Despite a surge in business travel prompted by the economic recovery, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) was able to lower its overall carbon footprint in the second quarter from the levels of the first quarter by reducing its energy consumption and increasing the purchase of renewable electricity. Compensating travel needs will be instrumental to meet SAP’s 2010 objective of staying below 460 kilotonnes CO2.
In 2009, SAP announced an aggressive commitment to reduce its total carbon emissions to the year-2000 emissions level of approximately 275 kilotonnes by the year 2020. This represents an overall reduction of about half compared to the company’s year-2007 peak levels of 540 kilotonnes.
To help reach this goal, SAP is using the SAP® Carbon Impact OnDemand solution to access and analyze emissions data across its entire operations and evaluate its carbon footprint reduction efforts. SAP identified several key areas for implementing carbon-efficient operations, including travel, data centers, buildings and commitment to renewable energy.
SAP made significant progress in improving energy efficiencies in data centers through the use of data center design, virtualization technology and efficient hardware. The company’s largest data centers have been certified as “energy efficient” by the German standards organization, TÜV Rheinland. SAP also increased renewable electricity, which now provides 50 percent of the company’s global electricity. SAP plans to further expand its teleconferencing capabilities and introduce smart commuting options.
Detailed emissions data are available to the public in the SAP Sustainability Report and are updated quarterly. Check the following link:
http://www.sapsustainabilityreport.com/
Other topics in the quarterly update include SAP’s engagement with the Sustainability Consortium as the organization’s first global technology steering committee member and the creation of the SAP Supplier Code of Conduct.
Visit the SAP Solutions for Sustainability on SAP.com for more details.
Source: SAP Newsbyte dated August 5, 2010.
