Our view on the climate change controversy is simple: We don’t think it matters whether it is true or not. A great deal of the measures to reduce climate change can improve the efficiency and profitability of business, and therefore should be embraced by the business community.
To prove the case, take a look at Bacardi Ltd., which this morning reported it has cut its greenhouse gas emissions intensity, worldwide, in half.
This achievement is a result of hundreds of energy reduction initiatives around the world. From operations to improved energy efficiencies, every area was addressed, including lighting, motors, HVAC and compressed air systems. Further, continuous audits ensured real gains, which helped refine methods and accelerate the GHG reductions achieved.
Energy-Focused Initiatives
Among the many energy-focused initiatives, the company focused on renewable electricity from wind turbines and heat recovery systems at operations sites.
Additionally, new biomass boilers at the Tequila Cazadores facility, and Aberfeldy and Royal Brackla Scotch whisky distilleries reduce the amount of fuel needed for reliable, cleaner energy. Instead of oil, renewable organic material, such as wood pellets and chips, and agave fibers leftover from the production of the company’s premium brands is used as fuel for the biomass boilers.
As a model of sustainability, the refurbished Cazadores facility in Mexico is 100% biomass fueled, with 0% of its waste deposited in landfills—nothing goes to waste…not even the biomass boiler’s ashes, which are used to enrich the soil in the agave fields.
Wind and Water Power
In Puerto Rico, Bacardi harnesses wind power to produce Bacardi rum, and improvements to an existing cogeneration system considerably increased the rum factory’s fossil-fuel independence. This system’s boiler uses a mix of fuel and biogas (or methane) generated during the anaerobic treatment of the distillery’s wastewater. In that process, micro-organisms naturally degrade waste materials, creating biogas in the process. The biogas is fed into the boilers which power the distillery. This saves about half the energy needed to run them and reduces the need for imported oil or gas.
In Italy, the company switched from fossil fuel to hydropower to produce Martini vermouth and sparkling wines and transforms botanical discards into fertilizer and livestock bedding. On campus, employees use bicycles instead of cars to traverse the 40-acre site.
Green Distilleries
“Without forgetting its legacy, or the heritage of any of its iconic brands,” the company said, Bacardi said it will continue to tackle existing infrastructure with sustainability improvements and add state-of-the-art, “green” distilleries that help improve the environment, like the Bombay Sapphire gin distillery at the historic Laverstoke Mill in England.
Bacardi completely transformed the historic, dilapidated mill to a fully functioning, green-certified distillery that now makes use of clean biomass and hydro-electrical energy sources, using the natural currents from the River Test that flows through the center of the distillery.
Transportation Initiatives
To expedite production and reduce transportation redundancies, the company created an energy-efficient blending and shipping center in Scotland for Dewar’s and William Lawson’s Scotch whiskies.
Similarly, the Bacardi partnership with Ryder since 2008 reduced GHG emissions by more than 20% in the U.S. Together, the two companies move goods in the cleanest, most efficient way possible through recommended SmartWay program strategies and technologies.
In 2009, 65% of Bacardi shipments out of its Jacksonville, Florida, bottling facility were over the road. In just seven years, Bacardi reversed that with just 35% of shipments traveling over the road, and now 65% moving via intermodal rail. These intermodal efficiency wins were further enhanced with Bacardi’s metrics-driven load planning, transportation and yard management systems designed to optimize the trailer “drop and pick” and full trailer moves.
This successful drop in GHGs did not go unrecognized as Bacardi earned the EPA’s SmartWay Excellence Award as an industry leader in freight supply chain environmental performance and energy efficiency for two years in a row.