EPA names UPS, Brown-Forman climate leaders

Two companies with a big economic footprint in Louisville have been awarded 2015 climate leadership awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Brown-Forman has won an Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management award for goal setting, and UPS, which has its Worldport hub in Louisville, has won an Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management for goal achievement.

Both have been working on reduce their climate pollution for several years, the federal agency noted.

According to the EPA, UPS in 2011 set a goal to reduce its carbon intensity from transportation 10 percent by 2016, as measured from a 2007 baseline. UPS surpassed that goal in 2012 and 2013, achieving a 12 percent and 13 percent reduction, respectively. This goal also helped drive a 774,000 metric ton decrease in certain emissions from 2007 to 2013, EPA found.

EPA defines carbon intensity as the amount of carbon by weight emitted per unit of energy consumed.

How did the company do it: "Operating a single, optimized global network; employing intermodal shifting to provide customers with low-carbon transportation options; investing continuously in innovative solutions to minimize miles driven and flown; and working with drivers and pilots to ensure precision performance."

The reduction is on top of earlier cuts in carbon intensity, EPA said.

As for Brown-Forman, EPA says it set an absolute greenhouse gas reduction goal of 15 percent between 2012 and 2022 for global operations. It plans to achieve its reduction goal by switching from fossil fuel to biomass in its steam boilers at distillation operations, according to the EPA. It also plans to change the processing of byproducts from grain distillation operations to reduce energy consumption and switch its steam boiler fuel to a less GHG-intensive fossil fuel at one production operation.

EPA said Brown-Forman previously was successful at meeting earlier goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It reduced emissions of carbon dioxide per metric ton by 46 percent from 2009 to 2012, beating its carbon intensity goal of a 30 percent cut over the same time period, EPA said.

"I am proud to recognize our Climate Leadership Award winners for their actions to reduce the harmful carbon pollution that's fueling climate change," EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said in a Feb. 24 press release. "Our winners are demonstrating that a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. These organizations are providing the leadership, commitment, and solutions needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet head on the challenge of a changing climate."