- Sustainability Report highlights increased use of renewable power, more recycled materials in new models and growing electric vehicle penetration
- Nissan highest-performing automotive company as tracked by Carbon Disclosure Project
YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today published its annual Sustainability ReportOpens in a new tab. showing that the global automaker's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have fallen by 22.4 percent over the past decade.
Nissan's success in reducing emissions, promoting zero-emission vehicles and saving energy at its facilities has made it the highest-performing automotive company tracked by the Carbon Disclosure Project, which works with thousands of companies to tackle climate change.
"We aim to deliver further environmental progress in addition to promoting all electric vehicles and pursuing efficiency, on energy and resource diversity, efficiency and recycling in the current year, as part of the Nissan Green Program," said Hitoshi Kawaguchi, Nissan chief sustainability officer. "This reflects the continued efforts of all Nissan employees and partners, in line with our mid-term corporate objectives."
Improvements in sustainability reflect initiatives such as the Nissan Energy Saving Collaboration (NESCO)Opens in a new tab., which measures energy loss at Nissan plants. Last year, the company also formed a new team – Resource NESCO – with a mandate to improve water usage and increase the use of recycled materials by 25 percent for newly launched models in fiscal 2016.
Watch Nissan's NESCO Team Beats Global CO2 Footprint Goal.Opens in a new tab.
Progress on sustainability at Nissan has accelerated thanks to the success of the Nissan Green Program, first introduced in 2002. The most recent version, NGP2016, set ambitious targets to cut Nissan's environmental impact and resource consumption by 2016.
Carbon Footprint Minimization
The latest Sustainability Report showed that the level of CO2 reduction at Nissan facilities represented a 22.4 percent improvement over the levels in FY2005.
Nissan's measures to reduce emissions include the following:
- Nissan UK has installed 19,000 solar panelsOpens in a new tab. to join 10 wind turbines at its Sunderland plant, generating enough power to build more than 31,000 cars every year. The power derived from the solar panels and wind turbines accounts for 7 percent of the plant's total usage.
- Nissan Mexico's use of renewable energy sources, including wind power energy and biomass, accounts for 50 percent of the energy used at the Aguascalientes plant since 2013.
- Among new methods to increase clean energy use in Japan by 8 percent to 16 percent, Nissan improved energy procurement at manufacturing plants that require a large volume of electricity, including the Technical Center, Tochigi Plant, Oppama Plant, Yokohama Plant and Zama Operation Center.
Efforts to reduce energy consumption and emissions at facilities coincided with continued innovation in the development of zero-emission vehicles.
Nissan was among the first automakers to address the world's environmental concerns, as well as the expectations of the next generation of customers, with the launch of the LEAF, the world's best-selling electric vehicle (EV).
Zero emission vehicle penetration
Watch The best-selling Nissan LEAF electric car.Opens in a new tab.
More than 200,000 Nissan LEAFsOpens in a new tab. have been sold since the vehicle was introduced. The company has also enhanced the consumer appeal of zero-emission vehicles with initiatives such as:
- The "No Charge to Charge" program in the United States, which provides free access to charging stations for two years with the lease or purchase of a new LEAF, has expanded to 15 cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland.
- In Europe, Nissan partnered with the power management specialists, Eaton, to ensure that the batteries that power electric vehicles work to mitigate the impact of climate change long after the life of the car. This is achieved by creating commercially viable energy storage and control centers that provide a sustainable "second life" for Nissan's lithium-ion batteries after their automotive usage.
- Nissan partnered with Enel, Europe's second-largest power company, to develop an innovative Vehicle 2 Grid system that allows drivers as well as energy users to operate as individual "energy hubs" with the ability to use, store and return electricity in excess to the grid.
- Electricity stored within the LEAF's high-capacity lithium-ion batteries can be supplied safely and conveniently to a home through the LEAF to Home power supply system.
- In FY2015, 1119 charging stations were installed at domestic sites in Nissan throughout Japan to expand EV usage for commuting.
Watch Nissan and Enel transform electric vehicles into mobile energy sources.Opens in a new tab.
Nissan is dedicated to improving in four main areas: zero-emission vehicle penetration, fuel-efficient vehicle expansion, corporate carbon footprint minimization and new natural resource use minimization.
The Sustainability Report details the achievements of Nissan's eight sustainability strategies, covering environment, safety, philanthropy, quality, value chain, employees, economic contribution, corporate governance and internal controls.
Related Story: CEO Carlos Ghosn's message on Sustainability ReportOpens in a new tab.
"Nissan is proud to be leading the way toward a new era of sustainable mobility. Our goals are clear: We want to be one of the most sustainable companies in the world and to achieve long-term growth by focusing on innovation and acting with integrity and transparency."
Read the full 2016 Sustainability ReportOpens in a new tab.
Blue Citizenship
Blue Citizenship is the commitment of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to realize our vision of Enriching People's Lives. We commit to our customers, shareholders, employees and the communities where we do business to deliver engaging, valuable and sustainable mobility for all. Through our business activities, we aim to create economic value and to actively contribute towards the development of a sustainable society.
About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2014, the company sold more than 5.3 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.3 trillion yen. Nissan engineers, manufactures and markets the world's best-selling all-electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF. Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan manages operations in six regions: ASEAN & Oceania; Africa, Middle East & India; China; Europe; Latin America and North America. Nissan has a global workforce of 247,500, and has been partnered with French manufacturer Renault under the Renault-Nissan Alliance since March 1999.
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