OUR PARTNERS ARE GOING GREEN!
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Many initiatives in favor of sustainable development have appeared. As it is often a good idea to take inspiration from everyone’s best practices, we have talked to several of our partner companies and invited them to present some of their innovations in favor of the ecological transition. Liebherr, MBDA, Thales and Dassault tell it like it is!
LIEBHERR-AEROSPACE TOULOUSE SAS IS COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
In 2019, Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, the Liebherr Group’s center of excellence for air systems, published an assessment of its greenhouse gas emission for its sites in Toulouse and Campsas (Tarn-et-Garonne department). The evolution in terms of energy management at the company has shown encouraging results since 2014, with a 34% drop in emissions even as the company was growing.
Certain actions such as improvements to infrastructures, switching to electricity for certain vehicles and replacing fuel oil-powered boilers help explain these positive results. Further reductions are expected in the coming years, notably with the installation of solar panels currently underway.
The company is also involved in an effort aimed at preserving biodiversity and increasing awareness of environmental challenges among its employees. At its Toulouse site, 575 m² of flowering fallow land were created in 2019 to attract pollinating insects, an effort was recently rounded out with the installation of 4 insect hotels. The company also plans to set up nest boxes for bats and birds, and is currently studying the installation of beehives and planting nectar-source plants and bushes.
Lastly, every year the company offers awareness periods on carpooling and other alternatives to individual vehicles for travelling, and notably encourages its employees to take public transport.
MBDA, A MAJOR PLAYER IN DEFENSE COMMITTED TO THE ENVIRONMENT
In the heart of the Sologne region, the MBDA site at Selles-Saint-Denis covers more than 250 hectares of forest. A center of excellence for missile integration located in an environment with Natura 2000 classification, this industrial site receives special attention aimed at preserving its fauna and its biodiversity with a number of protection and maintenance actions carried out year-round.
Far from being limited to the outdoors, environmental initiatives are naturally also in place within the company: selective waste sorting, replacement of neon lights with LEDs, use of a biomass boiler burning local wood since 2006, etc.
All these measures will be reinforced in the future by the launch of work to improve energy control in buildings, notably by coupling hot water and iced water production. The aim is to achieve heat transfer in order to save on energy and reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. There are plenty of subjects and the Health Safety, Environment and Infrastructure teams are open to developing new projects!
THALES, A STRATEGY FOR A LOW-CARBON FUTURE
As part of a powerful initiative in keeping with its values and its social responsibility strategy, Thales is strengthening its commitment to a low-carbon future. This new strategy is based on three pillars:
Reducing direct emissions and product emissions
Thales is seeking to get its entire value chain involved to achieve an ambitious reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions, with targets expressed in absolute values in line with the 2°C trajectory:
- A 40% reduction in direct operational emissions by 2030 (internal operations, staff mobility) with an intermediate point at 20% in 2023,
- A 15% reduction in indirect emissions by 2030 (procurement, customer use of Thales equipment) with an intermediate point at 7% in 2023.
Offering the group’s customers innovative, eco-responsible functions and services to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions
- By developing smart traffic management solutions (rail, road, maritime and air), leading to a reduction in emissions,
- By optimizing energy efficiency in the digital world through the development of solutions that are “energy efficient by design” for digital data science, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
Contributing to a better understanding of climate phenomena, notably by developing dedicated space systems
DASSAULT AVIATION, FOR OPTIMIZED SUSTAINABLE AVIATION
Sustainable aviation is based on pursuing the development of aircraft and engine technologies in a constant research for reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Thanks to their aerodynamic qualities and their optimized mass, airplanes in the Falcon range have long been recognized as some of the most economical planes on the market.
Dassault Aviation represents business aviation at the Clean Sky European research project. The aircraft manufacturer participates in studies on the forms, life cycles and use of airplanes to develop innovations in managing energy on board, advanced aircraft controls, drag reduction and pure eco-design.
Dassault Aviation is also committed to developing sustainable alternative fuels (SAFs) for airplanes. Its production process is constantly being improved to reduce environmental impact. The company recently terminated its chemical milling process and replaced it with mechanical milling, thus reducing the use of hazardous products and making it possible to recycle shavings.
As part of its “Piloter Notre Avenir” (Piloting our Future) transformation plan, Dassault Aviation has launched construction work on new buildings respecting environmental criteria. Its buildings in Mérignac will have to meet the highest standards in terms of environmental protection: smart energy and lighting management, solar panels (4,000 m²), reinforced insulation, etc.
These actions are an illustration of the HSE policy at Dassault Aviation, which has been an ISO 14001-certified company for more than fifteen years. This policy was recently extended to CSR and has been disseminated among all employees, proof of Dassault Aviation’s sustainable desire to pursue its dynamics in favor of corporate social responsibility.