ARMONK, NY — IBM saved $26.8 million in energy expenses in 2009 as a result of companywide conservation efforts that surpassed corporate targets, the firm said in annual reports that chart progress toward corporate responsibility and environmental goals. 

Last year, 1,900 energy conservation projects at 270 IBM facilities around the world helped deliver savings in energy consumption that were equivalent to 5.4 percent of the company's total energy use. The corporate goal for the year was 3.5 percent. 

The projects also enabled the company to avoid:

• Consumption of more than 246,000 megawatt-hours of electricity.
• Consumption of more than 410,000 million BTUs of fuel oil.
• More than 142,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

The figures represent just one segment of the 50-page annual Corporate Responsibility Report and 48-page report Environment Report that were released yesterday. The reports recap recent industry firsts by IBM in eliminating toxic compounds and details the company's performance in the past year in several major areas including:

• Energy conservation and climate protection.
• Process stewardship.
• Product stewardship.
• Supply chain management. 

This year is the 20th anniversary of IBM's environmental reporting program. 

"We are particularly proud to have sustained this practice for 20 years, during periods when the environment was not always as popular a subject as it is today; during profound changes in the global economy, our industry and our business model; and during periods of differing financial results." said Wayne S. Balta, IBM's vice president for Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety, in the environmental report. 

From 1990, when the company published its first environmental report, to 2009,  IBM said it has:

• Saved 5,100 gigawatt hours of electricity consumption.
• Avoided nearly 3.4 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, which the firms estimates as being equals to 50 percent of the company's global CO2 emissions in 1990.
• Saved more than $370 million through energy conservation projects and related efforts. 

IBM also compared the expense for conservation and other environmental programs to the environmental benefits and reduced costs delivered by its efforts. 

In 2009, the company spent $14.3 million in capital and $96 million in operating expense to build, maintain and upgrade plants and labs to enhance environmental performance and manage environmental programs. IBM achieved an estimated environmental savings and cost avoidance of $152.4 million compared to the $96 million in operating expense -- a ratio of return of about 1.6 to 1. 

IBM also reported on: 

Water conservation. By the end of 2009, IBM's microelectronics manufacturing operations attained an average annual water savings of 3.1 percent over the past five years compared with its goal of 2 percent across a rolling five-year period.

CO2 Emissions. Energy-related CO2 emissions in 2009 fell 2.6 percent compared to 2008. The firm's purchase of renewable energy last year equaled 11.3 percent of the company total energy use in 2009. Combined, the efforts resulted in a 5.7 percent reduction in IBM's energy-related CO2 emissions by the end of 2009 in comparison to a 2005 baseline. IBM's goal is to achieve a 12 percent reduction in energy related CO2 emissions by 2012.