanooga Gas - provides retail natural gas sales and transportation services to approximately 66,000 customers in Hamilton and Bradley counties in southeast Tennessee.
Nicor Gas - Provider of natural gas throughout northern Illinois.
Virginia Natural Gas - Provider of Natural Gas in southeastern Virginia.
Sequent Energy Management - optimizes natural gas assets and effectively utilize transportation and storage services.
Southern Wholesale Energy - markets the retail operating companies' surplus generating capacity to the wholesale market.
Southern Company Transmission - conducts transmission business in accordance with the Southern Companies Open Access Transmission Tariff approved by FERC.Prior to 2019, Southern Company also owned Gulf Power, an electric utility based in Pensacola, Florida that serves most of the Florida Panhandle. An agreement was reached in May 2018 to sell Gulf Power to rival utility company NextEra Energy. The sale was completed on January 1, 2019. Gulf Power would become the Northwest Florida division of Florida Power & Light (FPL) in 2021, with the Gulf Power name retired in favor of FPL in 2022.
History
Southern Company can be traced back to 1924, when Southeastern Power & Light was formed as a holding company for Alabama Traction, Light and Power (formed 1906), the immediate forerunner of Alabama Power. Later that year, it formed Mississippi Power as a subsidiary, with Gulf Power following in 1925. In 1926, it merged with Georgia Power (formed 1902). In 1930, Southeastern Power & Light merged into the Commonwealth & Southern Corporation. The new system included five Northern companies and six Southern companies. However, in the late 1940s Commonwealth & Southern was dissolved to meet the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Four of Commonwealth & Southern's Deep South operating companies—Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, and Mississippi Power—were deemed to be an integrated system and thus were allowed to remain under common ownership. A new holding company, Southern Company, was incorporated in Delaware on November 9, 1945. It commenced operation in 1949, and moved to Georgia in 1950. In 1954–55, the company was involved in the Dixon-Yates contract with the Atomic Energy Commission, and the associated political controversy.In 1981, Southern Company became the first electric utility holding company in 46 years to diversify its operations by forming an unregulated subsidiary. In January 1982, Southern Energy, Inc., began official operations as a global energy company, growing to serve 10 countries on four continents. On April 2, 2001, Southern Company completed the spinoff of Southern Energy as Mirant Corporation.
Another Southern Company subsidiary—Southern Nuclear—began providing services in 1991 to the system's nuclear power plants.
In 1996, Southern Communications Services began providing digital wireless communications services to Southern Company's subsidiaries and also began marketing these services to the public within the Southeast as Southern Linc. Southern Telecom, a telecommunications subsidiary of Southern Company, was founded in 1997. Southern Telecom provides colocation and dark fiber optic lines to network businesses.On January 9, 2001, Southern Company received final approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to form Southern Power, a subsidiary to own, manage and finance wholesale generating assets in the Southeast. The new subsidiary targets wholesale customers.
On July 19, 2002, Southern Company Gas received certification from the Georgia Public Service Commission to enter the retail gas market. After nearly four years of operations, the company was sold and customers transferred to Cobb EMC's newly formed affiliate, Gas South.
In 2011, Southern Company and Turner Renewable Energy purchased a 30 MW solar project from First Solar. Located in Cimarron, New Mexico, it began generating electricity in 2011.In June 2012, the Nacogdoches Generating Facility began its commercial operation. The facility is a 115 MW biomass-fueled electric generating plant, located near Sacul in Nacogdoches County, Texas.
In 2016, Southern Company acquired PowerSecure, a distributed energy infrastructure technologies company, and AGL Resources (which was renamed Southern Company Gas). As a result of the AGL Resources merger, Southern Company doubled its customer base, expanded its footprint and broadened the scope of its business by increasing its natural gas presence.In September 2023, it was announced Southern Company's subsidiary, Southern Power had acquired the 200MW Millers Branch Solar Facility in Haskell County, Texas from EDF Renewables North America, for an undisclosed amount.
Plant Vogtle
Southern Company subsidiaries operate hydroelectric, gas, coal, and nuclear generation sources to generate approximately 200 terawatt-hours of electricity. In 2009, coal represented 57 percent of the company's output, followed by nuclear (23%) and natural gas (16%). Renewable hydroelectric power represented 4 percent of Southern's generation. Coal-based generation dropped significantly in 2009 from an average of 70% between 2005 and 2008. As of 2017 Coal-based generation had dropped to 30%.In June 2010, the United States Department of Energy awarded an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to facilitate the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta, Georgia. A Southern Company subsidiary, Georgia Power, owns 45.7% of the current 2,430 MW facility, with co-owners Oglethorpe Power (30%) Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and the City of Dalton (1.6%). The plant is operated by Georgia Power. The $14 billion construction project is scheduled to be completed by 2022 and would double the plant's capacity.The construction of two 1,154 MW reactors has been hailed by Energy Secretary Steven Chu as "the first new nuclear power plant to break ground in decades". It is expected to create up to 3,500 jobs during the construction phase, and 800 once operational. However, in March 2017 Westinghouse Electric Company, who were building the plant, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of $9 billion of losses from its two U.S. nuclear construction projects. The U.S. government had given $8.3 billion of loan guarantees on the financing of the four nuclear reactors being built in the U.S., and it is expected a way forward to completing the plant can be agreed.
Plant Ratcliffe
In September 2013 the EPA introduced new provisions regarding output of carbon emissions in new power facilities. The proposed emission limit for new energy sources will be 1,100lbs of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity. Preemptively recognizing the need for these changes, Southern Company broke ground on its 21st-century clean coal facility in June 2010. Southern's subsidiary, Mississippi Power will operate the plant. The Kemper County Energy Facility, or Kemper Project, takes advantage of the abundant lignite, or poor quality coal, available in Mississippi. Additionally, it employs Transport Gasifier (TRIG) technology. TRIG technology is built on the idea of dry-feed, non-slag gasifiers, which operate at lower temperatures than other coal gasifiers. This dry-feed is crushed, heated, and circulated in the gasifier, producing a flammable synthetic gas, syngas. Syngas can generate electricity with fewer emissions. Of course, other byproducts are produced, like ammonia and sulphuric acid. These particular products are sold for commercial use.The EPA considers the Kemper Coal Project and other planned facilities like it, to be a lifeline for the coal industry in the wake of the new climate change plan. Between 2010 and 2014, approximately 150 coal plants were shut down.As of April 2014, the US Department of Energy had invested $270m in this project. Southern Company, and its subsidiary, Mississippi Power anticipate that the Kemper Coal Plant will generate enough energy to serve more than 187,000 customers. Upon opening, the Kemper Coal Project is expected to be capable of stripping out at least 65% of the carbon dioxide, significantly exceeding the EPA's proposed requirement of 40%.
Partnerships
Southern Company works with the US Department of Energy on a variety of projects including transmission and distribution of infrastructure and smart grid initiatives, environmental research programs, and nuclear generation. One of the more significant joint efforts, the DOE's National Carbon Capture Center, is managed by Southern Company and represents national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-based power generation. At this location, Southern Company has been working with scientists and technology developers from government, industry, and universities who are creating the next generation of carbon capture technologies.Along with the DOE, Southern Company has been working with KBR, another technology partner, to perfect its TRIG advanced coal gasification technology. This process of breaking down "dirty coal", or lignite, into its chemical components is not only cleaner, but it is also less expensive and more reliable. This technology is currently being implemented at Southern Company's Kemper County power plant, one of the few new coal facilities working to keep the US coal industry alive. This new facility will be built on a lignite seam, is expected to strip out two-thirds of carbon dioxide emissions, leaving emissions at about the same level as natural gas. The Kemper Coal Plant is expected to fall well under new regulations implemented by the EPA, which limits coal plants to 1,100lbs of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt hour of electricity.In an effort to make this technology more attainable, Southern Company has partnered with China's Shenhua Group to collaborate on further research, development, and deployment of clean coal technologies in the US, China, and around the world. This partnership with Shenhua, who is currently expected to add more than 400,000 megawatts of coal-fired capacity by 2035, could lead to wide deployment of TRIG-equipped power plants across Asia. TRIG technology has the potential to not only assist China with their growing carbon issue, but also enable the country to tap into their own low quality coal.In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy granted Southern Company a $165 million Smart Grid Investment Grant to implement a smart grid and to make the grid more reliable. Through matching funds and other investments, the company spent $363 million on the initiative, which it completed in 2014. The upgraded smart grid allows Southern Company the ability to monitor and control its electric infrastructure in real time and respond to problems.
Financial data
Carbon footprint
Southern Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 75,300 Kt (-13,100 /-14.8% y-o-y) and aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Political donations
In May 2018, it was reported that Southern Company had donated $1 million to America First Policies, a pro-Donald Trump advocacy group.
Controversies
Environmental impact
Southern Company is the third-largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, emitting 86,244,286 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019.In 2005, the company announced it would open a Mercury Research Center at Plant Crist Pensacola, Florida, hoping to find new ways to reduce mercury emissions.On April 25, 2006, Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, agreed to pay $200M to settle allegations that its coal-fired James H. Miller, Jr. Plant near West Jefferson, Alabama emitted harmful amounts of SO2 and NOx.In response to growing public and financial community interest, the company has enacted assorted environmental measures. Southern Company participates in Renew Our Rivers, a volunteer program to remove debris from rivers and other waterways throughout the Southeast, which claims over 11 million pounds of trash removed or recycled in Renew Our Rivers events. The company also manages and operates the National Carbon Capture Center, a focal point of the US Department of Energy's efforts to develop carbon capture and greenhouse gas reduction technologies, under which various projects to test geologic sequestration are in progress at Plant Gorgas in Alabama, Plant Daniel in Mississippi and other company sites. However, critics have argued that CCS seldom works and prolongs the life of fossil fuels.
Climate change denial
Southern Company has a long history of funding climate change denial and has been a "driving force behind climate disinformation," sponsoring campaigns in opposition to climate science, against limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and slowing the transition to renewable energy sources.Between 1993 and 2004 Southern Company paid over $62 million to organizations that spread disinformation about climate change. The utility paid for advertising claiming that climate change was not real and made payments to public relations companies, industry groups, law firms and thinktanks to dispute the scientific consensus for climate change and attack legislative solutions. The utility paid $20 million to the trade group Edison Electric Institute, which creates media campaigns to attack proponents of global warming. In the 1990s, Southern Company and the Center for Energy and Economic Development hosted energy workshops broadcast to schoolteachers through the company's satellite network to promote pro-coal messages about climate change and the environment.
Kemper Project controversies
In February 2015, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered Southern Company's subsidiary Mississippi Power to restore $377 million to South Mississippi ratepayers for rate increases related to the Kemper Project, a "clean" coal plant. These fees were derived from Mississippi's Baseload Act, allowing Mississippi Power to charge ratepayers for powerplants under construction.
In May 2016, Southern Company and its subsidiary Mississippi Power announced they were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to overruns at the Kemper Project. The project had been repeatedly delayed and costs increased from $2.88 billion to $6.58 billion. In recorded conversations, at least six engineers from the Kemper Project claimed that delays, cost overruns, safety violations, and shoddy work, were in part due to mismanagement or fraud.
In June 2016, Mississippi Power was sued by Treetop Midstream Services over the cancellation of a contract to receive carbon dioxide from the Kemper Project as part of the carbon capture and storage design. Treetop had contracted to buy carbon dioxide from the Kemper plant and had built a pipeline in preparation to receive the gas. Treetop alleged Mississippi Power had fraudulently and "intentionally misrepresenting and concealing the start date" for the Kemper Project, though Mississippi Power stated the suit was without merit.
The company was also found to have unlawfully fired a whistle-blower who had criticized alleged false statements by company management.
Vogtle nuclear power plant
In June 2021, Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, was scrutinized by the Georgia Public Service Commission over the lengthy delays and ballooning costs of its new Vogtle nuclear plant in Burke County, Georgia.
Willie Soon
In February 2015, it was revealed that climate change denier Willie Soon had been paid by Southern Company and several other fossil fuel interest groups. Over the course of 14 years, Soon received a total of $1.25m from Southern Company, Exxon Mobil, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and a foundation run by the Koch brothers, the documents obtained by Greenpeace show. At $410,000, Southern Company was the largest donor. The scientist described his studies to fossil fuel executives as "deliverables", and permitted anonymous pre-publication reviews. Soon advanced the widely discredited theory that changes in solar activity are to blame for climate change, and called into question the severity and extent of climate change in all his studies, never revealing his backers.
See also
Jacob Horton
List of United States electric companies
Electric utility
Notes
External links
Business data for Southern Company:
DOE guarantee press info
PR Newswire release
Southern Company Media Room
Official website
Forbes Global 2000 Biggest Companies Utility Industry |
yorkshire water | Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its origins in the Yorkshire Water Authority, one of ten regional water authorities created by the Water Act 1973, and privatised under the terms of the Water Act 1989, when Yorkshire Water plc, the parent company of the Yorkshire Water business, was floated on the London Stock Exchange. The parent company was Kelda Group in 1999.
In February 2008, Kelda Group was bought by a consortium of infrastructure funds.
It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.
Area
The company's area includes West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire. The area is adjoined on the north by that of Northumbrian Water, on the west by United Utilities, on the south west by Severn Trent Water and on the south by Anglian Water. It serves 5.5 million households and 140,000 business customers, and owns over 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres) of land.
Environmental record
Yorkshire Water has received fines for breaches of environmental law. For example:
Yorkshire Water was fined twice in April 2007. The first offence was for allowing polluting matter to enter Clifton beck in Brighouse, contrary to section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991. The final incident killed one third of the wildlife along over a mile of the stream. A further incident in the same beck led to a fine of £2,400 in 2004. Yorkshire Water argued that the blockage causing the offence was caused by a third party. Eleven days later, the company was in court again to admit to breaching its discharge consent at its Neiley sewage works, Honley. The discharge consent allowed for biological oxygen demand to exceed 21 mg/L more than three times a year. The Environment Agency demonstrated that the works had breached this limit five times in 2005, resulting in a fine of £16,000 plus £754 in costs.
Yorkshire Water was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £9,051 in costs for supplying "unfit water" in May 2006 in a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, under the Water Industry Act 1991. It pleaded guilty to three offences. Properties in Harlow Moor, Harrogate, had received discoloured water supplies in February 2004, which was caused by work on its supply mains stirring up sediment. About 1,200 properties were affected and 64 customers complained. The Drinking Water Inspectorate said to the ENDS Report that this was not the first time that the company had failed to check valves before working on its distribution mains. Before this incident, the DWI had prosecuted it four times.
Yorkshire Water's largest fine, of £119,000 (reduced to £80,000 on appeal), with costs of £125,598, was received in December 2000 after pleading guilty to seventeen charges of supplying water unfit for human consumption.
Yorkshire Water was investigated under caution in October 2008 by the Environment Agency following a leak of sewage into Whitby Harbour. The leak was caused by a pump failure and resulted in sewage leaking into the harbour for 52 hours.
Performance
In June 1996, Yorkshire Water was effectively fined £40 million by the regulator, Ofwat, by freezing their ability to raise bills for customers. This was a result of what Ofwat described as a "failure to deliver the standards required to consumers". This fine was a result of being the most hated water company during the "year of the drought" (1995). However, Yorkshire Water's performance had turned around so much so that the company was awarded the title by Utility Week magazine three years in succession while no other water company has won it more than once."The company has been criticised (2022) for losing 283 million litres of water a day due to leakages. The company says that this is a 50% reduction on the period 1995/96.
1992 Sludge tip blocks River Colne, Huddersfield
A landslip of sewage sludge engulfed a sewage works at Huddersfield in 1992. Almost 20,000 tonnes (20,000 long tons; 22,000 short tons) of sewage slipped from its Deighton waste tip on to the plant, and completely blocked 490 feet (150 m) of the River Colne. The disaster also forced the closure of a nearby ICI plant.
1995 Year of Drought
For months between September 1995 and January 1996 reservoirs in the west side of the region ran dry, and water had to be taken by (up to) 700 tankers (delivering 70,000 litres (15,000 imp gal; 18,000 US gal) of water a day) from the east side of the region near Goole in a convoy of trucks, with 3,500 daily deliveries along the M62 in a drastic emergency measure which cost £3 million a week, eventually totalling £33 million for the entire tankering operation. The trucks were famously shown on TV delivering water into Booth Wood Reservoir. The company has now built a pipeline from the east to the west to allow the balancing of water levels should the need arise. Following the "year of drought", Yorkshire Water became known as "the most hated water company" during this period, with "staff having to travel in unmarked vans for fear of reprisals". Many suspected Yorkshire Water would never be able to win back customers' trust.
2007 Hull floods
The company came under intense criticism when the Bransholme pumping station failed, worsening the flood damage to the city and flooding two thousand homes on the Kingswood and Bransholme estates. The pumping station was upgraded in 2016.
2022 Sheffield gas supply outage
Yorkshire Water were criticised in December 2022 when a burst water main operated by the company caused flooding in the Stannington area of Sheffield, which subsequently entered the local gas network and left thousands of properties without a natural gas supply for more than a week amid below-freezing temperatures. The burst water main occurred during the evening of 2 December and leaked more than 400,000 litres of water into the local gas pipe network before finally being fully repaired five days later. Sheffield City Council declared a major incident and aid was distributed to residents as a result of the crisis.
Customer service
Yorkshire Water ranked 11th of 21 water companies in Ofwat's 'Satisfaction by company' survey 2012/13.in January 2015 the UK Customer Service Index (UKCSI) announced that Yorkshire Water was the leader for service in the Utilities sector, they were also the second most improved organisation in the whole UKCSI, beating competitors such as Severn Trent, Anglian, Thames Water as well as United Utilities and EDF.
The UKCSI is the only external measure showing the state of customer satisfaction in the UK and allows individuals to benchmark across all sectors as well as utilities.
Drinking water quality
Not taking into account human composition:
In the year ending 31 March 2013, 99.93% of Yorkshire Water's samples met the UK standards; in the previous year it was 99.95%.
Carbon footprint
In 2012/13 the company's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 386 kilotonnes, compared to 394 kilotonnes the previous year.
Constituents
The authority created in 1973 took over the following public sector water supply utilities:
In early 1999 the company took over York Waterworks Company, a small water-only company serving the city of York.
Reservoirs
Yorkshire Water allows recreational use of some of 113 of its 120+ reservoirs. Activities include walking, fishing, horse riding, cycling, water sports and bird watching. Several sailing clubs are afforded the use of certain reservoirs for their sailing activities, including Boshaw Whams, Embsay, Grimwith, Ponden, Scar House, Thornton Steward, and Warley Moor Reservoirs.Since privatisation of the water authorities in 1989, Yorkshire Water has made many of its locations accessible to the public, which not only cover water, but woodland and moorland. Walks exist around Brayton Barff, Fewston, Grimwith, Langsett, More Hall, Scammoden, Thruscross, and Undebank reservoirs. Additionally, in 2008, Yorkshire Water teamed up with long-distance walking writer Mark Reid to create the Yorkshire Water Way, a 103-mile (166 km) walk which takes in Yorkshire Water Reservoirs along its route.
References
Sources
Lomas, G (July 2016). "Our Strategy for Recreation on Land and Water" (PDF). yorkshirewater.com. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
Reid, Mark (2008). The Yorkshire Water way : a journey through Yorkshire from the Dales to the Peak District. Harrogate: InnWay Publications. ISBN 978-1-902001-15-9.
External links
Official website
Video clips
Yorkshire Water at YouTube
Report into Hull floods in November 2007
Pumping station fails in June 2007 and Yorkshire Water apologises on the BBC |
albert sustainable production certification | Albert (stylized as albert) is an environmental organisation aiming to encourage the TV and film production industry to reduce waste and its carbon footprint. Additionally, albert offers guidance on how to promote and discuss environmental issues in editorial content through an initiative called ‘Planet Placement’. albert began as a project at the BBC, in 2011 but was adopted by BAFTA early on.Initially, albert offered the industry a bespoke carbon calculator to measure the impact of its productions. The calculator allows a production to calculate its predicted carbon footprint from pre- to post-production. Productions can then go through the certification process, where they implement sustainable production techniques to reduce carbon emissions where possible, and offsets where it is not. Productions that successfully complete certification are awarded a 1, 2 or 3 star certificate and given use of the albert Sustainable Production logo on their credits.
Currently, all BBC, ITV, Channel 4, UKTV, Sky and Netflix productions in the UK are required to register their carbon footprint using the albert carbon calculator.
Initiatives
Besides its carbon calculator, Albert is involved in promoting sustainability in other areas of the screen industry.
Green Rider
In May 2019, Albert launched the 'Green Rider' project in association with Spotlight. The Green Rider takes its name from the Inclusion Rider, as a way to champion climate action through an actor’s contract, calling for good environmental practices to be observed on set. For example, requesting plant-based catering, low energy lighting, or for the production company to agree to a ‘zero to landfill’ policy for its sets.
Creative Energy
Albert started the Creative Energy project in 2017, which enables production companies to switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier. The supplier that Albert partners with is reviewed every year based on ‘green’ criteria. The current supplier is Good Energy. Additionally, creative offsets is another upcoming Albert scheme which allows productions to offset/mitigate their environmental impact with carbon offsetting schemes.
Screen New Deal
In September 2020, albert launched the 'Screen New Deal' report in association with the British Film Institute and Arup as a route-map to help film production transition to net zero emissions by 2050. The report explores and gives examples of how more sustainable practices can be implemented across the film and TV industries.
Directorate
Albert's strategy and development is supported by a commissioning directorate. The directorate currently consists of the BBC, ITV, C4, Sky, Netflix and BT Sport.
Productions with Albert certification
Productions that meet the criteria for sustainability are awarded one, two or three stars.
Three stars
Two stars
One star
References
External links
Official website |