BETHESDA, Md., April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- From a system
that turns waste into clean fuel, to unmanned aerial systems that
help first responders, in 2015 Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
innovated to expand how it's addressing environmental and social
challenges. The Corporation shared details about these projects and
others with the release of its 2015 Sustainability Report, "Science
of Citizenship". The report demonstrates progress on issues that
are the most critical to stakeholders and long-term business
success. In total, the Corporation achieved 95 percent of its
sustainability goals.
"We're a company of nearly 60,000 engineers and scientists,"
said Leo S. Mackay, Jr., vice
president of Ethics and Sustainability for Lockheed Martin. "We're
taking our industry-leading engineering capability and applying it
to significant resource efficiency and sustainability challenges.
Not only are we meeting our own goals for reducing our
environmental footprint, we're also creating technology and
redesigning processes that will help others make progress."
The report highlights several innovations that helped Lockheed
Martin achieve its sustainability goals in 2015:
- Alternative Energy: The Corporation broke ground on a
250 kilowatt gasification plant in partnership with Concord Blue.
The plant uses a mix of organic materials to produce synthetic gas
that can be used to create electricity, fuels, hydrogen, heat or
steam. This reduces emissions and waste going to landfills. To make
renewable energy more accessible and affordable, Lockheed Martin
also advanced the development of energy storage systems for
industrial and utility customers. Safely adding more clean power to
electricity grids helps reduce carbon emissions and supports
efforts to improve electricity access to the nearly 1.3 billion
people (18 percent of the global population) who lack basic energy
access.
- Advanced Space Technology: Lockheed Martin assembled the
first Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-R series
(GOES-R) advanced weather satellite, which will provide
higher-resolution images of severe storms five times faster than
NOAA's existing GOES series. These early warnings will allow for
better preparation, saving lives and community infrastructure. The
Corporation also opened a test facility to help detect, track, and
catalog 200,000 objects orbiting the planet more than 1.5 million
times a day. Orbital debris threatens telecommunications and
military communications infrastructure and the safety of human
space travel.
- Enhanced Emergency Response: Lockheed Martin
successfully demonstrated its K-MAX unmanned helicopter's
firefighting and emergency response capability. The helicopter can
help mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events and support
humanitarian relief efforts. In addition, a single Indago
quadcopter was able to survey 2,500 acres of demolished areas of
the tiny Pacific island nation of Vanuatu following a massive category five
storm with 155-mph winds. The quadcopter completed the
search-and-rescue oriented task in just 12 days.
- Optimized Manufacturing: Lockheed Martin expanded use of
3-D printing, which leads to material resource savings, improved
durability and shortened assembly time. For example, the
Corporation improved the design and production of omnidirectional
antennas that fly on all spacecraft. They serve as the main
communications link between satellites and ground control. The new
antenna, designed specifically for 3-D printing, replaced 12
complex parts and decreased materials necessary for production.
Overall, the new approach slashed production time from months to
days, cut machine run time, and reduced costs by 50%.
- Reduced Emissions: In 2015, the Corporation activated a
150,000-square-foot solar project in Florida that will produce approximately 3,300
megawatt hours of emissions-free electricity annually. This and
other projects have resulted in renewable energy comprising nearly
one-fifth of total electricity load used in business operations. As
a result of renewable energy credit purchases, we avoided 28% of
carbon emissions from purchased electricity in direct
operations.
Lockheed Martin is alone among U.S. aerospace and defense
companies as a member of the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability
World Index and recently earned its highest-ever ranking on CR
Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, placing eighth.
Lockheed Martin's 2015 Sustainability Report was independently
assured and compiled in accordance with the Global Reporting
Initiative G4 core guidelines.
For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/Sustainability
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and
services.
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