main content

Energy

Goals

Our overall goals for energy are:

• To reduce progressively our global warming impact;
• To work with customers and suppliers to create and manage energy efficient infrastructure; and
• To choose appropriate and efficient energy sources, prioritising renewable sources where appropriate.

Performance

We measure separately our energy consumption in buildings, energy used by plant, and energy used by our vehicle fleet.

Total Contribution to Global Warming

This year we have included UK, other parts of Europe and Malaysia and Hong Kong when calculating our contribution to global warming.

In 2006, our total contribution to global warming for these businesses combined was 236,889 tonnes CO₂ equivalent.

Tonnes CO₂ equivalent

	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
UK	172,131	147,455	149,961	142,982	131,399
Europe	1,727	640	n/a	n/a	n/a
Hong Kong & Malaysia	63,119	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

In 2006 our contribution to global warming from UK operations remains at 41 tonnes CO₂ equivalent per £m Net Sales Value (NSV) the same rate as 2005, which is 27% less than in 2002.

In the UK our greatest improvement once again is from our vehicle fleet. Since 2002 we have seen a 39% improvement in tonnes CO₂ equivalent per £m NSV from our vehicle fleet, a 14% reduction from our buildings and an 8% reduction from our plant and equipment.

Our fleet business is constantly reviewing the market in order to identify new and emerging environmentally sound vehicle technology. Currently we operate several fleet vehicles powered by alternative fuels, and hybrid fuels vehicles are offered to employees as company cars.

Car sharing schemes are in operation in our Edinburgh Offices. Within Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies, employees are offered a cash incentive if they travel to work without the use of their car.

A number of businesses are looking at alternative sources of energy. Balfour Beatty Rail Power Systems in Austria are using Water Power in some areas as an alternative energy source.

The above energy data does not include the CO₂ contribution from SF6 purchased by Balfour Beatty on behalf of clients. There are no other significant sources of global warming.

Note: we have not recorded energy consumed by our customers occupying buildings that we manage on their behalf. However, we recognise the opportunity to help customers reduce their energy consumption in these areas.

CFC and SF6 Purchases

We have worked with our customers to reduce requirements for purchasing these products, either through replacement with alternatives or improved maintenance to reduce leaks. In 2006 once again we purchased zero CFCs a huge improvement since 2002.

In 2006, we purchased 1,777 kg of SF6 for clients compared to 1400 kg in 2005. The bulk of theses purchases were for electrical insulation of circuit breakers supplied to customers in our mainland Europe rail and UK power generation sectors.

	2006		2005		2004	2003	2002	Notes
	UK	Europe	UK	Europe	UK	UK	UK
CFC's (kg) Normalised to CFC-11	0	0	0	0	284	11,753	28,100	Purchased on behalf of customers
SF6 (kg)	1,770	7	1,400	460	300	136	800	Purchased on behalf of customers
	0	0	0	0	0.6	0.6	20	Purchased for own use

Summary and 2006 Objectives

During 2006 we have:

• Improved energy efficiency in our vehicle fleet, our largest contributor to global warming
• Recorded a decrease in the relative contribution from plant and equipment
• Zero purchases of CFC's on behalf of customers
• Purchases of SF6 on behalf of customers up 26% on 2005 and zero purchases for own use.

During 2006 we will continue to work towards improved energy efficiency and reduced global warming contribution from our activities.

	2006				2005
	UK		Europe		UK		Europe
	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV
Offices & buildings	50,172	12	392	2	40,263	11	186	0.6
Plant & equipment	45,935	11	294	1	36,690	11	402	1
Vehicle fleet	76,024	18	1,041	4	67,502	19	53	0.2
Total	172,131	41	1,727	7	147,495	41	642	2

	2004		2003		2002
	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV	Tonnes	Tonnes /£m NSV
Offices & buildings	29,820	10	29,047	12	32,357	14
Plant & equipment	40,801	13	31,805	12	28,872	12
Vehicle fleet	79,340	25	82,130	31	70,170	30
Total	149,961	47	142,982	55	131,399	56

ˆ back to top