Diving certificate:

• The US Department of Energy has recognized General Motors for its decarbonization effortsand presented the company with a 2024 Better Project Award for its steam elimination and heat recovery system to reduce natural gas consumption.
• General Motors’ assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has reduced its carbon emissions by 30% compared to the 2019 base year. The process included eliminating steam use for comfort heating and freeze protection by replacing a natural gas-fired steam system with a cogeneration system that uses heat exchangers to recover waste from existing on-site generators powered by landfill gas, the department said Wednesday.
• This recovered heat is enough to meet more than 80% of the General Motors building’s heating needs while reducing natural gas use on-site, the Energy Department said in a news release. The company is currently evaluating other sites where this approach can be replicated as part of a broader goal to reduce energy use by 25% at 33 facilities, the news release said.

Diving insight:

General Motors is one of more than 80 industry partners participating in the DOE program. Challenge “Better climate” — a part of the federal authority Better Buildings Initiative The project was launched in 2011 to increase the energy efficiency of buildings and facilities. According to the Ministry of Energy, over 900 organizations are participating.

Participants in the Better Climate Challenge initiative have committed to reducing Category 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. On average, these emissions will be reduced by 21% compared to the base year, according to the Department of Energy. Better Buildings Initiative Progress Report 2023.

General Motors is one of five industry partners that have met the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, according to the Energy Department. Other Better Climate Challenge industry partners that have met the goal include nutrition, health and life sciences company DSM North America, steelmaker and iron ore pellet maker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., automotive company Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems and HNI Corporation, which makes office furniture and building products, according to the department’s Better Climate Challenge website.

General Motors is now “sharing its successful strategies with others,” Jeff Marootian, assistant secretary of energy in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said in a statement Wednesday.

In addition to saving energy, the company’s Fort Wayne heat recovery system also prevents sprinkler systems from freezing during the colder months, it said. The project is part of General Motors’ goal to Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from operations by 72% by 2035the company said in a separate press release. By reducing the use of natural gas and electricity, General Motors said it is saving $3.5 million annually.

General Motors is also working to implement a similar heat recovery system at its St. Catharine’s Propulsion Plant in Ontario, Canada, which is scheduled to begin operations next year, the company said.

The Award for better project recognizes achievements in implementing decarbonization, energy and water efficiency or waste reduction in individual facilities, according to the program website. Other winners of the 2024 Better Project Award are Colorado State University, Pace University, RXR Realty and the New York City Housing Authority, according to the awards program website.