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Flipping the switch on renewable energy. |
On March 1, the 409-acre campus at 3M’s global headquarters flipped the switch to become powered by 100% renewable electricity. |
This was the first step in a commitment to move to 100% renewable electricity in all its facilities around the world, beginning with its own headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. |
As part of this commitment, 3M joined RE100, a global corporate leadership initiative led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP (formerly known as Carbon Disclosure Project), that brings together influential businesses committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity. 3M has set an interim target to obtain at least 50% of its total electricity from renewables by 2025 and 100% by 2050. |
Committing to wind and solar power sources is part of 3M’s strategic focus on Science for Climate, with the aspiration to innovate to decarbonize industry, accelerate global climate solutions and improve the company’s environmental footprint. The commitment will help decrease greenhouse gases produced by 3M, already down 68% since 2002. |
have decreased by 68% |
New solar farm powers 3M Industrial Mineral Products Division (IMPD) site. |
In sunny California, a new solar farm installed on a hill above 3M’s IMPD site provides 20% of the plant’s total electricity. |
The 1-megawatt solar system will produce 2.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year — enough to supply power to about 750 homes. |
The site will also sell back excess power to the grid during peak times. |
The 70-year-old plant manufactures roofing granules, including the award-winning 3M™ Smog-reducing Granules and 3M™ Cool Roofing Granules that help reduce pollution and improve public health. |
“Although a lot has changed over the past 70 years, one thing that remains consistent is 3M IMPD California’s commitment to advancing Sustainability and continually improving our operations and products,” says Site Manager Angie Byars. |
The solar farm is helping advance 3M’s goal of providing 50% of the company’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025. |
Solar panel installation at 3M Canada headquarters. |
Also contributing to 3M’s Science for Climate goals is a 10-kilowatt solar panel that was installed on the rooftop of 3M Canada’s headquarters in London, Ontario. The system went live in spring 2019 and generated 12,000 kilowatthours by the end of the year. |
This energy generation helped the 50-acre site progress toward its goal of reducing energy use by 3% per year. |
“The solar panels at our headquarters are a tangible symbol of our Sustainability culture,” says 3M Canada Sustainability Director Richard Chartrand. “In addition to generating renewable energy, they serve as a daily reminder to 3M employees of the company’s global commitment. Canada’s solar panel installation is one of the steps we’re taking to engage employees in Sustainability every day.” |
While 3M converts its operations to wind and solar power, the company continues to support the global renewable energy sector by producing solutions for customers that improve the reliability and efficiency of renewable energy, including solar and wind. |
In 2019 alone, 3M’s products helped customers avoid more than 17 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. |
“We are continuing to step up our leadership toward a more sustainable future — in our own operations and in solutions for customers,” says 3M CEO Mike Roman. |
Since 2002, greenhouse gases produced by 3M “By joining RE100 and switching to 100% renewable electricity globally, 3M is building Sustainability into its business growth strategy and showing that the two go hand in hand,” says Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group. “Seeing such a large manufacturer commit to ‘go all in’ on renewables to produce sustainable new products is an encouraging step forward.” |
With this commitment, 3M has become the largest company in partner Xcel Energy’s Midwest service area of nine states to move to 100% renewable electricity. The majority of the power for 3M’s headquarters will be supplied by Xcel wind farms located near Pipestone, Minnesota. |
Photo credit: Lumos Solar. |
Feature stories 18 19 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Science for Climate |
It’s a hot summer day, and you have to get to work. You squeeze onto the crowded train. It isn’t air-conditioned. Outside, the temperature approaches 90˚F (32˚C). Inside the train, it’s about five to seven degrees hotter. |
In India and other countries in Southeast Asia, this is reality. The outdoor temperatures are summer-like year-round, and the train cars can get very hot; in fact, North India reported four casualties1 due to the stifling heat on trains without air-conditioning during a two-week heat wave in 2019. |
Cooler trains thanks to a new 3M coating. |
How does it work? |
A special pigmented formulation reflects solar radiation and reduces the temperature of the metal on which it’s coated. The chemistry of this durable water-based paint formulation allows for outdoor application, with an expected life of 10 years.3 3M India scientists began developing Scotchkote RG 700 in 2016. By 2018, small batches were being produced and tested. In January 2019, they started producing it for widespread commercial use. |
The water-based product is low-VOC, making it the first of its kind in India. |
Next up are similar projects in Singapore and Germany. That’s a lot of cool customers. |
1 The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ world/asia/india-heatwave-traindeaths-weather-temperature-hindupilgrimage-jhansi-a8954736.html 2 Based on a joint exercise conducted and data collected by 3M and Indian railways inside air-conditioned (AC) coaches. |
3 This is the expected life based on artificial accelerated weathering results, which corresponds to 10+ years of expected life. |
By reducing the heat that penetrates the cabin, it reduces the power consumption needed for air conditioning the trains by more than 20%.2. |
Feature stories 20 21 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Science for Climate than 20%.2 for air-conditioning the trains by more reduces the power consumption needed the heat that penetrates the cabin, it. |
Scotchkote RG 700. By reducing get hot — and can benefit from but even trains with air conditioning coating to non-air-conditioned trains, |
The priority has been to apply the or coaches, with 150 more planned. 100 non-air-conditioned train cars, 700 had been applied to more than By the end of 2019, Scotchkote RG inside and increase passenger comfort. |
trains in order to reduce the temperature the coating to the roofs of passenger department partnered with 3M to add. |
The Indian government’s railway components. outdoor enclosures with electronic luxury buses, industrial sheds, and and other enclosed structures like reducing the temperature inside trains without absorbing it, effectively that reflects heat from the sun Heat Reflective Coating is a coating 3M™ |
Scotchkote™ |
RG 700 Solar trains by as much as 15%. temperature in these helping to reduce the. |
A 3M product is |
“Can 3M’s treasure chest of technologies be leveraged to help drive widespread adoption of renewable energy?” |
That was the question the Renewable Energy Solutions Team in the 3M Electrical Markets Division (EMD) aimed to answer when it was formed in 2009, according to 3M Global Wind & Solar Light Management Business Manager Mike Strommen, PhD. The idea was to combine 3M technologies to create solutions for high-value needs in solar and wind energy systems. |
“Our products make solar modules and wind turbines more reliable1 and lower the cost of renewable energy,” says Strommen, “so we are in the bullseye of Sustainability.” |
“This was a great example of the 3M product innovation model,” says Strommen. 3M leveraged that technology and applied it to a new industry with very different needs in terms of durability. Instead of having the film tucked away inside an LCD monitor where it is mostly protected from the elements, it needed to be used outdoors under intense light, high moisture levels, and wide temperature swings. This presented the team with a whole new set of challenges, but “we are really good at light management, and really good at making weatherable films, so this was a natural fit for 3M’s capabilities,” Strommen says. |
Currently, over 300 million solar modules are produced each year industry-wide, and 3M Light Redirecting Film is used in about one-sixth of them. “LRF is three years in, and it’s already making an impact by reducing the cost of solar energy,” says Strommen. “It’s not speculative. 3M is making a real difference.” |
Leveraging light for innovative solar energy solutions 4% 2. |
Ultra Barrier Solar Film. |
Most solar modules have a glass layer, are inflexible, and fairly heavy. 3M™ Ultra Barrier Solar Film (UBF) acts as a replacement for the glass layer — it is flexible, lightweight, durable, and can even be rolled up. It is a solar solution for anywhere flexibility is needed. UBF is the result of a decade of transparent barrier technology that is protected by more than 40 patents. It is also a solution for buildings that can’t handle the heavy load of typical solar panels and can work on curved surfaces — one 3M customer has even used the film on headsets, where the power generated by the flexible photovoltaic cell means the headsets may never need to be plugged in or charged. The future possibilities are exciting to consider. |
Solar Radiative Film. |
A newer, up-and-coming 3M solar energy product is called 3M™ Solar Radiative Film. This film is for customers needing more energyefficient cooling systems, such as those used for grocery store refrigeration, building air conditioning, and data center cooling. The innovative film is actually cooler than the ambient air temperature. This non-intuitive property is achieved by reflecting nearly all incoming light from the sun, while at the same time radiating energy to the sky. When used in sky-facing panels that are in contact with a closed fluid loop, the film has the potential to efficiently remove heat from cooling systems, which can result in significant energy savings.3 3M will continue to leverage its Light Management Technology Platform to provide innovative solutions that reduce the cost and increase the reliability of solar energy systems. And light management is just one of 51 Technology Platforms that 3M combines and uses every day as the company continuously innovates to drive toward a future of clean, inexpensive, reliable, and ubiquitous energy. |
1 Demonstrated during internal and customer testing. Some testing is available publicly, such as https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/ files/2014/01/f7/pvmrw13_ps5_3m_nachtigal.pdf. |
2 3M and customer data shows an approximately 2% gain from LRF over tabbing ribbons and a 2.3% gain from LRF between cells. These numbers are conservative and change based on module design. |
3Based on current field trial data. |
LRF increases energy output by approximately. |
Feature stories 22 23 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Science for Climate used in LCD monitors. 3M™ |
Brightness Enhancement Film, was adapted from a product called The technology used to create LRF by approximately 4%.2 energy, increasing the energy output the parts of the cells that do produce non-active areas of solar modules onto between cells to reflect light from placed over the tabbing ribbons and. |
LRF is a reflective mirror film that is captures this previously wasted light. |
3M™ |
Light Redirecting Film (LRF) that surface. 3M created a product called represents an additional non-active space between individual solar cells reducing the power output. Also, the ribbons cover some of the cell material, electricity. Thin wires called tabbing parts cannot be converted into which means that light striking those of the exposed area is non-active, |
In a typical solar module, up to 15% Film (LRF) Light Redirecting following: meet these needs, including the commercialized several products to better use of light. The team has needs still exist, especially around the commoditized, plenty of high-value of components, and many of them are Although solar modules don’t have alot Innovative solar solutions |
As a company rooted in scientific exploration and the belief that every problem has a solution, in 2019, 3M embarked on a journey to calculate downstream Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. |
“I cannot stress enough how leading edge this is,” says Sustainability expert Lisa Grice, Executive Director, North America, Anthesis Group. “In my experience, I am not aware of another company with as broad a portfolio that has done this. 3M is breaking new ground and showing other companies it can be done.” |
The World Resources Institute (WRI)/World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, used by more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies, is an international accounting tool that helps businesses understand, measure, and manage their GHG emissions. The GHG Protocol separates emissions into three categories: |
Scope 1 — All direct emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by a company. Examples include a company’s facilities and owned vehicles. |
Taking inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. |
It took three years to create the Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Standard, and 3M was one of the companies that road tested it before it was released by the GHG Protocol in 2011. |
Scope 3 includes 15 separate categories of emission sources, both upstream and downstream of operations, and, as explained on the GHG Protocol website, “allows companies to assess their entire value chain emissions impact and identify where to focus reduction activities.” “We looked at Scope 3 [in 2011], and it was too daunting for us to even contemplate,” says EHS Laboratory Manager Brian Mader, “but in 2012, we were able to start calculating some of those categories.” |
The lab calculated Scope 3 categories one through eight and category 13, but due to the complexity of 3M’s multiple businesses and 55,000 products, categories nine through 12 were not evaluated (and categories 14 and 15 do not apply to 3M’s structure). |
In 2019, the EHS Laboratory took on the formidable task of calculating categories nine through 12 (9: Transportation and distribution; 10: Processing of sold products; 11: Use of sold products; 12: End-of-life treatment of sold products). |
“The standard we follow called out an exemption for complex companies like 3M.” And yet they felt it was not only the right thing to do, it was also necessary in order to take the next steps toward reaching 3M’s corporate Sustainability goals. |
3M has had GHG reduction goals since 2007. To continue its industryleading efforts to reduce its own GHG emissions, they wanted to create a goal in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep global temperature increases below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial temperatures, in alignment with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). |
As Mader explains it, there can only be a finite amount of GHGs in the atmosphere before the global temperature rises more than 1.5°C. With this detailed science-based analysis, 3M will be able to look at where they are today and will then create a plan to do their part to keep the level of GHGs below this critical value. |
How they did it. |
The first step in 3M’s current Scope 3 work was compiling the SKU data for all 55,000 3M products as well as the quantity of each SKU sold and the size or mass of the product. Next, they distilled the 55,000 down to those with a material Scope 3 GHG footprint and identified 300 fundamental categories based on the composition and use of each product. Emission factors were then determined for each product category. |
From there, based on data collected, they worked to calculate the emissions for each of the Scope 3 categories. |
“The internal 3M collaboration was invaluable,” Grice says. “The fact that 3M was able to get all the right people to collaborate and gather all the data needed was impressive.” |
By the end of 2019, 3M developed methodologies to calculate Scope 3 categories nine through 12. Due to these new extensive calculations, quality assurance processes are being developed in 2020. Results of these efforts will be published in the 2021 Sustainability Report. |
Goal setting. |
Once 3M has the data, the next step is to evaluate pathways toward its goal by determining what makes sense for 3M as a company and what they can achieve as far as reducing their carbon footprint. 3M’s global Sustainability team, including Chief Sustainability Officer Gayle Schueller, will work with the different 3M business groups to identify top priorities and opportunities to advance 3M’s actions on Science for Climate. |
In addition to 3M’s focus on Science for Climate, the calculations will help inform 3M’s activities around Science for Circular — especially the Scope 3 category 12, which includes the emissions associated with end-of-life treatment of sold products. |
3M reduced overall Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 68% |
Photo credit: ©FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico “We weren’t required to do any of this,” says Mader. |
Feature stories 24 25 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Science for Climate products and diverse product portfolio. because of the sheer number of 3M’s are even more difficult to calculate. |
Accounting and Reporting Standard, the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Scope 3 emissions, as defined by 70 countries. with more than 200 facilities in over highly technical manufacturing company are difficult to calculate for a diverse, |