Greener Manufacturing | Green Energy News

May 9, 2004 – Vol.9 No.7

GREENER MANUFACTURING.

Consider this: The first pollution control technologies for industries were smokestacks themselves. Until towering chimneys were developed, the smoke and fumes of manufacturing were simply vented out of holes in the roofs of factories. The tall smoke stack - now the symbol of polluting and heavy industry - was a way to release smoke far above peoples heads leaving the air near the surface cleaner to breathe.

Of course the pollution from smokestacks was (and still is) blown by prevailing winds for those downwind to deal with.

Certainly things continue to change for the better, though slowly.

Honda, already known for its green vehicles, will be adding green attributes to its automobile manufacturing process when it builds a $123 million paint facility at its Marysville Auto Plant in Marysville, Ohio. The 234,000 square foot expansion will be primarily to introduce water-borne paints to the Honda’s production process. With new painting systems developed by the company, including high efficiency ovens, air recycling systems and highly efficient variable speed drive motors, the company also expects to reduce energy consumption in the painting process by 34 percent.

Further, as part of the investment, a 20-million gallon pond will be built to collect rain water that will be used in chillers to cool the plant in warmer weather. Cool rain water will drain into the 7-acre pond from rooftops and parking lots.

Honda began building motorcycles in Marysville in 1979, cars by 1982. The company has over $6 billion invested in the facility. Visit Honda media at http://www.hondanews.com/ .