Page 35 - Green Builder July-August 2019 Issue

Neste

o ering lo emission f els to re lace fossils, this

firm is cleaning the transition to rene ables.

N THE PAST YEARS, Neste has to alternative fuel use several years ago, and
made a name as the alternative fuel the company’s target of preventing 9 million
company. The Finnish corporation tons of GHGs by 2022 is well in sight. But
specializes in renewable and low- Vanacker knows €ghting climate change is
I emission options to diesel and crude not a solo act.
oil-based consumables, instead powering “Combating climate change is everyone’s
vehicles, planes and factories with product business,” he says. “We can create a safer and
derived from such exotics as vegetable oil, more resilient future and leave a healthier
corn oil residue, and animal and €sh fats. planet for our children when we work
Its eƒorts have placed it on the renowned together to readdress how we produce and
Corporate Knights Global 100 Index of consume energy, food and water, and how
World’s Most Sustainable Companies a we safeguard the world’s oceans and forests.”
record 13 times, including spots at Nos. 2 That’s how an eƒort to make Lidö Island
and 3, respectively, in 2018 and 2019. in the Swedish Archipelago fossil-free in one
For many companies, that would be year began, to see how fast it could be done
enough. But Neste has another reason for in a populated area. The total dropped by
continuing to expand research on cleaner 78 percent, which Neste considers a huge
fuels: It’s getting hot. CEO Peter Vanacker is success. In 2018, the company began meeting
aware of the discussion and near-panic over with authorities in Southeast Asia to help he climate challenge is
the Paris Agreement and its 2050 deadline them shift toward sustainably produced
for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to palm oil. And the same year, Finland’s indeed staggering...the
be net zero in order to prevent irreversible Plastics Roadmap, the €rst of its kind in the
damage from climate change. Neste is doing world, mapped a path to chemical recycling o tloo s rro nding this
its part: All of its factories were converted of plastic waste. challenge, ho ever, sho ld
COURTESY OF NESTE be one of ho e, not fear.

fter all, hen assion and

o timism are t rned into

action, the res lts can be
considerable.”

eter anac er,

COURTESY OF NESTE resident

Thinking ahead. Neste
consistently attempts to
reduce its environmental
impacts.

www.greenbuildermedia.com July/August 2019 GREEN BUILDER 33

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