Energy

In 1994, Merck established a corporate energy policy. Since then, Merck has made it a priority to reduce our demand for energy. Merck established a Center of Excellence (COE) in Energy that is responsible for identifying and implementing best practices for reducing energy use across the Company. Because the majority of Merck's demand for energy occurs at manufacturing, warehousing, laboratory and major office facilities, we target these types of facilities in our energy demand reduction program. In addition, we are evaluating how we use energy for employee business travel to look for opportunities to reduce costs and environmental impact.

We have made significant progress in enhancing the efficiency of our utility systems by evaluating and employing energy-savings technologies. In 2008, our Energy COE developed efficiency metrics for all major systems at Merck that demand energy and plans to use these metrics to drive improved performance. We also continue to enhance our Best Practices Evaluation Tool that allows sites to self-evaluate how well they are meeting best practices and to identify opportunities to improve. The tool looks at 14 categories of energy demand including, for example, HVAC, steam distribution, meters, lighting and compressed air. Our approach is rooted in the idea that the most efficient energy is the energy we don't use.

In early 2005, Merck adopted a corporate goal to reduce the intensity of its energy demand at our research, manufacturing and major office facilities by 25 percent per unit area (measured in millions of BTU's [MMBtu/ft² ]) by the end of 2008, from a baseline year of 2004. We have achieved and exceeded the goal by reducing our energy demand by 28 percent from our 2004 baseline year. Energy performance data are illustrated in the following table³.

Merck was able to accomplish this reduction by establishing goals, implementing global projects, developing tools, sharing best practices, and encouraging behavioral changes. Specific projects that were implemented to improve energy efficiency include installation of variable speed drives; re-commissioning of production, research and office buildings; and use of free cooling and heat recovery from recirculating water systems.

Greenhouse Gases

Since 2005, Merck has been reporting our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually through the Carbon Disclosure Project. In February 2008, Merck announced plans to reduce GHG emissions (PDF* ) from the Company's global facilities and automobiles by 12 percent by the end of 2012; from the baseline year of 2004.  Merck is a member of the  EPA Climate Leaders program. Merck's GHG targets, which have been accepted by the EPA Climate Leaders program, are based on an absolute reduction of 1.5 percent per year for eight years. 

Merck tracks four greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons. The vast majority of our GHG emissions are associated with CO₂. Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) are not tracked because they are typically not used at Merck facilities.

Based on 2008 results, Merck's net reduction in GHG emissions was 180,400 metric tons or 13.2 percent from a 2004 baseline that has been adjusted for sites that have been sold. However, approximately 50,000 metric tons of this reduction is from a facility that has been closed but not yet sold. If that facility had been sold, it would have been removed from the baseline and Merck's net reduction in GHG emissions would have been 131,700 metric tons or 9.6 percent from the corrected baseline. It is worth noting that Merck has reduced its GHG emissions by 21 percent overall from the original 2004 baseline.

Merck will continue to strive to meet its goal of a 12 percent reduction by 2012, even though new facilities currently under construction will add to Merck's total emissions.

In addition to setting a goal to reduce GHG emissions from its fixed facilities and automobiles, Merck has also begun to gather information from other potentially significant sources of GHGs. In 2008, Merck began to track the direct GHG emissions that are associated with the Merck air fleet. These emissions, which totaled 4,150 metric tons, were not included in our original GHG emissions goals and are small in comparison to overall GHG emissions.

We have also begun to gather the emissions associated with business travel. Estimated data for the years 2006 through 2008 will be used to develop information about environmentally smarter travel options for employees. We believe that the reductions over this period are the result of strict control of travel cost and increases in the use of electronic meeting technology.

GHG Emissions Related to Employee Business Travel
Type of Transportation	2008 Metric Tons	2007 Metric Tons	2006 Metric Tons
Air	53,100	77,100	71,500
Rail	50	80	100
Auto	1,700	2,900	2,900
Hotel	5,700	6,400	5,500
Total	60,500	68,400	80,000

Merck recognizes that although voluntary programs to reduce GHG emissions can be effective, national and even multinational frameworks will be required to address climate change. Merck supports a global approach that stimulates the development and broad use of energy-efficient technologies and avoids unnecessary economic disruptions and the inefficiencies of disparate local, state or regional requirements.

We are working on establishing a long-term goal for reductions in GHG emissions in line with the global desire among nations and regions to commit to making significant reductions through 2020 and 2050. Details of Merck's GHG emissions reduction plan are available in our climate change public policy position statement (PDF* ), which incorporates existing goals and initiatives related to climate change, including our energy and water use reduction goals. It also outlines our commitment to use renewable energy resources, to continue to implement energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, materials and products and to report on our progress toward achieving our goals. 

Key Initiatives

Merck is engaged in numerous initiatives worldwide to improve energy use and reduce GHG emissions from our operations.

Facility Design

• Because the vast majority of Merck's GHG emissions are the result of energy use, Merck factors the potential for future emissions into capital expenditure planning by requiring all new facilities to comply with our Energy Design Guide and Energy Conservation Planner.  When Merck purchases new facilities we evaluate them for energy efficiency and implementation of Merck's best practices as part of their integration into Merck.
• We have adopted a corporate-wide commitment to build all new laboratories and offices to achieve LEED^® Silver Certification or its equivalent globally.  In 2008, we achieved LEED certification for existing buildings at our Seattle Rosetta Laboratory and have designed and built our new administration building in Durham, North Carolina. 

Renewable Energy Projects

• In 2008, Merck inaugurated a 1.6 megawatt ground-mounted photovoltaic energy array at our corporate headquarters in New Jersey. It is one of the largest ground-mounted solar power tracking systems in the eastern half of the United States.
• At our Cramlington, UK manufacturing facility, we are investigating the feasibility of installing wind turbines to provide a significant portion of the energy demand for the facility.

Partnerships

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star: EPA's ENERGY STAR partnership provides a broad energy management strategy that serves as a useful framework for measuring our current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings and rewarding improvements. In 2008, EPA again recognized Merck with a Sustaining Partner Award. This is the fourth consecutive year Merck has been recognized by Energy Star for excellence in energy management. For more information on our awards click here.
• U.S. EPA Climate Leaders: Climate Leader is an EPA industry-government partnership. Member companies develop comprehensive climate change strategies and commit to reducing their impact on the global environment by completing a corporate-wide inventory of their GHG emissions. Companies report progress to Climate Leaders for review, which provides assurance that a well-implemented GHG data collection and management system is in place to track progress toward our GHG reduction goal. Merck's goal is to achieve a 12 percent absolute reduction in GHG emissions by 2012 from a baseline of 2004.
• Business Roundtable Climate RESOLVE (Responsible Environmental Steps, Opportunities to Lead by Voluntary Efforts): The Climate RESOLVE initiative seeks to have every company in every sector of the economy undertake voluntary actions to control GHG emissions and improve the GHG intensity of the U.S. economy.
• Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP): Merck has reported its GHG emissions since 2005 to the Carbon Disclosure Project and participates in workshops and seminars sponsored by the CDP.

Global Energy Use and GHG Performance Data Summary 2004-2008

Performance Indicators	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004 (baseline)
Total Energy Supply, MBTUs x 106	12.8	15.2	15.5	17.5	18.5
Energy Demand Intensity1, MMBTU/sq ft	0.47	0.52	0.54	0.61	0.65
Energy Source, % of total2
Purchased Electricity, %	36	29	29	28	28
Natural Gas, %	38	52	53	54	56
Fuel Oil, %	3	3	2	3	3
Coal, %	0	0	0	0	0
Fleet Fuel, %	23	17	16	15	13
Total GHG emissions (as C02 eq), million metric tons1,2	1.18	1.383	1.383	1.473	1.513
Total GHG emissions (as C02 eq), million metric tons, baseline adjusted for sale of facilities4.	1.18	1.29	1.29	1.36	1.36

The content on this page was last modified on September 15, 2009.

Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, and Schering-Plough Corporation, Kenilworth, NJ, USA, are now one company. We have combined our global operations under the name Merck & Co., Inc. We are working to update our corporate responsibility Web site to reflect our new, combined, global organization.

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¹ The difference between demand energy and supply energy is losses in energy production at Merck facilities. 

² Previously reported data have been modified to reflect the energy distribution with fleet fuel included and to reflect a change in calculation methodology.

³ Previously reported data have been mofified to reflect the contrbution of additional GHG compounds.

⁴ In accordance with U.S. EPA Climate Leaders protocol, GHG generation baseline data have been adjusted to remove facilities that have been sold.