Ford’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions

We estimate that our total CO₂ emissions are in the range of 350–400 million metric tons (Mmt) per year, varying over time with fluctuations in vehicle production and sales, on-road fleet size and vehicle miles traveled. The estimate includes emissions from our facilities, emissions from current-year vehicles and emissions from all Ford vehicles on the road.

We updated this estimate of global GHG emissions from our facilities and Ford vehicles in 2010, using data from 2008, the most recently available. The estimate is shown in Figure 1, along with the estimates carried out in 2001 and 2006/7 for the years 1999 and 2005, respectively. Please note that while we can exercise a significant degree of ongoing control over our facility emissions, we have essentially no control over the emissions of vehicles once they are produced and on the road.

We estimate that our total CO₂ emissions are in the range of 350–400 million metric tons (Mmt) per year, varying over time with fluctuations in vehicle production and sales, on-road fleet size and vehicle miles traveled. The estimate includes emissions from our facilities, emissions from current-year vehicles and emissions from all Ford vehicles on the road. Please note that while we can exercise a significant degree of ongoing control over our facility emissions, we have essentially no control over the emissions of vehicles once they are produced and on the road.

Our assessment of the emissions from Ford’s facilities and Ford-made vehicles on the road decreased between 2005 and 2008 from approximately 400 to 350 million metric tons of CO₂, primarily due to better data availability for a key parameter.1 Normalizing for the change in the key parameter, the emissions remained relatively stable at approximately 350 Mmt.

In detail, the updated 2010 snapshot of estimated CO₂2 emissions shows that between 2005 and 2008:

• Emissions from our facilities improved by approximately 38 percent. This reflects an approximately 16 percent improvement in the amount of CO₂ emitted per vehicle produced (i.e., our energy-efficiency index improved globally by about 16 percent from 2005 to 2008). It also reflects lower overall vehicle production. These estimates are fairly precise.3 Facility GHG emissions, however, are a small percentage (about 2 percent) of the total.
• Emissions from current-year (20084) vehicles on the road decreased by about 22 percent relative to the prior year, primarily reflecting a decline in vehicle sales. We have moderate confidence in the precision of the estimate for U.S. vehicles; the estimate for the rest of the world is less precise.5 These emissions account for about 8 percent of the total.
• Emissions from all Ford vehicles on the road are estimated to be about 308 million metric tons of CO₂ per year, lower than in our previous analyses, primarily due to better data availability for a key parameter. This estimate, which accounts for about 90 percent of the total, remains highly uncertain.6

Outside the scope of this estimate, we are also in the process of understanding the GHG emissions from our key suppliers’ facilities. We are also expanding our approach to enhance supplier environmental performance beyond more-established supplier environmental performance expectations, which include robust environmental management systems (ISO 14001 certification) and responsible materials management. (See the Supplier Greenhouse Gas Emissions section for details of our participation in initial efforts to assess greenhouse gas emissions in our supply chain.)

Within the Aligned Business Framework agreement with our strategic suppliers, environmental leadership is integral to overall business performance metrics. Climate-change-related activities are highlighted as potential leadership opportunities. In addition, our requirement that suppliers implement robust environmental management systems will better enable them to understand, measure and report their emissions. We will also seek out opportunities to partner with suppliers to improve the greenhouse gas emissions performance of our products and processes, and improve energy efficiency throughout the vehicle lifecycle, including in the supply chain.

For more information on our efforts to quantify our suppliers’ greenhouse gas emissions please see Supplier Greenhouse Gas Emissions.