Caterpillar has pledged to reduce its direct global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its facilities by 20% from 2002 levels by 2010. Caterpillar is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines.

The company committed to the reduction target as part of the US EPA Climate Leaders GHG program, which Caterpillar joined in 2003.

The 20 percent target would cover global greenhouse gas emissions on a revenue-normalized basis for the period between 2002 and 2010.

According to EPA guidelines, setting a revenue-normalized target for GHG reductions allows a company to account for increases or decreases in production over time.  Those companies then focus on GHG emissions per unit of production as the key performance indicator to measure GHG intensity.

Between 1990 and 2001, Caterpillar reduced direct GHG emissions from its facilities by 450,000 tonnes. The reduction resulted from fuel switching, process changes, and energy conservation programs.

In many cases, Caterpillar has used its own products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at its facilities. Examples of such efforts include using natural gas-fired combined heat and power units featuring Solar Turbines in conjunction with units that recover waste heat. Such systems are not only more cost efficient, but they also have substantially reduced GHG emissions at those Caterpillar facilities.