Environmental Stewardship

We are focused on maintaining our operations in an environmentally responsible manner; investing in low-carbon fuels production and renewable energy projects that contribute toward reducing company-wide GHG emissions; and participating in ecological and conservation projects. 

We have made multibillion-dollar capital investments to sustain our operations as part of our commitment to safety, reliability, preventive equipment maintenance and environmental responsible operations for our refineries.

• In 2022, three years ahead of schedule, we achieved our short-term 2025 GHG emissions target to reduce and displace the equivalent to 63% of the tonnage from our global refinery GHG emissions (Scopes 1 and 2).
• Refinery absolute reductions and our low-carbon projects are expected to generate reductions and displacements equivalent to 100% of the tonnage from our global refinery GHG emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2035.
• By 2038, refinery absolute reductions and our low-carbon projects are expected to generate reductions and displacements equivalent to 100% of the tonnage of the GHG emissions from our refining, renewable diesel and ethanol business segments (Scopes 1 and 2), including from refining, ethanol and renewable diesel production.
• By 2050, Valero has an ambition to reduce and displace company-wide GHG emissions for Scopes 1, 2, 3 and 4 by more than 45 million metric tons CO2e.

As part of our strategy to be the safest, most reliable and best operator in the business, we will continue our efforts to: 

• Focus on safety, reliability and operations excellence to consistently deliver essential transportation fuels and petrochemical feedstocks;
• Strive to reduce emissions, increase efficiency and invest in opportunities that improve our environmental stewardship;
• Lead the industry in low-carbon renewable fuels, regularly evaluating opportunities to expand production;
• Execute a long-term strategy that addresses shifting consumer needs under a changing policy and technology landscape. 

For more information, see SASB report and the notes thereto beginning on page 76.

*Beginning in 2022, fresh water withdrawn includes volume that was withdrawn and sold. Values in prior years include only freshwater used in Valero's operations.

We have well-developed management structures central to decision-making and risk management, including three programs that oversee our environmental management:

1.    Commitment to Excellence Management System (CTEMS): is a proprietary systematic approach to planning, executing, checking, and acting to improve everyday work activities at many of our refineries and plants. Within each of nine elements -- leadership accountability, protecting people and the environment, people and skills development, operations reliability and mechanical integrity, technical excellence and knowledge management, change management, business competitiveness, external stakeholder relationships we have identified multiple expectations to achieve our commitment to excellence.

2.    Environmental Excellence and Risk Assessment (EERA): elevates the environmental audit and compliance functions to an environmental excellence vision. Its main goal is to assess the design and effectiveness of environmental performance regarding specific excellence objectives, and to facilitate continuous improvement across the company. EERA defines more than 100 expectations and involves a proprietary five-step process using due diligence on data and field assessments reviewed by a combination of external and internal subject matter experts.

3.    Fuels Management System (FMS): provides operational safeguards, software, training, and protocols for uniformity across our refineries, terminals and import locations to reinforce our compliance with applicable fuels regulations. Built on the success of FMS, our Low Carbon Assurance Program (LCAP) was implemented to further delineate and strengthen our internal processes. LCAP defines key regulatory requirements, management expectations and internal regulatory assurances relating to transportation fuels regulated by low-carbon fuels programs.