Ford Asia Pacific and Africa
Climate Change and the Environment
Ford is focused on minimizing the environmental impacts of our vehicles and operations, including reducing our contribution to climate change. Ford is committed to doing our share to prevent or reduce the potential for environmental, economic and social harm due to climate change. We have a science-based strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our products and processes that focuses on doing our share to stabilize carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere. We have also made a commitment to deliver the most fuel-efficient vehicles in every market in which we participate.
Ford APA has committed to improving fuel efficiency. We’re delivering on this commitment by introducing small cars, fuel-efficient gasoline engines and alternative-fueled vehicles. In China, we have announced that Ford will bring 20 new powertrain products to China and improve fuel economy up to 20 percent (compared to 2010) by 2015.
Ford has launched EcoBoost-equipped vehicles in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. EcoBoost engines use turbocharging and direct injection along with reduced displacement to deliver significant fuel-efficiency gains without sacrificing engine power or vehicle performance. (Read more about EcoBoost in our Climate Change: Improving Fuel Economy section.)
We launched the Falcon EcoLPi in Australia in 2011. The Falcon EcoLPi uses an advanced liquid injection LPG system which takes the place of the gasoline tank and improves fuel economy by 12–15 percent while also improving performance by approximately 27 percent over the prior model.
As a technology leader in biofuels, Ford will continue to develop and introduce flex-fuel vehicles that meet market needs throughout the region. All current Ford models are compatible with ethanol blends of 10 percent (E10), with the Ford Focus and Ford Escape SUV already compatible with ethanol blends of 20 percent (E20). Ford was the first manufacturer in Thailand and the Philippines to make available an E20-capable vehicle – the E20 Ford Focus – in support of the Thai government’s E20 fuel policy and the Philippine government’s Biofuels Act.
Also in 2011, a demonstration fleet of “new energy vehicles,” including Ford’s battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid technologies, was brought to China for the first time. Unlike some other automakers, Ford is developing all of these technologies across entire vehicle platforms, rather than individual models, with the different technologies suited to different consumer needs.
In the APA region, Ford monitors greenhouse gas emissions in our plants in China, Taiwan and the Philippines, and was the first automaker in China to voluntarily report greenhouse gas emissions at our plants. One way we’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions is by bringing new technology into the manufacturing plants, such as the “3-Wet High Solids” paint process, which allows multiple coats of paint to be applied without having to bake each one dry first. This saves an enormous amount of energy from the drying process, reduces CO2 emissions and cuts the amount of waste chemicals produced. Changan Ford Mazda Automotive’s Nanjing plant used this and other initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of each unit produced by a massive 66 percent in just one year. Similarly, at Ford India’s Chennai plant the amount of volatile organic compounds involved in the paint process has dropped from 45 grams per meter (gpm) to 35 gpm since the introduction of this technology, while switching from diesel to propane as fuel for the ovens that dry the painted cars also helped cut CO2 emissions per unit by half. The new plants being built in the region are designed to use the latest energy-saving technologies from the day they come online, while older facilities are being upgraded.
By taking the simple step of turning off the motors while robots are idle, the body shop at Ford India’s Chennai plant has reduced CO2 emissions by 28,300 kg per year, for an annual saving of $6,200. The move led to the body shop winning the “Excellence Award for Innovation and Creative Use of Automation” at last year’s Automotive Manufacturer’s Expo.
By working with specialist waste company Geocycle, Ford Australia is aiming to halve the amount of paint sludge disposed of in landfills by turning it in to an alternative fuel for cement manufacturing. Around 10 tons of the sludge, a by-product from the painting process, will be sent to the Geocycle facility in Melbourne each month. The company uses a “mega blender” to separate organic waste from metal and turn it into fuel. Ford Australia’s Geelong Iron Casting Plant also provides used foundry sand, which would otherwise be deposited in a landfill, to the cement industry.
For a discussion of our global climate change impact and commitments, please see the Climate Change and the Environment section.