UP reports environmental strategies, goals in annual CDP disclosure

Affirming its commitment to protecting the environment now and for future generations, Union Pacific (UP) has submitted climate change data to CDP an outlined initiatives and investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the railroad reported on July 31, 2015. For the second time, UP also reported on its water consumption and responsible management of this resource in CDP’s water questionnaire.

The seventh annual public disclosure details UP’s actions to continuously improve environmental performance, including:

• Investing in locomotive technology to support the rail industry’s move toward the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tier 4 air emissions standards.

• Managing infrastructure, equipment and operations through training and awareness to increase fuel efficiency.

• Creating a multi-disciplinary fuel conservation team, focused, in part on addressing locomotive fuel, the company’s largest greenhouse gas source.

UP works with Trinity Consultants to compile its greenhouse gas inventory, and Conestoga-Rovers & Associates verified UP’s 2014 greenhouse gas inventory. Both Conestoga-Rovers and Trinity are independent organizations.

Freight trains, on average, are four times more fuel-efficient than trucks, UP says. That means moving freight by rail instead of trucks reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 75%. UP adds that it can move one ton of freight 475 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel and is working to develop new technology to improve fuel efficiency.