Ford Aims to Cut Energy Use 25% in Four Years

Ford Motor Co., which figures it reduced the energy used to make a vehicle by 22% over the past six years, aims to cut usage another 25% by 2016.

John Viera, Ford's global director of sustainability, tells Bloomberg News the company's global operations currently average almost 2,800 kWh to make a vehicle compared to nearly 3,600 kWh in 2006. He attributes the gain to a variety of efficiency measures and to running plants closer to capacity.

Ford's annual sustainability report says the company's factories cut their emissions of carbon dioxide 48% between 2000 and 2010. The new goal is to reduce CO₂ emissions from manufacturing another 30% by 2015. Ford says its factory-generated CO₂ dropped 8% last year.

Manufacturing accounts for only about 15% of the total environmental impact of a vehicle over its lifetime, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. The group notes that boosting fuel economy is more important. Ford says its U.S. average fuel economy has climbed nearly 17% in the past six years, mainly because of shift in sales to smaller vehicles.