December 24, 2004—The World Resources Institute (WRI) and members of its Green Power Market Development Group recently announced 62 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy purchases and projects.
The announcement, made at the American Council on Renewable Energys “Renewable Energy in America: The Call for Phase II” summit on Capitol Hill, brings the total purchases by the Green Power Group to 174 MW over three years.
The Green Power Group is a unique commercial and industrial partnership dedicated to building corporate markets for green power. Its members are Alcoa Inc., Cargill Dow LLC, Delphi Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, FedEx Kinkos, General Motors, IBM, Interface Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Pitney Bowes, and Staples. The 62 MW—enough to power 46,000 homes—represent purchases made in the past year for more than 80 facilities in 18 states and include:
Renewable energy certificates (39 MW): For the second year in a row, Green Power Group companies lead the market in purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs). Six partners Alcoa Inc., Delphi Corporation, FedEx Kinkos, Interface Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Pitney Bowes—purchased more than 210 million kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year of new Green-e certified RECs. This supports 21 MW of biomass generation and 18 MW of wind generation.
Landfill gas (21 MW): At several facilities, DuPont and Johnson & Johnson will be using landfill gas instead of natural gas for on-site energy generation.
Wind and solar (2 MW): Johnson & Johnson and IBM increased their use of wind power for facilities in the U.S. Staples is installing two 280 kW on-site solar power systems in California.
Since 2000, when the Green Power Group started, the market has changed dramatically. Large companies like Siemens, which just purchased a wind manufacturer in Europe, and General Electric, which now owns both wind and solar power companies, are bringing their manufacturing skill and scale to further advance renewable energy technologies. The wind and solar power industries in the U.S. have experienced compounded annual growth rates of 35 and 26 percent, respectively.
Johnson & Johnson is one of the countrys largest users of wind and solar power, and five Green Power Group members now purchase green power for 10 percent or more of their U.S. electricity.
In addition to the Green Power Groups work in these areas, many sectors besides corporations have expanded their voluntary green power purchases since 2000. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, government agencies now buy over 620 million kWh of green power per year while U.S. military installations and major universities purchase more than 360 million kWh and 150 million kWh per year, respectively.
For more information on each companys purchases and projects, visit The Green Power Group.
