LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Although Bayer increased its worldwide production volume five percent last year, its carbon dioxide emissions went up one percent, and when measured in terms of CO2 emissions per metric ton of product, emissions actually fell 2.7 percent.

Bayer announced this and other environmental progress recently, stating it expects its greenhouse gas emissions to remain at their present level through 2020.

The company's Climate Program encompasses a number of projects aimed at reducing energy use and emissions. The Bayer Climate Check project is an attempt to analyze and reduce CO2 emissions from its industrial production, and the company is on track to assess all of its global production facilities by the end of 2009.

The analysis takes into account raw material use, logistics and energy use. A pilot phase of the project looking at five plants in Germany has identified a potential 10 percent reduction in CO2 emissions.

Bayer is also working on a biofuels project using the jatropha plant, which can grow on barren land not suitable for growing food. Although the plant is inedible its seeds can be turned into biofuels.