Climate Change Response
Toyota Australia strives to reduce carbon emissions across all its operations to prepare for a carbon-constrained economy.
Carbon Reductions Scorecard
| 2009/2010 | 2010/2011 | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Government's National Carbon Emissions Reduction Target | 5 to 15 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020 | 5 to 15 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020 |
| Toyota Australia's Carbon Emissions Reductions Progress (CO2) | From 2008/09 to 2009/10 | From 2009/10 to 2010/11 |
| Toyota and Lexus Average CO2 Emissions | ∨1.3 per cent | ∨2.1 per cent |
| Manufacturing Emissions - Total | ∨14.9 per cent | ∧3.2 per cent |
| Manufacturing Emissions - Per Vehicle | ∧4.7 per cent | ∨3.7 per cent |
| Part Logistics Emissions | ∨1.7 per cent | ∧2.2 per cent |
| Vehicle Logistics Emissions | ∧5.3 per cent | ∨12.0 per cent |
| Non-production Emissions | ∨5.5 per cent | ∧2.4 per cent |
| Business Travel Emissions | ∨19 per cent | ∧5 per cent |
"Contributing to a low carbon society" is one of the focus areas of Toyota Australia's new three-year Environmental Action plan. This consists of:
- Developing a lower emission vehicle fleet (for more information click here)
- Lowering the carbon footprint from manufacturing operations, non-production sites, logistics and the company's business partners
Toyota Australia's greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing operations, non-production sites and from logistics and business travel are detailed in this section.
Production CO2 Emissions
In 2010/11, production greenhouse gas emissions measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tonnes CO2-e) per vehicle were 1.28. This is a decrease from 1.33 in 2009/10 although did not achieve the target set for 2010/11 of 1.22 tonnes/vehicle. The total CO2 emissions from manufacturing were 145,469 tonnes (30,663 from gas consumption and 114,807 from electricity consumption).
Non-Production CO2 Emissions
The company's increase in electricity usage (from 11,338MWh to 11,655MWh) in 2010/11 led to an increase in CO2 emissions from 14,121 tonnes in 2009/10 to 14,461 tonnes in 2010/11 and did not meet the target of 12,996 tonnes.
The relatively static nature of emissions in 2010/11 belies a range of improvement activities undertaken at the corporate headquarters in Port Melbourne which achieved a seven per cent reduction in CO2 emissions.
NABERS Rating
In 2010/11, the company completed the improvement project to raise the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) rating of its head office from a 1.5 star performance in 2008 to a projected 4.5 star performance.
The project consists of several integrated elements:
- Installation of a Micro Gas Turbine Trigeneration Plant
- Replacement of inefficient lighting
- Upgrading the building management system
- Installation of improved utility meters
Toyota Australia switched on the 65 kW Trigeneration Plant in June 2011. The Trigeneration Plant works on the principle of recovering waste heat from an electricity generating gas turbine to assist in building heating and cooling. It is expected to reduce head office CO2 emissions by 720 tonnes per year or 20 per cent.
Other Emissions
Emissions from the combustion of gas included sulphur dioxide emissions (416 kg/year) and nitrogen oxide emissions (25,970 kg/year) in 2010/11 and are reported as part of Toyota Australia's submission to the National Pollutant Inventory.
Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are one of the key contributors to air pollution in the automotive industry. In the manufacture of vehicles, VOCs are found in processes that use solvents, paints, sealers or hydrocarbon-based chemicals. The largest source of VOC emissions for Toyota Australia is at its Paint Shop in Altona.
Toyota Australia decreased its production paint VOC emissions from 27.87 g/m2 in 2009/10 to 26.31 g/m2 in 2010/11. However this did not meet the target set of 25.00 g/m2.
The decrease in VOC emissions in the paint shop was due to three major capital investment projects being implemented:
- Solvent control cabinets in top coat booths to control the quantity of solvent dispensed and prevent solvent taps being left on
- Electronic solvent meters around top coat and primer booths to monitor usage
- Waste collection containers which have replaced crystal cap units
To monitor VOCs throughout the manufacturing process, Toyota Australia also has targets for VOCs in its fuel tank and bumper bar painting facilities. During the year, bumper bar painting VOCs totalled 312 g/m2, against a target of 200 g/m2. Fuel tank VOCs totalled 42.60 g/m2 against a target of 55 g/m2.
Green IT Initiatives
In August 2008, Toyota Australia's Chief Information Officer launched the Green IT Policy. The policy set a target to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions (CO2) from office-based equipment and other systems operating within Toyota Australia by March 2010. A reduction of 19.8 per cent was achieved by this date.
A challenging target was then set for another five per cent reduction in CO2 emissions (eight per cent stretch) from March 2010-April 2011. This would have meant Toyota Australia had reduced its CO2 output from office based IT equipment by 25 per cent in three years.
The company did not reach this target and instead increased its CO2 output by two tonnes. This was due to challenges in implementing a program to reduce the company's server fleet. Toyota Australia has over 150 servers servicing the company's IT needs. To reduce this number, the IT department initiated a project to consolidate a portion of the server fleet by introducing virtual servers - i.e. many individual servers running on a single piece of hardware.
Unfortunately due to the complexity of the work involved and the capital required to purchase new hardware this work was not complete by the end of March 2011. As a result, the server fleet actually increased by a couple of units and will remain this way until the migrated servers are finally switched off.
The company will aim to finalise the server consolidation project in 2011 which will lead to future carbon savings.
Emissions from Logistics and Business Travel
The transportation of vehicles and associated parts is a component of Toyota Australia's CO2 emissions. The company also has CO2 emissions from business air travel. Toyota Australia's goal is to work with its logistics partners to reduce the overall logistics carbon footprint by 25 per cent from 2009 levels by 2020.
Vehicle Logistics
Toyota Australia is working with the EPA Victoria, Victorian Transport Association and its major logistics partners to reduce transport emissions through programs such as Ecostation.
Number of cars transported around Australia 326,711 (including movements in and out of storage)
Number of sites that the cars are transported to approx. 400 delivery sites
Kilometres travelled 22.0 million
For vehicle logistics transport, the average CO2 emissions were 54.2 kg/Vehicle in 2010 which achieved the target set of 58.51 kg/Vehicle by March 2011. This is a 12 per cent decrease from 2009. This significant decrease was due to a number of initiatives implemented in collaboration with the company's logistics provider, Patrick Autocare, to improve fuel consumption across the transport fleet including:
- Optimising the fleet through full load vehicle consolidation and ensuring maximum capacity use of vehicle movements
- Changes in transport modes (road to ship/rail) and routes
- Better measurement and management of fuel usage and emissions data through the use of accurate fuel meters and software
- Eco-driving training held with Patrick Autocare truck drivers.
The target for vehicle logistics is 52 kg/Vehicle by March 2012.
Vehicle Parts Logistics
Production parts come from both Australian suppliers and international suppliers (e.g. Japan and Thailand). For parts logistics, the average CO2 emissions were 40.60 kg/Vehicle in 2010. The company has set a target of 38.23 kg/Vehicle by March 2012.
To achieve this target, the company is working with transport providers to reduce distances travelled and to improve loading efficiency by increasing packaging utilisation. The current loading efficiency for local logistics is approximately 79 per cent. Through packaging initiatives and innovative logistics planning, the objective is to increase loading efficiency to the target of 86 per cent.
Business Air Travel
The company's CO2 emissions from business air travel increased marginally in the past year. In 2010/11, CO2 emissions from business air travel totalled an estimated 2,784 tonnes, with 20.6 million kilometres travelled, compared to an estimated 2,646 tonnes, with 19.5 million kilometres travelled in 2009/10. Toyota Australia will continue to promote videoconferencing to establish this as a long term behaviour that cuts costs and CO2 emissions associated with travel.