This April, Toyota had a lot to celebrate in addition to Earth Day. On April 22nd the automaker held a ceremony at its Blue Springs manufacturing facility in Mississippi to officially activate its 50 kilowatt array of solar panels, the fourth largest ever constructed in the state. Also being celebrated that day was its ninth consecutive ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year- Sustained Excellence award. Toyota was once again recognized for its dedicated efforts to become more energy efficient.
Doug Formby, vice president of administration at Toyota, reflects on these accomplishments and says, "The 'powering on' of our 50 kilowatt solar array and recognition of the EPA's ENERGY STAR award demonstrates our commitment of 'Respect for the planet.' Plus, it's another step in our long-term vision of being the model sustainable plant in the region, covering four key areas including: Performance; Biodiversity; Use of renewable energy and Education."1
Toyota's momentum to tackle its environmental goals keeps growing as well. Thus far it has fulfilled its vision by successfully developing a paint system that uses less energy, created a more advanced recycling program, begun utilizing waterless irrigation on the plant's site, and made use of geothermal wells that naturally heat and cool parts of the facility.
Looking more closely at Toyota's global energy saving efforts, over the last 11 years energy improvements at 14 of its facilities have saved over $330 million with a 21 percent decrease in energy usage during the production of each vehicle. This is an impressive amount, especially when considering Toyota conserved enough energy during this time span to power about 28,000 average households for an entire year.
With so much incredible progress made, here at Lithia Toyota of Redding we are looking forward to how the automaker plans to continue being the leader in sustainability to make its facilities even more green. Continue following our blog so we can keep you updated on all of the latest developments. Also feel free to stop by our showroom in Redding, CA to check out our great variety of efficient new Toyota models. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Source: 1http://toyotanewsroom.com/releases/toyota+mississippi+solar+power+earth+day.htm
