EMC Admits To Rising Carbon Emissions

Storage specialist EMC has released its latest sustainability progress report in which the company says it has made progress but admits it has more to do to reduce its environmental impact including rising carbon emissions.

The report, released this week, outlines the measures the company took in 2008 to reduce its environmental footprint, ranging from the disposal of old hardware to the energy efficiency of its data centres.

“Our customers and shareholders want to know how we balance our financial success, the health of the environment, and the well-being of people,” said Kathrin Winkler, EMC’s senior director of corporate sustainability. “Our employees around the world have embraced sustainability to guide the way we design and develop our products, run our business, invest in and interact with our local communities, work with our suppliers and customers, and engage and develop our employees. While we still have plenty of work to do, I am truly proud of what we have achieved to date and look forward to continuing our sustainable course for the 21st century.”

But despite its apparent commitment to reducing its environmental footprint, the company admitted in the report that its green house gas (GHG) emissions have actually been rising of late. The company has been measuring its emissions since 2005.

“The largest percentage of these emissions are emissions are indirect, coming from the generation of electricity we consume. From 2005 to 2008, EMC GHG emissions per $US million in revenue have declined by 19 percent. However, as with many companies, our total actual emissions have grown as our company has grown. To address this, we are pursuing new approaches to save energy and setting more ambitious targets,” the report stated.

The company also admitted that its GHG emissions per square foot had increased in 2008, despite decreasing between 2005 and 2007. “They rose in 2008 due to consolidation of real estate and more efficient use of space,” the report stated.