We know a lot about producing energy. But we've also made it our business to save energy.
Energy efficiency is one of our most economical sources of new energy. Imagine this: A reduction of just 5 percent in global energy use would save us the equivalent of more than 10 million barrels of oil a day — and provide enough energy to power Australia, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Using energy more efficiently makes sense for many reasons:
- It reduces carbon emissions.
- It lowers costs.
- It conserves the supplies we have.
Helping Others to Save
We're an energy company with a business unit dedicated to helping others become more energy efficient. Chevron Energy Solutions works with clients to reduce energy use at their facilities. Our customers are schools, colleges, government agencies and businesses, including some of our own business units. Our experts design and install high-efficiency equipment upgrades that provide significant energy and operational savings each year. These savings generally cover the cost of the improvements and provide ongoing benefits for the customer and the environment.
Lowering Our Energy Costs
At Chevron, we're practicing energy efficiency.
To help measure our progress, we established the Chevron Energy Index in 1992. Since then, we have increased the energy efficiency of our global operations by 28 percent.
We've achieved these savings in many ways.
We created the position of Corporate Energy Coordinator specifically to lead the company's energy-efficiency efforts. The coordinator develops and improves best practices that can be shared among business units and conducts energy reviews to assist in prioritizing conservation opportunities across the company.
We've also invested in projects to reduce the amount of energy we use in our operations.
The people of Chevron make energy efficiency a constant priority. We do it with simple everyday acts, such as providing the maintenance that keeps equipment running smoothly, and with complex projects, such as building power plants that are more efficient.
Here are other examples of our efficiency efforts:
- We developed and installed California's first megawatt-class hydrogen fuel cell cogeneration plant at Alameda County's Santa Rita jail. The 1-megawatt project provides half of the facility's annual power needs and is saving county taxpayers more than $260,000 per year. By reducing the facility's demand for utility-provided power, the fuel cell plant offsets more than 3,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
- Worldwide, Chevron operates cogeneration units at refineries, production facilities and other sites, with a combined electrical generating capacity of about 3,500 megawatts. These units, also referred to as combined heat and power units, generate electricity about twice as efficiently as the average power supplied by a local utility company.
- We built an $80 million cogeneration facility in El Segundo, Calif., to provide electrical and steam power for our refinery. Cogeneration is a fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly process to produce steam and electric power simultaneously. We're using it to produce additional electricity from otherwise wasted energy at several of our refineries.
- In Pennsylvania, we helped the Central Dauphin School District upgrade four buildings comprising more than half a million square feet with lighting and mechanical retrofits, an emergency generator and water conservation improvements. We worked closely with the district not only on the design and construction but on operator training, monitoring and verification. Over our 15-year performance contract with the district, we are guaranteeing energy and operating cost reductions of more than $275,000 per year.
- An extensive upgrade project involving 20 state buildings in Colorado is reducing facility energy costs by 25 to 30 percent, reducing taxpayers' energy and operating costs by more than $20 million over the next two decades.
Engaging With Customers
In September 2008, we launched a new phase of our Human EnergyTM campaign in the United States. Called "I Will," the campaign focuses on energy conservation and efficiency. We believe the key to our energy future is to develop all forms of energy. This includes energy efficiency and conservation — the easiest, cheapest and most reliable forms of "new" energy available.
Energy efficiency also helps moderate demand for carbon-intensive fuels, reduce energy costs and preserve finite natural resources. At www.willyoujoinus.com, we invite discussion and provide practical tools to promote energy literacy and encourage action.
Conservation and energy efficiency are powerful tools for running our business — and for helping others run theirs. We all benefit.
Updated: May 2009