CHICAGO, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Boeing (NYSE: BA) today released its 2009 Environment Report, highlighting reductions during 2008 in its energy and water consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and hazardous waste at its facilities, and efforts to pioneer environmentally progressive technologies, including the world’s first demonstration flights powered in part by sustainable biofuels. 

“Protecting our planet’s environment and finding new ways to harness diverse energy resources continues to be a priority for Boeing,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. “Over the past year, the pace of progress has accelerated even in the face of a global economic slowdown.” 

Boeing is continuing to improve the environmental performance of its products through technology advancements, and targets improving the fuel efficiency of each new generation of commercial airplane by at least 15 percent compared to the airplanes they replace. 

The company is also developing technologies its government customers need to achieve their goals for energy efficiency and independence. 

Some highlights of Boeing’s environmental progress during the past year include: 

• Conducting sustainable biofuels demonstration flights with airlines Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Continental and JAL. Boeing is focused on accelerating market viability of advanced-generation sustainable biofuels that do not compete with food crops or for water resources.
• Helping to demonstrate Air Traffic Management concepts, such as Tailored Arrivals, that significantly reduce fuel consumption, emissions and noise by improving the efficiency of the air traffic systems.
• Achieving ISO 14001 environmental certification at all of its major manufacturing facilities by the end of 2008. Certification to the globally recognized standard is a benchmark of an organization’s commitment to understand and continually improve its environmental performance.
• Receiving approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program for its five-year greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.  

Within its operations Boeing is pursuing aggressive five-year targets for 25 percent improvements in recycling rates, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2012, with a similar goal for hazardous waste reduction. Boeing is on track to achieve these targets, outperforming its 2008 plan by approximately 24 percent for hazardous waste generation and approximately 2 percent for greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency, and increasing recycling rates from 58 percent to 64 percent. 

“Boeing’s strength is its ability to pioneer new technologies to improve environmental performance and our dedication to changing our operations to reduce our impact on the ecosystem,” said Mary Armstrong, Environment, Health and Safety vice president. 

To view the 2009 Environment Report, visit http://www.boeing.com/environment. 

Boeing is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. As a major service provider to NASA, Boeing operates the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. The company also provides numerous military and commercial airline support services. Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries around the world and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales.

Source: Boeing