DuPont chief tells US senate how climate change legislation will create new opportunities

Properly designed climate change legislation will provide companies with the certainty they need to innovate, creating new market opportunities and jobs for workers, DuPont Chair Chad Holliday told the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday.

''Environmentally effective and economically sustainable climate legislation will encourage markets to turn increasingly to greater energy efficiency, low carbon energy forms and bio-based products, accelerating development and deployment of technologies that will be critical for a low-carbon economy,'' Chad said.

In 2006, DuPont committed to increase annual revenue by at least $2 billion from products that create energy efficiency and/or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2015.  DuPont has numerous products and technologies in these categories.  Here are a few examples.

• DuPont provides more than 10 products that are critical to the manufacturing of materials used for solar energy.  DuPont expects company sales to this the industry to triple by 2012 to $1 billion. 
• DuPont provides a broad portfolio of refrigerants technologies, including a new automobile air conditioning refrigerant that has 300 times lower global warming potential than current refrigerants. 
• DuPont is actively engaged in technologies to produce products from renewable sources, rather than hydrocarbons, and nearing market readiness for two next-generation biofuels – cellulosic ethanol and biobutanol.
• Pioneer Hi-Bred provides farmers with seeds that are increasingly resistant to adverse weather conditions, pest resistant, fertilizer efficient and high yielding. 
• DuPont makes products that enable greater energy efficiency in building construction.