AIAG's Greenhouse Gas and Energy Symposium

Last week, automotive industry professionals gathered in the Motor City itself to learn about the importance of measuring GHG Emissions. The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) facilitated the Greenhouse Gas and Energy Symposium held at the Ford Motor Company Conference and Event Center. Recently major automotive manufacturers such as Ford and Honda have begun engaging their supply chains to have them report the emissions generated from the products they manufacture and distribute. Tier one suppliers gathered to learn more about how to respond to these requests and why they should. 

As Al Hildreth, Energy Manager at GM and co-chair of the Greenhouse Gas Advisory Group shared, “On average, each American prints out enough paper each year to equate to 250 lbs of CO2.” So you can only imagine how many emissions tier one suppliers to automotive manufacturers are responsible for contributing.

Attendees at the conference ranged from NGOs to large corporations such as Siemens, Ingersoll Rand, and TRW Automotive, to smaller operations looking to get ahead of the curve and gather information about best practices for measuring and managing GHG emissions. As Jason Wiktor, Director of Process Improvement Information Technology at DURA Automotive Systems said, “Even though climate change isn’t something on the forefront of my mind, I realize that we’re going to have to measure emissions.  I may as well put a good system in place now and be that much ahead of my competition.” Like Jason, many companies were there gathering information on different options for efficiently gathering GHG emissions data. 

A member company of AIAG, Renewable Choice attended as an exhibitor to demonstrate  Mosaic™, our software solution for easily collecting and measuring GHG emissions data. Our web-based platform is used by companies of all sizes with interests such as wanting to identify inefficiencies in their facilities. Reducing emissions often leads to reductions in energy use and overhead. “Even a one to two percent reduction can be significant when you’re talking about millions of dollars spent on energy,” said Rick Sievertsen, VP of Sales and Marketing for Fellon-McCord.

Whether you’re a tier one supplier to an automotive manufacturer specifically or a supplier to any type of supply chain, top companies are taking a closer look at the impact their business has on the environment. A company’s supply chain is a major factor in this calculation. And those suppliers who can take a closer look at their impact, through tools which measure GHG emissions, are delivering on what is being asked of them. The savings gained in efficiencies is icing on the cake and it’s no wonder huge companies are on board with energy tracking and reduction.

If you or your company is interested in finding out more about our carbon accounting tool, watch a demo of Mosaic here.

Jamie Dandar is Director of Market Development at Renewable Choice.