"DuPont is a science company that focuses its efforts on providing societal and shareholder value while reducing environmental impact," Holliday said. "We are honored to be recognized for our role in addressing and helping resolve one of the most challenging environmental issues the world has faced."
DuPont led global research to gain scientific understanding of the environmental impact of CFCs, commonly used for refrigeration and air conditioning, among other applications. DuPont then led industry in the development of a series of alternatives for use in new and existing equipment.
"All a scientist can ever ask is for people to be fair, to listen to what we know, how we know it, and be objective in dealing with the information. In my own experience, nobody has done that better than DuPont on the ozone depletion issue," said Susan Solomon, atmospheric scientist and 1999 recipient of the National Medal of Science for her work on ozone depletion. "DuPont approached the issue with care, asked fair questions and, most importantly, they listened to the answers. DuPont has taken a scientific view maybe the best word is a dignified view to this very challenging issue."
The challenge was to develop products that could be used in existing air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, avoiding the societal disruption and expense of developing wholly new technology. In the United States alone, that equipment base totaled more than $135 billion -- including 150 million automobile and small truck air conditioning systems, 80,000 bu
'"/>
Contact: Anthony Farina
Anthony.R.Farina@usa.dupont.com
302-774-4114
DuPont
6-Nov-2003