Comments on: Ford Looks to Renewables for Production Facilities

By: calvin

calvin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:39:23 +0000

Ford has over 60 factories in other countries. Will they also be implementing these policies in those places as well? And what about the existing factories? "Greening" a single manufacturing plant is a publicity stunt (especially when you've been pushing bigger and more powerful cars for decades, and effectively creating a horsepower arms-race amongst automakers), but implementing environmentally conscious policies across all factories is sign of a genuine effort at responsible corporate citizenship.

After all, it does no good to reduce emissions at one U.S. factory and just offset it with a dozen "dirty" factories in Mexico or China--countries where corporations aren't bound by such stringent environmental regulations.

By: veek

veek — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 04:15:42 +0000

Excellent direction for Ford. If I were working in a greener plant, I’d think greener, too. This will also benefit other manufacturers, and Ford’s ideas and experience will surely help them as well.

By: zach

zach — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:26:47 +0000

Agreed, ex-EV1. During the greenwashing boom several years ago, we heard a lot about companies putting a few miniature windmills on top of their headquarters and a few “tests” of on-site renewables, but Ford seems to actually be dedicated to turning this into a long-term, money saving strategy. If we’re going to be serious about lowering emissions, industrial energy needs to get a lot cleaner, and until the grid stops being powered mostly by fossil fuels, these sorts of steps are the only real way to do that.

By: ex-EV1 driver

ex-EV1 driver — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:48:38 +0000

Excellent step in the right direction Ford. It sounds like its only a baby step but it is in the right direction.
I hear too much emphasis on cleaning up home energy use as well as transportation but not enough on cleaning up industrial energy use.

By: Old Man Crowder

Old Man Crowder — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:14:40 +0000

Ford is taking a truly holisitic approach to their operations. I like it.

Although saving $160K on a $9 million energy bill amounts to less than 2%, every little bit helps I say.

Add that to their massive green roof, use of soy-based plastics and fabrics, and vehicle recyclability...

Good job, Ford!