Ferrovial uses ISO 14064 to help calculate its worldwide carbon footprint
by Garry Lambert*
Ferrovial, one of the world’s largest transportation infrastructure companies, has published its worldwide carbon footprint for the first time, confirming that it generated nearly two million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2009.
Provision of services to the Madrid Metro is part of Ferrovial’s sustainable mobility plan to reduce the carbon footprint of its activities through savings in energy and sustainable sources of electricity production. (Photo: Ferrovial)
To do so, Ferrovial created a methodology for calculating and validating its emissions, encompassing 94 % of total revenues, which fulfils the requirements of ISO 14064-1:2006, Greenhouse gases – Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
The ISO International Standard includes requirements for the design, development, management, reporting and verification of an organization’s greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. The published results also fulfilled the GHG Protocol, and were verified independently to achieve the Global Reporting Initiatives GRI A+ rating.
Waste management and airports
Waste management and airports were the largest sources of emissions in the group, accounting for over 80 % of the total, concentrated principally in Spain and the United Kingdom.
Ferrovial has implemented an ambitious sustainable mobility plan to reduce GHG emissions from its activities, including those arising from employee commutes and from company vehicles. Other divisions are following major projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
BAA, the airport subsidiary owned by Ferrovial, has begun construction of the new Terminal 2 at London’s Heathrow Airport, described as Europe’s “greenest” airport terminal, which is designed to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 % compared with the buildings it replaces.
Cespa, Ferrovial’s municipal services subsidiary, reduced CO2 equivalent emissions by 519 000 tonnes by trapping biogas at its waste treatment plants, and another 44 000 tonnes by using the biogas to produce electricity. Over 5 % of its vehicle fleet uses alternative energies or fuels, such as gas, biodiesel and electricity.
The Madrid Metro Line and the 407 Express Toll Route in Canada, part of the Ferrovial service infrastructure, also contributed to reducing the carbon footprint through savings in energy use compared with alternative transportation routes.
Management system integration
Beyond its emissions reductions initiatives, Ferrovial is also something of a pioneer in management system integration. The company was also one of 15 organizations that worked within an ISO task force to develop the handbook, The integrated use of management system standards, published in 2008 (see ISO Focus+, March 2010, Flying High — Major benefits for Ferrovial through integrating MS).
Ferrovial has integrated quality management, environment and R&D systems, as well as OH&S, in most of its business areas, including implementation of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and an enterprise risk management system based on ISO 31000:2009, Risk management — principles and guidelines.
The company reported that management system integration had served to create value by enhancing its management capability, and also through cost savings and in higher efficiency of the processes managed by those systems.
About Ferrovial
Ferrovial is claimed the world’s largest private manager of transportation infrastructure and one of Spain’s most international companies, with operations in 49 countries, a workforce of over 100 000, and assets totalling nearly 50 billion euros. It operates in a wide range of sectors, including construction, management of airports and other transport infrastructures, waste management and provides an array of municipal services.
The company manages major assets such as Heathrow Airport, the Chicago Skyway and the 407 ETR toll roads in Canada. It also provides services to more than 800 municipalities in Spain, and to millions of London Underground and Madrid Metro users.
* Garry Lambert is a freelance British journalist based in Geneva, Switzerland.
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