Clean deal

The main directions of Volkswagen's environmental program are greening its own production, reducing fuel consumption and reducing exhaust toxicity, and replacing diesel fuel with vegetable oil. Meanwhile, new developments in the field of alternative energy sources offer hope of one day doing without fuel at all. (Photo: Volkswagen representative office in Russia )

For large businesses in developed countries, their own program of environmental protection activities has become as obligatory an attribute as a press service or an Internet website. The main part of the program, as a rule, is aimed at reducing the harm caused to nature by the production of the company itself or the functioning of its products. Thus, the famous automobile concern Volkswagen in 1998 spent 66 million marks on preventing pollution of the atmosphere and water bodies (purification of air emissions, transition to closed water use systems, etc.) and another 169 million on other technology changes, reducing the impact of the company's factories on the environment. Some of these innovations, in addition to the environmental benefits, also have purely monetary benefits: for example, the system for recycling washing water introduced at the plant in Wolsburg brings the concern 740 thousand marks annually. The same category of “doubly profitable” (win-win) technological solutions also includes the concern’s constant desire to reduce fuel consumption on the cars produced by the concern (Volkswagens produced in 1999 consumed on average 15 percent less gasoline or diesel fuel than cars produced in 1990 year, by 2002 the concern promises to bring these savings to 25 percent). As a result, not only the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides and other environmentally harmful compounds are reduced, but also the operating costs of the car owner - which, of course, increases the competitiveness of the concern's products.

However, the main benefit from the greening of production and goods is indirect. The discerning European buyer pays attention not only to the consumer qualities of the product, but also to the environmental cost of their creation and operation, which is reflected in the practice adopted in the European Union of certifying production according to the International Organization for Standards (ISO) system, which includes the so-called environmental audit . Almost all Volkswagen plants are ISO certified; the remaining three (in Brussels, Bratislava and Hannover) must undergo this procedure by the end of this year. For each new model, the concern's specialists draw up a special environmental report reflecting all stages of its life cycle: energy consumption during production, materials used (metals, plastics), the amount and composition of emissions produced by the model, a recycling scheme after the end of its service life (since 1998, Volkswagen " took over the disposal of scrap and waste generated in the service workshops of its foreign dealers). It is clear that all this requires costs, but a different policy would not allow the company to remain one of the leaders in the European automobile market.

It is sometimes difficult to know whether a development is driven by environmental considerations, a specific commercial consideration, or plans for the future. Since the early 80s, Volkswagen has been experimenting with the creation of diesel fuel based on rapeseed oil. All diesel engines of the concern produced after June 1996 are capable of running on such fuel. We can consider that this is the next step in the greening of cars: rapeseed oil, when burned, produces less sulfur and nitrogen oxides, soot, xenobiotics (substances that are not formed in the biosphere apart from human activity), etc. It can be considered that the cost of operation is cheaper: although the cost Such fuel is slightly higher than regular fuel; it is not subject to the special “environmental” tax on petroleum products in force in Germany, as a result of which a liter of rapeseed diesel costs the consumer 10 pfennigs less than usual.

Nevertheless, representatives of the concern admit that in the foreseeable future its consumption will amount to a maximum of several percent of the total volume of diesel fuel. But this work has a much longer scope - for those times when automobile civilization faces the threat of exhaustion of fossil fuels. Thus, the DuPont corporation, in particular, which produced refrigerants for the refrigeration industry, was the first to create commercially acceptable alternatives to freon technologies and, after the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, it turned out to be a virtual monopolist in this area.

However, corporate environmental programs usually contain sections from which no financial benefit can be expected - neither direct nor indirect, neither now nor in the future. With the money of the same Volkswagen, in particular, a serious international scientific program is being carried out to study the biodiversity of the North Atlantic - it is clear that, no matter how perfect its cars reach, it is unlikely that they will ever enter into serious interaction with the inhabitants of the ocean depths. Another major automobile corporation, Ford, spent $5 million on studying Brazilian rain forests and finances forest planting and gorilla breeding at the Atlanta Zoo.

Of course, the amounts allocated for such “abstract” sections of the program are many times less than those spent on environmental improvements of one’s own economy. The wisdom of this relationship has been proven to the contrary: when companies whose core activities are environmentally unsound try to improve their image by donating to environmental activities, this usually provokes a strong reaction from "green" organizations and ultimately draws public attention to the company's internal environmental woes - that is, brings results that are directly opposite to those desired. Just recently, on the eve of Earth Day, April 22, Corporate Watch, an international environmental organization, presented awards for greenwashing - imitation of environmental activities. Among the winners were well-known oil companies Royal Dutch/Shell, Unocal and Chevron. In awarding the latter an undistinguished prize, environmentalists sarcastically reported that the corporation spent more money on advertising its environmental program “People Act” than on its actual implementation. In general, attempts by oil workers to act as sponsors of environmental activities infuriate “green” activists: “They donate millions so as not to be responsible for damage amounting to billions!”

"Greens" are very wary of the environmental activities of large corporations, which in the ideology of the Western "green" movement are traditionally assigned the role of "enemy of nature # 1", so Corporate Watch's assessments can hardly be considered objective. But precisely because all big business is a priori suspected of hypocrisy, only those corporations to which the “greens” have specific complaints are included in the list of enemies. On the other hand, this does not prevent environmental activists from accepting regalia from the hands of their enemies. Thirdly, the fact that no corporation today can completely ignore the environmental side of its activities and at the same time maintain respectability is something that the “greens” rightly consider their success.

It is obvious that Russia, like all post-Soviet states, is still far from this. Public organizations and environmental institutions (reserves, national parks, etc.), with a certain persistence and skill, manage to more or less regularly solicit some donations from successful corporations and banks - the size of which, however, is not comparable with the costs of Western countries for the same purposes. companies. But if you don’t count Intercombank (which differed from other donors not even in the size of the costs for saving Amur tigers and helping Far Eastern reserves - $150 thousand - but in their meaningfulness and systematicity; however, after August 1998 the bank had no time for tigers), then Today in Russia we can name, perhaps, only one large company that has a serious environmental program - Siberian Aluminum.

The group's total environmental costs amounted to 75 million rubles in 1998 and 85 in 1999 - figures that are quite pale compared to similar expenses of Volkswagen or Ford, but incredible for a Russian corporation. The emphasis, again, is on greening one’s own economy: the Samara Metallurgical and Sayan Aluminum Smelters have been ISO certified, and they have completely modern systems for monitoring and cleaning all types of waste. As part of the program, a system for collecting and recycling used aluminum cans has been created and expanded, and a technology for recycling mercury lamps and devices is being developed.

Something also goes to projects not related to the main activity - last year SibAl established the “Wild Country” fund for their implementation. Its program includes assistance to the reserves of the south of Central Siberia (Khakassky and Chazy, the company helped the latter even before the foundation was established), an all-Russian competition for reserve guards, and the development of ecotourism, which allows Russian reserves to earn money themselves. An agreement in principle was reached on participation in the financing of the RAO UES Fund and OAO Severstal; LUKOIL showed interest in the venture.

The company's management does not hide the purely commercial motives of its policy. Environmental friendliness is a possible key to the markets of developed countries, where the consumer, as already mentioned, is interested not only in the quality, but also in the environmental price of the product (“there is a lot of aluminum in Russia, but if you are worried about whether you are contributing to the destruction of nature, buy ours!” ).

At the same time, the necessary words are spoken about a sincere commitment to the ideals of sustainable development and environmental safety. But in the end, who cares what industrialists actually do? If they eliminate harmful emissions and organize the recycling of unpleasant waste, society is already good.

And if they manage to impose a “green race” on their competitors, then it will be even better.


The absence of smoke above the chimneys of the Sayan aluminum smelter is not a stop in production, but a normal operating mode. This gives the Siberian Aluminum group the moral right to invest money directly in the protection of rare species - in particular, the Siberian kandyk and the Tuvan beaver. (Photo: National Foundation "A Protected Country" )