Dow Chemical 2010 Annual Report Download - page 26

The Dow Chemical Company
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THE RIGHT INVESTMENTS IN PEOPLE AND THE PLANET
Sustainability means making every decision with the future in mind. At Dow, we
are committed to minimizing our impact and to delivering solutions that help our
customers and the rest of society do the same. We believe that if you want to
make sustainability about more than just words, you have to set the bar high
and measure your progress rigorously.
2010 marks the mid-point of our 2015 Sustainability Goals. These 10-year
commitments go beyond our own footprint and include goals that connect
our businesses with helping to solve the world’s biggest challenges –
energy, climate change, water, food, housing and health. Science
for a sustainable world – this is our contribution to protecting
the planet.
Innovations for Tomorrow
•฀฀Dow฀is฀addressing฀the฀global฀water฀crisis฀on฀multiple฀fronts,฀
including lower-cost desalination technologies, more effective
ultrafiltration systems and support of initiatives such as Dow
Live Earth Run for Water, a series of 6 km run/walks held in
cities across the world to raise awareness and funds for clean
drinking water.
•฀฀We฀are฀investing฀in฀next-generation฀solar฀technologies฀across฀
the entire value chain – from expanding polycrystalline silicon
production through Dow Corning’s Hemlock Semiconductor
joint venture to manufacturing our breakthrough DOW™
POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle for homeowners.
•฀฀We฀continue฀to฀innovate฀technologies฀for฀more฀efficient฀wind฀
energy. In 2010, we partnered with Astraeus Wind Energy, Inc.
and MAG Industrial Automation Systems to improve the
manufacture of wind turbine blades.
•฀฀As฀a฀recognized฀leader฀in฀building฀insulation฀applications,฀
Dow Building & Construction was selected by the U.S.
Department of Energy to lead a multi-year project that
will combine research and residential in-home testing to
develop enhanced home energy-efficiency retrofit solutions.
Responsible Operations
•฀In฀2010,฀Dow฀received฀the฀National฀
Safety Council’s prestigious Robert
W. Campbell Award. This international
award recognizes a company that
upholds Environment, Health and
Safety (EH&S) as a key business
value and clearly links measurable achievement in EH&S
performance to productivity and profitability.
•฀฀Since฀1994,฀Dow฀has฀prevented฀more฀than฀90฀million฀metric฀
tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from entering the atmosphere
and saved more than $9 billion in energy costs. And we
continue to improve our processes. For example, our patented
flare technology, which uses hydrogen instead of methane at
selected sites, will save more than $10 million during the next
10 years and eliminate 27,000 metric tons of emissions each
year – the equivalent of taking about 4,600 cars off the road.
•฀฀Our฀industrial฀energy-efficiency฀efforts฀have฀saved฀1,800฀
trillion Btu – equivalent to the electrical usage of all the
residential homes in California for more than 20 months.
•฀฀Our฀products฀reduce฀greenhouse฀gases฀by฀multiples฀of฀our฀
own emissions on an annual basis. A third-party-validated
life cycle assessment found the use of insulation products such
as STYROFOAM™ Brand Insulation avoids emissions that
are six times greater than our Company’s annual emissions.