Page 266 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

242 Cha pte r T w e l v e

company to endorse the Ceres principles in 1994. The company
reports its progress with respect to global environmental metrics,
established in 1999, which include energy use, water use, greenhouse
gas emissions, and recycled and nonrecycled waste [6].
GM’s laboratories historically have been leaders in automotive
innovations that have provided tangible benefits to society. For
example, GM developed the catalytic converter to reduce hydro-
carbons, nitrous oxides, and carbon monoxide from vehicle tailpipe
emissions. In 1974, GM was the first manufacturer to install the cata-
lytic converter in all cars sold in the United States, and, in 1989, GM
was the first to provide catalytic converters on all vehicles sold in
Europe. GM allowed other manufacturers to use the technology
without paying a patent fee, and today millions of vehicles around
the world use catalytic converter technology developed by GM.
Like the rest of the U.S. auto industry, GM has experienced
declining market share and severe financial challenges over the past
decade. In 2008, GM was obliged to request a loan package from the
federal government in order to continue operations, and filed for
bankruptcy on June 1, 2009. Nevertheless, the company has had a
long-standing emphasis on environmental excellence and is placing
a renewed focus on designing vehicles for an energy-conserving and
environmentally conscious marketplace. The Hummer era is over.
There are already almost 900 million vehicles in a world of 6.6
billion people, and GM predicts that this number will grow to a bil-
lion vehicles by 2020. This presents a clear challenge to sustainability
in terms of energy, environment, safety, congestion, affordability,
customer satisfaction, and the success of the automotive industry.
Achieving sustainable mobility will require game-changing technol-
ogies to address the complex societal, environmental, and economic
interactions of the twenty-first century.
Recognizing that alternative sources of propulsion will be essen-
tial, GM has adopted a strategy focused on displacing petroleum
through energy efficiency and energy diversity. GM’s Advanced Pro-
pulsion Technology Strategy (GMAPTS) provides a roadmap of tech-
nologies needed to address the societal, environmental and economic
challenges faced by the auto sector. Figure 12.3 shows that many
options are required; there is no “silver bullet,” but there are key
breakthroughs that will be developed along the way. The objectives
of the GMAPTS are to
• Establish sustainability through diversified sources of energy
• Displace petroleum in order to alleviate the mismatch between
supply and demand and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign
imports subject to uncontrollable risks (i.e., geopolitical, oil
refinery capacity, natural disasters, wars, etc.)
• Reduce GHG emissions.