Make Earth Day Count this Year!

Today marks the 47th Earth Day – a perfect time to reflect on how our actions have made a positive impact on the environment and to recommit to a greener future. Day-to-day business decisions can become routine, but by choosing sustainable solutions instead of those that have high global warming potentials (GWPs), you’ve helped protect our planet in unimaginable ways.

In fire suppression applications
You may have heard us say that by switching from a high GWP hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) like Chemours’ FM-200® (HFC-227ea) to 3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in fire suppression can be reduced by more than 99 percent. Pretty impressive, but what does that translate to?

A typical 1,000-pound system installation using a very low GWP clean agent like Novec 1230 fluid instead of FM-200® can save you up to 1,183 metric tons (CO₂- equivalent) in GHG emissions. According to the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, that sum of emissions is equivalent to:
 

• 2,835,386 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle (GHG emissions)
• Or 175 homes’ electricity use for one year (CO₂ emissions)

And that’s only one installation. What happens when we look at the potential environmental impact of our decisions over several years of installations?

For over 15 years, installation of systems using Novec 1230 fluid in lieu of HFCs has enabled a reduction greater than 50 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent in the global installed base of fire suppression systems. That is equal to the emissions from:
 

• Over 115 million barrels of oil consumed (CO₂ emissions)
• Or over 5 billion gallons of gasoline consumed (CO₂ emissions)

That’s something we can all be proud of!

In solvent cleaning and vapor degreasing applications
Choosing 3M™ Novec™ Engineered Fluids for solvent cleaning and vapor degreasing applications is also a sustainable choice compared to Chemours’ Vertrel™ XF specialty fluids, which are formulated with high GWP HFC-4310mee. According to the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, just 100 pounds of HFC-4310mee can produce up to 74.4 metric tons of GHG emissions (CO₂ equivalent) that equates to:
 

• 178,285 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle (GHG emissions)
• Or 172 barrels of oil consumed (CO₂ emissions)

Compared to 100-pounds of low GWP 3M™ Novec™ 7100 Engineered Fluid, you can save over 50 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent in GHG emissions.

Together, with every clean agent and solvent purchasing decision, we can help positively impact our environment and our future.

Try the EPA’s GHG Equivalencies Calculator for yourself and visit the new 3M Novec website for even more reasons to choose sustainable.

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3M and Novec are trademarks of 3M Company.
FM-200 and Vertrel are trademarks of The Chemours Company.
All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.