Blueprint for Sustainability

During 2007, we mapped a blueprint for sustainability, our product CO2 strategy through the year 2030. We also began implementing the actions identified. These include incorporating fuel-saving technologies into our product cycle plan and continuing research on and development of longer-term technologies. The product strategy builds on a series of commitments the Company has made, or participated in, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from our products and operations over the course of several years.

To develop the product strategy, we analyzed the reduction in current greenhouse gas emissions that would be required to achieve the goal of climate stabilization. The analysis showed that very large reductions in emissions will be required to achieve the CO2 concentration accepted to minimize environmental impacts. (See Stabilizing Atmospheric CO2 Levels.) Next, we analyzed the current and projected contribution of light-duty cars and trucks to global greenhouse gas emissions (currently about 20 percent of CO2 emissions in the U.S and about 11 percent globally) and the reduction needed to contribute to stabilization.

We used these assumptions in a model that considers both vehicle technology and fuel options. The purpose of the model was to determine the best combination of options that will yield the required emissions reductions at the most affordable cost. We then developed scenarios to assess how the vehicle and energy sectors can work together, each developing its own optimal but coordinated strategies on fuels and vehicle technologies. The output of this analysis is the Sustainable Technologies and Alternative Fuels Plan.

Our strategy development in 2007 and early 2008 has focused on the CO2 emissions of our products, because they account for the greatest part of GHG emissions associated with our activities. Our current and planned efforts to implement the product strategy are outlined in this section. However, we recognize that emissions from our facilities are also important. These are discussed briefly below and in Operational Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The Climate Change Emissions and Stabilization section also addresses the life-cycle emissions of the materials and processes used to make our products, the estimated emissions from our operations and products, our supply chain and non-CO2 GHG emissions.

Operations

Since 2000, we have reduced our global operational energy use by 30 percent and CO2 emissions from our facilities by 39 percent. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized our energy conservation efforts three years in a row (a first for an automaker), most recently with the 2008 Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award.

Products

The amount of CO2 generated by the light-duty vehicle sector is dependent on three major factors: 1) the fuel economy of the vehicles, which in turn depends on many characteristics of the vehicles themselves (such as their weight, powertrain and aerodynamics); 2) the well-to-wheels1 greenhouse gas profile of the fuels used in the vehicles; and 3) how the vehicles are used and maintained by their drivers. Our shorthand for this, and the organizing framework for our discussion, is "Vehicle + Fuel + Driver = GHG emissions." More recently, we have added government to the equation, recognizing the indispensable role of governments in coordinating actions across sectors, providing leadership in areas like infrastructure development to meet transportation demand and creating a harmonized legal and political framework that leverages market forces to lead to the desired result.