Saving Fuel to Save our Planet

Sometimes I wish that gasoline had never dropped below $4 per gallon (yes, you read that right), because at that price we actually saw a reduction in greenhouse gases, thanks to reduced consumption and emissions.

I know in our house, Janis and I became a lot more conscious of gas consumption when the price increased.  And even still, Janis is a gasoline bargain shopper.  She checks the price of gas at every station near us, and fills up only at the station offering the lowest prices.  (Watch out if we pass a station offering a lower price than where she has just filled up.)

So the question is: Can Americans maintain a conservation mentality even with lower gas prices?  Decreasing fuel consumption remains the No. 1 opportunity to reduce both green house gases and our dependence on foreign oil. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gases have increased 15 percent since 1990, and carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion has accounted for approximately 79 percent of global warming. 

Not surprisingly, vehicles account for about two-thirds of the annual fuel use in the United States -- twice the consumption rate of Europe.  I see a very clear opportunity here.

The food industry is one place making a conscious effort to reduce fuel consumption -- taking a long-term approach and being an early adopter of new technologies.  On the West Coast, Safeway’s 900-truck transportation fleet has leveraged new technologies to save 6.5 million gallons of diesel fuel.  On the East Coast, Wegmen's recently rolled out 101 new trucks that are 90 percent more fuel efficient than its prior generation of delivery trucks.

For the last decade, Frito-Lay has taken steps to conserve fuel in plants and vehicles as well.  And, small steps at Frito-Lay can make a big impact -- for instance, we operate the seventh largest vehicle fleet in America, so making our vehicles more environmentally friendly can be far-reaching!

Our fuel conservation efforts alone are saving 13 million gallons of fuel per year. These efforts include rolling out 1,200 Sprinter sales trucks (pictured below) that are 50 percent more fuel efficient than our existing trucks. The new Sprinter trucks have smaller engines combined with cleaner diesel engines.

"In talking to truck manufacturers, I believe that over the next five years, we will continue to see technology breakthroughs that allow us to further reduce fuel consumption," says Steve Hanson, Frito-Lay’s Environmental and Sustainability Manager, who is leading the Sprinter roll-out. “Frito-Lay intends to continue to be a leader in embracing the new advancements."

Realistically, I don't really want us to go back to $4 per gallon gasoline -- but I do hope that we can maintain the same conservation attitude even at the lower prices.  So, what steps are you taking to reduce fuel consumption?

Comments

[David Corson]

I appreciate your corporate commitment to the environment. In addition to your current efforts, I'd like to see you use packaging that will deteriorate quickly. This may be just as attractive as what you use now, but will not be around for over a thousand years like many materials in current use.When you consider the millions of snack bags sold in a year, this would be a sugnificant improvement for the environment. Without doubt, your suppliers would respond if you demanded action along these lines. While it's easy to dismiss such ideas as coming from "tree huggers" and environmental nut cases, I believe our actions will all come back to roost in some way. In this case,perhaps our grandchildren will pay a greater price than we do. P.S. hug a tree today, they provide food, wood products, medicines,shelter from rain,sun and wind. If left alone, they will provide beauty for decades.

[Aurora, Director, PR at Frito-Lay]

Our environmental strategy absolutely includes making advances in packaging but it isn't as easy as it may seem. When you buy food products, I'm sure freshness and quality are a priority for you. That inner barrier of the bag (very often metal colored) is key to helping us ensure the products you love are fresh. But that layer is our biggest packaging challenge. Today there are no "off-the-shelf" solutions but our folks are working on it. In the meantime, we've had robust programs in place to minimize the impact of our packaging. And I hope you'd agree that we’ve had seen some solid results: reduced the amount of plastic in our packaging by 10% (enough to cover more than 72,000 football fields), saved 5 million pounds of packaging and product by improving the performance of our bags to extend the shelf life and reduced the amount of material used to make our bags, saving 12 million pounds of packaging a year. Keep coming back to this blog -- you'll see more news from us in sustainability, including packaging innovations.

[Robin Smith]

Save fuel..Save life...

http://crash456.blog.co.uk/2009/09/14/easy-tips-to-save-fuel-6961104/