Greenhouse Gases -
GREENHOUSE GASES (GHG)
Praxair has impacts on both direct GHG emissions, such as from the combustion of fuels and in producing hydrogen, as well as indirect GHG emissions, such as the emissions from a power plant to provide the electricity we use. While Praxair has made great gains in our efficiency of GHG emitted to product produced, our overall GHG emissions have been increasing recently due to new plants coming on-line.
GHG EMISSIONS IN MILLION METRIC TONS OF CO2E
| YEAR | DIRECT | INDIRECT |
| 2011 | 5.1 | 11.4 |
| 2012 | 5.4 | 11.3 |
| 2013 | 6.1 | 11.9 |
| 2014 | 7.8 | 12.5 |
| 2015 | 8.2 | 12.6 |
| 2016 | 8.3 | 12.9 |
| 2017 | 8.8 | 12.8 |
Energy Use -
Praxair is vigilant at managing its energy footprint and has a range of design and operational initiatives to reduce operational energy consumption. By the end of 2020, Praxair expects to see 8 million MWH in cumulative savings from a 2009 baseline.
Energy savings (electricity, natural gas, and fuel) are collected as part of the overall environmental savings reported per relevant sustainable productivity project. Total sustainable productivity in 2017 yielded savings equivalent to 375,000 MT of CO2e emissions. These projects provide energy savings from enhancing the energy efficiency of Praxair's buildings, processes and transportation fleet.
Direct Energy
We track and report the amount of energy we obtain directly from fuel sources such as natural gas and oil used in boilers and process heaters, as well as diesel fuel we use for transportation. See the chart below.
| YEAR | DIRECT Energy in MILLION MWH |
| 2011 | 2.0 |
| 2012 | 2.2 |
| 2013 | 2.3 |
| 2014 | 2.8 |
| 2015 | 3.2 |
| 2016 | 3.1 |
| 2017 | 2.8 |
Indirect Energy
We track and report energy use at facilities where we take direct responsibility for electrical and other energy costs, and at onsite facilities where we operate but our customers pay the utility costs.
| Year | Global Electricity/STEAM Purchased in millions of MWH |
| 2011 | 21.6 |
| 2012 | 21.7 |
| 2013 | 22.8 |
| 2014 | 23.9 |
| 2015 | 23.8 |
| 2016 | 24.3 |
| 2017 | 26.6 |
Air Emissions -
We report global NOx, SO2 and VOC emissions. A significant proportion of NOx and SO2 emissions come from transportation activity and miles driven to deliver product. We continue to improve our logistics efficiency to reduce these emissions through various fuel efficiency measures and improved vehicle fuel combustion.
Nitrogen OxideS
54% comes from hydrogen facilities and Air Separation Units (ASUs). Another 32% percent of NOx emissions come from product transportation in trucks. See the chart below for emissions per year.
| year | NOx Emissions in Metric Tons |
| 2011 | 1,745 |
| 2012 | 1,693 |
| 2013 | 1,750 |
| 2014 | 1,780 |
| 2015 | 1,690 |
| 2016 | 1,832 |
| 2017 | 1,550 |
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
Since 2004, we have experienced a 67% overall decrease in SO2 emissions through 2015. This reduction is mostly attributed to the reduction of sulfur in transportation fuel with the implementation of low sulfur and ultra-low sulfur diesel that is being used more and more worldwide.
In late 2015, Praxair started up a new hydrogen plant at an oil refinery in India that uses refinery byproduct as a feedstock as well as a fuel. SO2 emissions from this plant in 2016 were 90 metric tons. The Praxair facility includes s desulphurization process to clean the feedstock for use in the plant's process. In 2016, Praxair removed about 1,034 MT of equivalent SO2 in the desulphurization process. If Praxair did not desulphurize the feedstock, it would typically be combusted in a flare or used as a fuel elsewhere in the refinery without going through a desulphuriaztion process, and the SO2 would have been emitted directly into the atmosphere. Total SO2 emissions are reported below.
| Year | SO2 Emissions in Metric Tons |
| 2011 | 37 |
| 2012 | 26 |
| 2013 | 25 |
| 2014 | 25 |
| 2015 | 29 |
| 2016 | 114 |
| 2017 | 105 |
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
In 2017, 40% of VOC emissions at Praxair come from acetylene production and flammable gas cylinder filling, 31% from hydrogen facilities and 11% comes from Praxair driver emissions. See our yearly VOC emissions reported below.
| Year | direct voc Emissions in Metric Tons |
| 2011 | 520 |
| 2012 | 493 |
| 2013 | 448 |
| 2014 | 490 |
| 2015 | 456 |
| 2016 | 450 |
| 2017 | 460 |
Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS)
We measure the quantity of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) contained in our equipment as well as any emissions to the atmosphere. We are aggressively pursuing opportunities to reduce the use and emission of ODSs through the use of alternative non-ODS substances, enhanced leak detection and repair programs for equipment that still use ODSs.
2016 ODS RELEASES IN METRIC TONNES
| ODS | CFC-11 equivalent | co2E equivalent |
| R12 | 50 lbs. | 247.21 MT |
| R22 | 451 lbs. | 10,879 MT |
Waste & Recycling Management -
Praxair tracks hazardous and non-hazardous wastes by disposal method: landfill, recycling and other (incineration, etc.). The company's management metrics focus on reducing waste to landfill and increasing recycling; therefore, "other" waste in specific categories is not tracked. The mass of "other" waste in 2017 was about 8,356 metric tons. The decrease in the "others" category was due to an overall decrease in "total wastes" being generated by the Air Separation business units.
Total waste generated by Praxair in 2017 was 132,170 metric tons (121,183 metric tons of non-hazardous waste and 10,185 metric tons of hazardous waste), an increase of 62 percent compared to 2016. This is mostly due to an increase in lime disposal. Lime is generated as a co-product and is stored, sometimes over multiple years, before recycling or disposal.
Of the total waste generated in 2017, 85 percent was diverted from landfill either by recycling or re-purposing. Of this, Praxair estimates that 50% of its recyclables are marketable, thus 59,114 metric tons were sold for re-purposing/recycling. The amount of landfilled waste increased from 3,300 metric tons in 2016 to 5,585 metric tons in 2017. The amount of waste Praxair recycled (marketable plus non-saleable) increased from 68,000 to 118,228 metric tons over the same period.
Waste is managed as part of Sustainable Productivity.
worldwide waste disposed of in metric tons
| Year | Total Disposed | Landfilled | Recycled | Other |
| 2011 | 52,000 | 9,000 | 41,000 | 2,000 |
| 2012 | 73,000 | 8,000 | 49,000 | 16,000 |
| 2013 | 76,000 | 10,000 | 63,000 | 3,000 |
| 2014 | 81,000 | 10,000 | 69,000 | 2,000 |
| 2015 | 71,000 | 8,600 | 53,000 | 8,900 |
| 2016 | 82,100 | 3,300 | 68,000 | 10,800 |
| 2017 | 132,170 | 5,586 | 118,228 | 8,356 |
Water Use -
Praxair tracks and reports water withdrawals from municipal water, fresh surface water, fresh ground water and industrial/recycled water sources. We report water usage for all sites where monthly use exceed 10,000 gallons/month (120,000 gallons/year); in 2017, this totaled 408 sites. Praxair's water management metric focuses on net fresh water usage: Municipal + surface water + ground water minus fresh water returned to surface water sources. Praxair does not discharge to ground water and does not include once-through, non-contact cooling water that is discharged to a municipal source. We have restated data for previous years based on this new definition (previously, our metric focused on total water withdrawal minus once-through, non-contact cooling water).
Net fresh water use increased 16 percent in 2017. Worldwide production increased, six large plants were brought on-line in Europe and Canada, and a number of large plants that came on-llne late in 2016 experienced a full reporting year in 2017.
Praxair is vigilant about managing its water footprint and has a range of initiatives to reduce operational water use. For example, water use is measured as an environmental KPI in Praxair's sustainable productivity activity. in 2017, a subset of projects reported environmental savings, including over 459 million gallons (1.7 million cubic meters) of water saved.
In 2017, surface water accounted for 78 percent (316.2 million cubic meters) of the total water withdrawn (including industrial/recycled water). The balance of 22 percent was procured from well waters, municipal sources/utilities, or other industrial/recycled resources. Some Praxair sites gather rainwater for reuse; this information is not collected for corporate reporting.
| year | water USE in million cubic meters |
| 2011 | 46.4 |
| 2012 | 49.2 |
| 2013 | 55.4 |
| 2014 | 56.2 |
| 2015 | 58.0 |
| 2016 | 63.1 |
| 2017 | 67.4 |
Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) -
Each year, we report our total on-and off-site toxic releases for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). In 2017, the majority of our releases (62%) consisted of ammonia which is used in the neutralization of NOx emissions. However, this reporting year, we had a spike due to the removal of a site and the resulting equipment which contained a TRI reportable chemical. See the chart below for our total U.S. TRI releases in pounds per year.
| year | U.S. TRI ON-AND OFF-Site RELEASES (POUNDS) |
| 2011 | 160,626 |
| 2012 | 306,552 |
| 2013 | 225,860 |
| 2014 | 223,585 |
| 2015 | 242,453 |
| 2016 | 273,083 |
| 2017 | 363,811 |
