10 Dec 08. Rolls-Royce has signed up to a new UK MoD charter which aims to increase awareness of environmental issues within the Group’s supply chain. The Sustainable Procurement Charter is a declaration by Rolls-Royce and the MOD of their commitment to work actively to develop and follow sustainable procurement principles into both acquisition and support activities. Rolls-Royce Managing Director – Defence Aerospace, Martin Fausset signed the Charter on behalf of the Group. Martin said: “As a result of the investments that Rolls-Royce has made our manufacturing facilities operate at world-class levels of environmental performance. We have a programme of continuous improvement in place to strengthen this and we encourage our supply chain to do likewise. The signing of this Charter reinforces our commitment to improve the way we design, manufacture and support our products.” Tim Flesher, the MoD’s Sustainable Procurement Champion and co-signatory with Martin Fausset on the Charter said: “I am very much aware of the innovative approach which Rolls-Royce takes to sustainability issues so our signature of this charter with its joint commitment to work together is doubly significant.” The UK MOD plans to sign agreements with all of its key suppliers. The Rolls-Royce site in Bristol is playing a key role in the £95m Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE) programme, an aero engine technology demonstration programme that will validate new technologies aimed at reducing noise, fuel burn and emissions. The engine demonstrator will be assembled at the Patchway site, where it will undergo a series of test runs in a converted test facility.
09 Dec 08. Boeing today announced that its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Philadelphia has earned International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification, a global benchmark of an organization’s commitment to understand and continuously improve its environmental performance. Boeing is working to have all of its major manufacturing facilities certified to
the ISO 14001 standard by the end of 2008. Independent auditors from Det Norske Veritas, an accredited certification body of quality, environmental and safety management systems, audited the Philadelphia site Oct. 21-24 to ensure an established environmental management system exists and that employees understand their roles in protecting the environment. “Achieving this certification is a major accomplishment and an important demonstration of our commitment to continuous environmental improvement,” said Philadelphia Site Leader Obie Jones. “The positive feedback we received during the audit demonstrates that our environmental management system is mature and in good shape for long-term sustainment and improvement. We must continue our environmental vigilance — it’s essential to keeping our certification and making real productivity gains.”
The auditors commended the site for its environmental achievements, including its energy-conservation and recycling programs and its management and tracking of hazardous materials.
09 Dec 08. General Atomics, San Diego, Calif., was awarded on Dec. 8, 2008 a, $19,946,886 cost plus fixed price contract for research of the primary objective of the Biofuels-Cellulosic and Algal Feedstock program is to develop the technical capability commercial algae production experience, resources, and commitment to demonstrate and ultimately commercialize the affordable production of JP-8 surrogate fuel from algal feedstock . Work will be performed in General Atomics, San Diego, Calif ., Scripps Institutions of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif., Arizona State University, Mesa, Ariz., Blue Sun Biodiesel, Golden, Colo., Martek, Colo., Texas A&M AgriLIFE, College Station, Texas, UOP LLC, Des Plains, Ill., Hawaii Bio Energy, Honolulu, Energy and Environ-metal research Center (Univ of North Dakota), Grand Forks, N. D., and Utah State, Logan, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Jun. 8, 2010. Bids solicited were