BT on track to cut carbon intensity 80 per cent by 2020

British Telecom (BT) is making progress on its ambitious goal of reducing its greenhouse gas intensity 80 per cent by 2020.

The company said in its 2010 Sustainability report that it has managed to reduce its carbon intensity by 54 per cent between fiscal year (FY) 2010 and 1997, putting it on track for an 80 per cent cut by 2020, a goal it set in 2008. It reduced its absolute global greenhouse gas emissions 51 percent bet ween 1997 and 2010.

BT also has a goal of cutting its CO2 emissions in the UK by 80 per cent by 2016, compared to its 1997 baseline, since the majority of its carbon footprint occurs in the UK the company has reduced UK-based emissions by 59 per cent.

The company said it is focusing on areas within its operations that hold the potential to deliver the largest emissions reductions, such as its network and data centres, buildings and transportation. The company is currently building a wind farm that will supply enough green power to satisfy a quarter of its needs, to be brought online by 2016.

The company said that nearly all of its electricity comes from renewable sources, including some 40 per cent from a green energy contract through 2014, and nearly 60 per cent from combined heat and power.

In FY 2010, the company also implemented projects it expects will save more than 100 gigawatt hours of energy and 41,800 tonnes of CO2 annually.

It is also looking at its employees to help reduce its carbon footprint. More than 9,600 employees, out of nearly 98,000 workers, are permanent home workers, which its research has shown tend to have smaller carbon footprints. An additional 64,000 BT employees are equipped to work from home.

The company also set several new environmental goals, including reducing global energy consumption three per cent between 2010 and 2011; validating global water consumption data and setting a 2012 global target; reducing water use in the U.K. by five per cent, relative to a 2010 baseline by 2011; and trimming the amount of waste sent to landfills by 10 per cent between 2010 and 2011.

This article first appeared at ClimateBiz.com