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Decreased energy consumption during vehicle manufacturing is just one highlight of Ford’s 13th annual Sustainability Report. The report – “Blueprint for Sustainability: Accelerating Ahead” – is a comprehensive showcase of the company’s efforts to tackle a myriad of sustainability challenges in a rapidly changing world.

Other successful initiatives featured include reductions in water use, waste-to-landfill and CO2 emissions as well as improvements in vehicle fuel economy and safety.

“Sustainability has moved from the periphery to the center of our strategy for succeeding in the marketplace and helping to address global challenges,” said Robert Brown, vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering.

“Our sustainability report is far from a bunch of tables and charts,” said John Viera, global director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters. “Anyone who spends any amount of time with it will truly get a sense of just how committed Ford is to supporting positive change and reducing the environmental impact of its products and facilities.”

Globally, Ford is targeting a drop in energy consumption of 25 per cent between now and 2016. Each Ford facility utilizes a comprehensive set of measured environmental targets to track and accelerate improvements designed with the environment in mind. The targets are reviewed and updated annually.

In addition to the drop in energy consumption, Ford also:

Reduced CO2 emissions from global operations in 2011 by 8 percent on a per-vehicle basis compared with 2010
Turned what would have been 163 tons of waste paint into enough power for 55 residential homes for one year through just one of many new ways Ford is converting waste to energy
Introduced advanced water-treatment technologies to allow the reuse of water and reduce water supply requirements, water discharges and use of treatment chemicals and the generation of solid waste

Ford vehicles are a major focal point of the company’s efforts to reduce environmental impact. For example, the seat fabric in most of Ford’s new or redesigned vehicles must now consist of at least 25 percent post-industrial or post-consumer recycled content. A total of 37 fabrics now meet the requirements and have been incorporated into Ford vehicles.

Ford’s progress has been achieved by investing in energy-saving practices and equipment. At Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., for example, the company uses a new “three-wet” paint application that reduces electricity use along with CO2 and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions.

At the same plant, a new 500-kilowatt solar panel system has been installed to generate renewable energy for production of Ford vehicles like Focus and Focus Electric.

Thanks to such efforts already in place and Ford’s commitment to making further progress, the company projects a continued drop in energy consumption – 25 percent between 2011 and 2016.

In the Middle East, the Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants, one of the largest corporate initiatives of its kind in the world, is continuing its efforts in providing a total of USD100,000 of funds to deserving environmental projects from groups and individuals across the GCC, Lebanon, Jordan and for the first time, in Iraq, in a bid to help grass-root level conservation efforts.

Supported by UNESCO Doha, Ford is encouraging individuals, community and non-profit groups that have projects currently running in the areas of preservation of the natural environment, environmental education and conservation engineering to apply for the grants.

Now in its 13th year, the Ford Grants initiative has awarded a total of USD1.2 million to over 140 environmental projects from the GCC, Lebanon and Jordan since 2000. Individuals or groups with on-going environmental projects that are not for profit and non-commercial in nature based in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq are welcome to apply. The deadline to submit applications is on July 10, 2012 with forms available for download at www.me.ford.com.

An independent panel of jurors consisting of nine experts and academics from environmental agencies and institutions in the region will choose the winning projects. The jury panel was carefully selected in cooperation with UNESCO Doha, based on geographical coverage, experience and gender equality.

Recipients of the Ford Grants will be selected based on initiatives that demonstrate a well-defined sense of purpose, a commitment to maximizing available resources, and a reputation for meeting objectives and delivering planned programmes and services.