One degree
Australians are the highest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases in the developed world.
And while some sectors of public opinion remain divided about the causes and repercussions of climate change, there is little doubt in the scientific community that these gases are contributing to the warming of the planet.
It makes sense to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions - to give the planet the benefit of the doubt.
In June 2007, News Limited launched One Degree – an initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our business and to raise awareness of climate change among our staff and the broader community. One Degree is now part of the way we do things; and we are now well on the way to achieving our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2010.
Energy efficiency opportunities across News Limited
Date: Monday 22nd December, 2008
News Limited’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint has taken a significant step with a list of over 90 projects submitted to the Federal Government that are currently being implemented or having significant engineering assessments conducted.
The projects go much further than required under the Federal Government’s Energy Efficiencies Opportunities (EEO) Act, demonstrating that One Degree continues to be a priority for News Limited despite economic challenges.
These, and other, projects have been identified through 16 site audits across Australia over the period since One Degree was launched in June 2007. Now more than 80% of News Limited’s carbon footprint has been audited, along with the development of an “energy audit checklist” to be rolled out across smaller offices and rented premises in the coming months.
The cost of implementing all of these projects is significant; however the projects with potential will pay for themselves in terms of reduced energy consumption within an average of 2.2 years. If all are implemented, they will save a combined 16,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – or 10% of News Limited’s total emissions - each year.
Download a PDF copy of News Limited’s EEO public report here.
One Degree of action
In the year to June 2007, News Limited generated 163, 838 tonnes of carbon dioxide (or carbon dioxide equivalents). Our goal is to reduce these emissions by 20%, through efficiency gains and the use of accredited GreenPower by the end of 2010, saving 30,000 tonnes of greenhouse gasses – a figure that is equivalent to taking 7,500 cars permanently off the road.
Everything from the electricity used to power our presses, the fuel in our cars, the carbon impacts of air travel, the heating and cooling of our buildings and the way we handle our waste and recycling is being reviewed. And we are looking at how we can do it better - how we can be more efficient, and how we may use renewable energy to meet our target.
We are in a strong position to do this by making serious and sustainable changes to our business at a facilities and management level, and by providing our employees with opportunities and incentives to cut their own emissions both at work and at home.
We have now performed high level energy audits across the majority or our business sites – with 22 sites (which represent about 90% of business energy use) audited by the end of May 2010. These audits involve a detailed review of air conditioning, lighting and building management so we can identify ways to reduce emissions across all of our facilities.
These audits have identified hundreds of initiatives which will help us to meet our target, including:
- Improving green ratings of existing buildings and incorporating this into designs of new buildings.
- Minimising waste of compressed air
- Implementing variable speed drives as electric motors are installed or replaced
- Expanding recycling to include mobile phones, printer cartridges and plates.
- Consolidating servers, printers and copiers.
- Investigating wake-on-LAN technology for desktop computers as part of a turn "IT" off campaign.
- Switching from old-fashioned CRT to lower-energy LCD screens.
- Improving energy efficiency for lighting, air conditioning and power management at all facilities.
We are also looking at the energy we use outside of our offices and print centers and are making changes such as:
- Reducing our fleet fuel consumption both by using more efficient vehicles and promoting greater use of public transport
- Implementing a Green Procurement Policy encouraging our business partners to address their own carbon footprints.
- Providing information and incentives to staff to change their own behaviour.
- Investigating the use of renewable energy such as diesel biofuels for generators.
Across every part of our business, each of News Limited's wholly-owned divisions has identified the most appropriate and effective energy reduction initiatives for their business. Many of these are detailed in the state-by-state plans at right.
Carbon neutral by 2010
News Limited, as part of News Corporation, will be carbon neutral by 2010; that is, we will no longer be a company that contributes to global warming.
Where emissions remain that cannot be eliminated or sourced from renewable energy, we will invest in carbon credits to help fund alternative energy sources and to ensure that all of our carbon emissions are offset.
In March 2008, News Digital Media (NDM) became the first News Limited business to be carbon neutral – achieving this status through a combination of reducing and off-setting emissions generated in 2007. NDM has an aggressive plan to further cut emissions over the next few years to reduce its reliance on offsets.
An ongoing commitment
News Limited's climate change commitment builds on the company’s environmental program established 18 years ago. To date, the program has led to the introduction of cleaner printing technologies, contributed to Australia's success as the world's leading recycler of newsprint and initiated ongoing environmental improvements to every News Limited business.
News Limited is acting to do what it can to reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, the company is uniquely placed to encourage other Australians to make a difference to address the threat of global warming.
[1] As measured by Clear Carbon using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol established by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Verified by the Environmental Resources Trust, Inc.
News Limited CEO John Hartigan launches One Degree
Sydney One Degree launch - June 2007
One Degree of participation – News Limited staff get behind the campaign
