Green Product Management

Acer's Integrated Strategy on Energy and Climate Change

The global problems of depleted energy sources and climate change are clearly escalating, and international attention is now firmly focused on reducing carbon emissions and other suitable responses. As pointed out in the Smart 2020 report published by GeSI, the ICT industry accounts for approximately 2% of total global carbon emissions but has the potential to reduce total carbon emissions by 15%. Creating a thoroughly low-carbon lifestyle will obviously be a huge challenge, but, on the upside, will also lead to the creation of new needs, technologies and opportunities.

As a leading IT company, Acer's major missions are not only to provide the innovative products to meet our customer needs, but also to enhance the quality of life of people at large. Acer recognizes that climate change is currently a big challenge of global sustainability, and firmly believes that proactive actions must to be integrated into Acer's long-term business strategy. We at Acer see ourselves as a part of the global village: Steadfastly facing up to the challenges of climate change and global warming and taking the opportunities that arise are a part of our corporate responsibility.

Acer remains fully supportive of the reduction targets proposed by the EU, which are to cut GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 globally and 30% by 2020 from industrialized countries (compared to 1990 levels). To limit climate change to 450ppm CO2 equivalent in the 21st century, we also call for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2015. We commit to support global efforts on the deep cut of GHG emissions and on the negotiation for a sound climate policy framework.

Acer has already adopted a very pro-active approach to the problems of energy and climate change as evidenced by our development and supply of low-carbon products and our concerted efforts to reduce operational emissions. In 2008, we drew up the Acer Integrated Energy and Climate Change Policy, which sets out the four main areas that we are focusing on in order to reach our corporate goal of becoming a friend of the Earth: inventorying greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy consumption, raising overall efficiency, and creating a low-carbon business model. Acer is a world famous brand, so we have taken it upon ourselves to use our resources to assist our suppliers in monitoring and reducing the amounts of greenhouse gases that they produce. Helping them find ways to suitably reduce emissions also shrinks the carbon footprints of our products.

GHG Inventory

Acer began a corporate-wide GHG emission examination in April 2008, with the GHG Protocol established by the WBCSD and WRI as the central guiding principles in the examination. The entire inventory deploys in five stages. The first stage focuses on the operations within Taiwan. The second stage focuses on the operations outside of Taiwan. The third stage will inventory the emission caused by usage of products. The fourth stage will implement the inventory of supply chain. The fifth stage will inventory the emission from the transportation of products and services.

A. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Organized Operations

As a result of the hard work of personnel in all Acer operations worldwide, we have been able to estimate that the total volume of greenhouse gas emissions from our organization in 2009 was 35,750 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. This figure includes 643,111 liters of gasoline and 416,972 liters of diesel. Our total consumption of electricity for the year was 61,687,173 kilowatt hours. The degree of completeness of the data we used in our accounting has also been raised to over 85%. The different emission scopes and their estimated volumes and proportions are shown in the graph below:

Scope 1 includes emissions from fossil fuels and refrigerants; Scope 2 shows the estimate for indirect emissions from using electricity; Scope 3 shows the estimate for emissions produced from staff flying on airplanes for commercial purposes. Future estimates will also start to include emissions caused by the distribution of products and services and employee commuting, plus volumes of emissions produced by our suppliers.

In order to raise the degree of reliability and completeness of the greenhouse gas emission data collected, in 2009, we started to conduct in-house evaluations of emission data from all of our operations worldwide. By training our personnel to establish more complete and reliable procedures for evaluating emissions data we will be better placed to facilitate third party verification and also to respond to stricter standards for data reliability in the future.

B. Inventorying Greenhouse Gas Emissions Produced by the Distribution of Products and Services

We conducted a preliminary survey of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the distribution of our products and services in the latter half of 2008. This was done for the purpose of further understanding of the appropriate inventory boundary and planning appropriate inventory procedures. Since September 2009, we have been carrying out surveys and collecting data on the worldwide distribution of our products and services. We have discovered that collecting primary data on logistics-related greenhouse gas emissions is not at all easy. We estimate that the data so far collected only covers around 40% of the total, with this 40% being approximate to 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Our hope is that during 2010 we will be able to raise this figure to 80% or more.

C. Employee Commuting Survey

To enhance employee awareness of energy and climate change, and to encourage their involvement in energy saving and CO2 reduction, we conducted a staff online survey in Taiwan to analyze their method of commuting to work in Q4 2008. The total CO2 emission from our employee commuting in Taiwan was 2,308 tons. The survey showed that more than 50% commuted by motorcycle or car, 6% by walking or biking for zero emission, 35% by mass transit, and the rest by car pooling. Around 70% of total emissions came from car driving.

D. nventorying for Supply Chain Greenhouse Gases and Participating in the CDP Supply Chain Program

From the product life cycle perspective, Acer doesn't actually have a manufacturing facility so the carbon emission from our own operation is not significant. We do, however, use our status as the brand company to require that our suppliers join hands with us in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Throughout 2009 we continued the work of promoting the accounting and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at our suppliers' facilities. Suppliers' emissions are now included on our "must monitor" list along with greenhouse gas emissions produced by the distribution of our products and services. As for the CDP Supply Chain Program, over 95% of suppliers asked to join the program sent back our questionnaire before the designated deadline. We did, however, note that there is still considerable room for improvement in the quality and content of the answers our suppliers wrote down and preliminary results indicate that all of our major suppliers are producing higher volumes of greenhouse gases than Acer. We will continue to request that our suppliers work toward reducing their emissions, and that they too ask their suppliers to do the same, so that Acer's supply chain can become truly eco-friendly.

E. Carbon Information Disclosure for Products

The carbon footprint of manufactured products is undoubtedly one of the big issues of our time. In the third quarter of 2009 Acer set up a product carbon footprint working group that has since held a series of carbon footprint working meetings with our main suppliers in order to find ways to reduce our impact on global warming. Rudimentary consensus has been made during the meetings on a timeframe for carbon information disclosure of Acer products as well as calculation and allocation methods of the carbon emissions from each product. Taking 2008 as the base year, suppliers will be successively asked to provide information on the carbon footprint of products during both the R&D stage and the manufacturing stage. Acer will be dispatching teams to all of our major suppliers to inspect and verify their greenhouse gas emissions data. We are also planning to require that all of our first tier and second tier suppliers disclose carbon information and set specific targets for reducing carbon emissions.

There is still no one commonly accepted set of standards for carbon footprints. Carrying out the task of accounting for the carbon footprints of Acer products requires that we keep a finger on the pulse of international standards and trends. Therefore in 2010 we have decided to join the road testing of WBCSD/WRI drafted GHG Protocol standards for product carbon footprint accounting. We look forward to being able to share our knowledge and experience of supply chain greenhouse gas emissions accounting and product carbon footprint accounting by this six-month global pilot plan.

F. Supply Chain GHG Management

Most first-tier suppliers are obligated by Acer to report total GHG emission in the CDP Supply Chain Program. But the emissions didn’t allocated to Acer’s product. Therefore, Acer has established GHG Working Group with major suppliers to locate where and how the GHG have been emitted in the supply chain, and finally to reduce GHG emission in the controllable scope in the supply chain. A preliminary GHG emission figure of the first tier of the supply chain is around 220,000 tons of CO2 equivalent that allocated to Acer’s products in 2010. The GHG emission of the second tier of the supply chain is still under investigation.

GHG reduction

After gaining a firm understanding of our greenhouse gas emission situation, we drew up an emission reduction policy that has five major directions:

Reducing suppliers' greenhouse gas emissions: Acer started supplier greenhouse gas emission accounting in 2009 and requested that they set specific future reduction targets. We will continue cooperating with our suppliers to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions produced during manufacturing processes are reduced to a minimum.

Increasing the energy efficiency of Acer facilities: By making benchmark comparisons of the energy efficiency rates of all of our facilities worldwide and setting realistic reduction targets, we have given the management at each center an incentive to increase the efficiency of their energy usage through targeted improvements.

Promoting low-energy products: Besides adopting LED backlight screens for monitors produced in 2009 we also rolled out the low-energy Aspire Timeline series of laptops. Aspire Timelines are in the same price range as similar laptops but are a big step in the direction of low-energy computing.

Carbon neutral plan: In September 2008 Acer Japan bought carbon credits that had resulted from wind-generated electricity in India, a part of that nation's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). These credits were used to offset Acer Japan's 2007 carbon emissions from electricity consumption, allowing the branch to achieve carbon neutrality. Acer Japan continued to implement their carbon neutral plan in 2009 and even expanded the scope of its implementation.

Influencing government policy: Acer continued to actively participate – along with other major Taiwanese companies – in the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Forum's climate change working group. We believe that providing the government with practical suggestions regarding climate change policy and regulations is a part of our corporate responsibility.

A. Invest in Renewable Energy

In 2007, Acer Japan adopted the slogan "green IT movement=environmental protection" and started to buy carbon credits to offset the consumption of electricity in their offices. In 2008, the plan was expanded on a trial basis. By offsetting the carbon equivalents of gas heating, office electricity consumption, and fuel used in company vehicles, Acer Japan became the first of our overseas branches to achieve carbon neutrality. As a result of an increase in the area of floorboards in the office the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents that needed to be offset rose from 66 metric tons in 2008 to 121 tons in 2009.

We recognize that climate change is a global issue. As a brand-name sales and marketing company, Acer aims to identify ever more efficient and feasible ways to reduce carbon emissions. By investing in renewable energy projects or purchasing carbon credits derived from renewable energy to offset our carbon emissions will be worth considering and implementing in the future.

B. Green Power

Apart from the company’s effort in reducing GHG emission, in 2008 Acer also began conducting feasibility assessments for reusable energy at our global operations. Currently, it is only possible for some operations to purchase green power. Since the majority of our operations are based in rented buildings, we need further assessment to find a cost-effective way to using green or renewable energy. In addition, Acer is taking concrete actions relating to specific goals set forth in the "Acer's Integrated Strategy on Energy and Climate Change."

C. Plant-a-Tree for Specific PC Model Sold

With a view to reducing corporations’ and end-users’ carbon footprint, Acer Australia partook in the country’s “Trees for Life” and “Carbon-Neutral” tree-planting projects as part of a “Plant-a-Tree for specific PC Model Sold” event. The company pledges to grow 1 to 5 trees for each specific Acer product sold. 40,141 trees were planted since 2008, and it's projected that these trees would absorb 6,690 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents when growing. The trees are planted in Gladstone in southern Australia and north of Mannum. The project will last into 2010, and we hope to set a good example, inviting customers to support energy stewardship while enjoying the many benefits of Acer products.

D. Engage with CDP

From 2007, Acer has received invitations from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). To summarize, the project was established by major investment bodies around the world to state GHG emissions and issues on environmental policies while disclosing the content of the questionnaires.

In addition, Acer is well aware of the significance of topics such as climate changes, GHG and their vital relation to supply chains. This is why Acer participated in the Supply Chain Program initiated by the CDP: through the contents of the Supply Chain Program questionnaire, Acer encouraged all first tier suppliers to reply to issues such as GHG emissions and environmental policies and disclose relevant data openly or to the Supply Chain Program members.
Through our efforts, the response rate of Acer’s suppliers were the highest rate compared with other CDP SCLC members. With integrations through the Supply Chain Program project, more data from suppliers of various tiers will be available in the future to obtain more comprehensive GHG disclosure. We will thus be referring to the individual analysis reports that the CDP Supply Chain Program publishes for each member to assist us in creating methods to help our suppliers give fuller and more accurate answers.

E. Support CDP Events in Taiwan

Launched in 2000 by major institutional investors around the world, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) since 2002 has invited more than 3,000 major corporations each year to disclose risks and opportunities regarding climate change, as well as their GHG emissions data. The CDP has become a significant driving force behind the disclosure of relevant data by corporations. Acer Inc. and Acer Foundation lead the way in pushing this issue to the forefront of the electronics industry and other industries in Taiwan. Starting 2008, Acer began to sponsor CDP launch events in Taiwan, so that Taiwan’s industries can acquire the latest carbon disclosure data from around the world. In April of 2009, we invited Taiwan companies and our suppliers to participate in the “Carbon Disclosure Forum 2009 and Carbon Inventory and Management Workshop.”

This forum provided a practical introduction to climate change and the CDP, as well as offer valuable advice, recommendations and resources on how to manage the process of carbon disclosure. The afternoon session was a Carbon Inventory and Management Workshop, an invaluable opportunity to get direct advice from leading Taiwanese corporations which have already engaged with the CDP process. More than 200 participants from 136 companies attended this forum, including 58 attendees from our 30 suppliers.

In 2009 and 2010, together with ASrIA and BCSD-Taiwan, the results of CDP were announced to the public of Taiwan. Companies that conducted product carbon footprinting were also invited to share their experiences. We believe this event was beneficial to all attendants, and we will continuously take responsibility to lead our suppliers and the Taiwan ICT sector in facing the challenges of Energy and Climate Change.