NS Earns Sustainability Awards
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Norfolk Southern (NS) has been recognized for its carbon reduction efforts by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Environment Finance, an online news and analysis service.
The Class I railroad received a 2022 Responsible Care Energy Efficiency Award for locomotive fuel efficiency from ACC, which recognizes member companies for initiatives to improve energy usage. ACC cited NS for “exceptional merit.”
NS reported that its locomotive fuel efficiency program includes “using more alternative fuels, retiring less energy-efficient locomotives and applying locomotive energy management systems. The holistic approach resulted in a 7% improvement in fuel usage, saving approximately 47 million gallons of fuel and avoiding more than 470,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the last two years.”
Other award recipients include Albemarle Corporation; Ascent Performance Materials, LLC; BASF Corporation; Celanese; Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC; Dow; DuPont; Eastman Chemical Company; FMC Corporation; Hexion Inc.; and Occidental Chemical Corporation.
“We took a comprehensive approach and invested in a range of energy efficiency innovations that are delivering significant results,” NS Director of Fuel Efficiency Jamie Helmer said.
ACC also awarded members Responsible Care Product Safety Awards (among the honorees was Trinity Industries, Inc., for the TrinityRail® Hourglass™) and Waste Minimization, Reuse and Recycling Awards (TrinityRail Sustainable Railcar Conversion Program was honored in the reuse category), among others.
As part of its 2022 Bond Awards program, Environmental Finance recognized NS with the Corporate Green Bond of the Year Award for its issuance of $500 million in green bonds. “The green bonds fund investments that not only help customers reduce their supply-chain emissions, but [also] help the company achieve its science-based emission reduction targets,” NS explained. “Funded projects include locomotive fuel efficiency improvements and investing in intermodal terminals to further promote the shift of freight from trucks to trains.”
Among the other award recipients are Aligned Energy; Caisse Française de Financement Local; Hong Leong Bank Berhad; Symbiotics; Sunwealth; Canadian Solar; HSBC; and Nuveen.
“Our green bond offering has given us tremendous opportunity to reduce our environmental impact, improve the efficiency of our organization, and drive long-term shareholder value,” NS Chief Sustainability Officer Josh Raglin said.
