Energy conservation has been a major component of IBM's comprehensive climate protection programs because the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by the utility companies powering the company's facilities and from the use of fuel for heating or cooling represents the greatest potential climate impact associated with IBM's operations. Because of that, a principal focus of IBM's climate objectives has been its energy conservation goal.
Early Leadership and Results
IBM has been tracking it energy consumption since 1973 and has had a specific, numeric annual energy conservation goal for decades. The results of this early focus on energy conservation have been significant. For example, between 1990 and 2008, IBM saved 4.9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity consumption, avoided nearly 3.3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, an amount equal to 48 percent of the company's 1990 global CO2 emissions, and saved over $343 million through its annual energy conservation actions.
Only energy savings from documented energy conservation projects are included in the above results. Energy savings as a result of divestitures or downsizings do not count toward IBM's conservation goal. Moreover, the above results are conservative in that they include only the first year's savings from the conservation projects. Ongoing savings from conservation projects beyond the first year are not included in the tally. Accordingly, the total energy savings and CO2 emissions avoidance from these conservation actions is actually greater than this simple summation of the annual results.