Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Kellogg’s use of energy – in both our manufacturing operations and in the transportation of our finished goods to market – represents our most significant environmental impact. Our energy use contributes to resource depletion and the emission of greenhouse gases, which are contributing to the pressing issue of anthropogenic climate change.

Climate change presents both risks and opportunities for Kellogg. As a company dependent on agricultural inputs, we are concerned about the potential for climate change to alter the availability of agricultural commodities and water. We have plans in place to handle short-term business interruptions, such as localized severe weather, and we will continue to track the long-term supply trends of our agricultural ingredients as they evolve.

At the same time, cutting our energy use not only reduces GHG emissions but results in significant cost savings. And as consumers become more aware of climate change, demand for environmentally responsible products may increase. That’s one reason we are seeking to share our environmental performance more visibly with the public.

Performance

We have made substantial progress in reducing energy use and GHG emissions in recent years.

The figure illustrates our performance since 2005.* The data show that our overall energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased in 2007, due to expansions in production. Nonetheless, our energy use and CO2 emissions per metric tonne of food continued to decrease.**
 
*We have been working to ensure that our emissions and energy use calculation methods are robust. In the U.S., the GHG emissions figures are calculated using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders GHG Inventory Guidance. In Australia, the Greenhouse Office Factors and Methods Workbook was used. All of the protocols used are based on the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. In the future, we will continue to refine and expand the scope of our GHG emissions reporting.
**“Metric tonne of food” is a measurement of actual food product, not including packaging.