The low-carbon project: how Safran Electrical & Power is reducing its environmental footprint

Decarbonization is a key challenge for the Group and Safran Electrical & Power, starting in 2021 and over the coming years. Why?

The fight against global warming, which took shape with the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement*, is one of the major challenges of the coming century. It has led to the creation of a Low-carbon plan common to all industrial sectors and an ambitious objective for the aviation industry: carbon neutral air transport.

Safran is fully committed to this initiative. The Group has launched a two-pronged Low-carbon plan. The first is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by our industrial facilities and infrastructures – gas, electricity, liquefied petroleum gas, etc – which corresponds to scopes 1 and 2 of the project. The second aims to reduce the carbon footprint of our indirect emissions – business travel, purchase of goods and services, freight – and of our products throughout their life cycle, which is scope 3 of the project. This is a major technological challenge!

At Safran Electrical & Power, we play a key role: through our technological contribution to the development of a future generation of increasingly electric aircraft, through the hybridization of engines and through the development of all-electric propulsion for small aircraft. Our teams are highly committed to this subject.

In concrete terms, what are the objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

Safran has set a target of 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025, compared with 2018, i.e. -198,000 metric tons of CO2. Safran Electrical & Power must reduce its CO2 emissions by 8,300 metric tons by 2025 for scopes 1 and 2 of the project. And to be even more ambitious, I have raised this target to -10,000 metric tons of CO2!

We have created an action plan for each core function of the company, which will be rolled out to each division. At the same time, the divisions will optimize the energy performance of their infrastructures. In 2021, the Group will also set objectives for scope 3 of the project. This is a real challenge for Safran Electrical & Power, since 90% of our CO2 emissions are linked to the purchase of goods and services.

What action is Safran Electrical & Power taking in the short and medium term?

We have entered the operational phase for scopes 1 and 2 of the project. To reduce energy consumption at our facilities, we have set up energy audits, mainly at our French and Moroccan sites, and recently in the United States. The purpose of these audits is to identify our drivers for energy reduction and associated actions**.

We have also begun purchasing low carbon energy with the implementation of a Power Purchase Agreement in Chihuahua, Mexico, which allows us to reduce our CO2 emissions by 3,200 metric tons per year. A new Power Purchase Agreement is under evaluation for all our sites in the United States.

Finally, we have begun research into renewable energy production and self-sufficiency, in particular the production of photovoltaic energy at our plants in the United-States, the United-Kingdom, Morocco and France. Safran Electrical & Power's energy transition is underway!

* The Paris Agreement is a global agreement on global warming that aims to limit it to "well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels" by 2100.

**These actions concern the regulation of heating systems, the optimization of compressed air networks, the insulation of buildings, etc.