Chicago will make the largest purchase of clean power in the country following an agreement with ComEd to supply 20% of its electricity, announced Mayor Richard M. Daley
Under the agreement ComEd will provide 20% of the City’s power from “green” sources after five years, 10% in the first year. The amount of power is about 80 megawatts, enough energy to supply about 80,000 homes. ComEd will buy the green power from other companies, initially companies that convert landfill gas into power and within the first five years from sources such as wind farms and solar arrays.
The cleaner energy will displace electricity produced by conventional sources. By the fifth year of the agreement, the air quality benefits will include: 249,151 fewer tons of carbon dioxide, 1884 fewer tons of sulfur dioxide and 1007 fewer tons of nitrous oxides. Under the agreement, up to half of the green power can be derived from the methane that otherwise is released into the atmosphere from landfills; methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
Based on a report from the DOEs Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)
