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Greenhouse Gas Emissions

CloudsAs new fuel efficient and alternative technologies become widely available and affordable, UPS’s long-term goal is to decrease total CO2 emissions produced by our operations. In the near term, our efforts are focused on reducing emissions per package.

UPS's carbon footprint is comprised of stationary sources of energy (electricity, natural gas, propane and heating oil) and mobile sources of energy (gasoline, diesel, Jet A, and compressed natural gas). It is expressed in million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

U.S. - CO2 Emissions - Absolute

UPS's CO2 emissions increased 6.6 percent due to growth in our ground and air delivery volume.

U.S. - CO2 Emissions - Normalized

2007 Goal: Pending

In 2006, UPS's CO2 efficiency decreased .5 percent. We produced .01 metric tons (60 kilograms) more CO2 emissions per 1,000 packages delivered than we did in 2005.

UPS's CO2 efficiency decreased due to several factors:

  • Time in transit and service enhancements require additional fuel use due to mode changes.
  • Growth in online commerce is changing our delivery distribution. Our volume has shifted from 80 percent commercial and 20 percent residential to 70 percent commercial and 30 percent residential. Residential deliveries require more driving.

Initiatives

  • In 2006, UPS purchased green power as part of the electricity supply at several California facilities. This power comes from biomass sources, which refers to a waste-to-energy process and can take the form of converting landfill gas, human and animal waste or agricultural waste to energy.
  • In 2006, we recycled 36,800 tons of solid waste materials including metals, plastics, paper, corrugated materials, pallets and wood waste. Solid waste prevention reduces methane, which contributes to greenhouse gas effects. Additionally, in 2006, we purchased 36,300 tons of materials with recycled content. This creates and maintains demand for products that have a positive impact on the environment. It takes less energy to make products from recycled materials than to produce them from raw materials. This has the equivalent impact of reducing CO2 by 2,367 metric tons.

Ongoing Initiatives:

  • Increase fuel efficiency of vehicles and aircraft
  • Support and maintain current alternative fuel fleet
  • Experiment with and deploy new technologies for our air and ground fleet
  • Continue to test new technologies for our facilities including solar, wind and distributed power
  • Focus on energy conservation in facilities
  • Implement operational technologies that improve efficiency and reduce miles driven
  • Continue to take advantage of our integrated network and intermodal capabilities

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