October 1, 2003—The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the 12 members of its Green Power Market Development Group announced 97 megawatts (MW) of groundbreaking green power deals. The purchases include the largest corporate fuel cell and renewable energy certificate deals in the United States.
The Green Power Market Development Group (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, General Motors, IBM, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinko’s, Pitney Bowes, and Staples.
The 97 MW announced, enough to power 73,000 homes, represent purchases made in the past year by 250 facilities in 22 states and the District of Columbia. This brings the total amount purchased by The Green Power Group to 112 MW since it started identifying green power options in 2001.
The purchases include a wide variety of green power technologies and products to match corporate interests. From on-site solar power and landfill gas to electricity from wind farms, the projects offer the companies the best economic and environmental value. The 97 MW include the following purchases:
- Renewable energy certificates (36 MW): Members of The Green Power Group purchased 36 MW of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from wind, biomass, and landfill gas resources. This is the largest corporate purchase of RECs in the US. RECs represent the amount of pollution avoided when electricity is generated by renewable resources instead of by fossil fuels. DuPont and Staples were joined in this purchase by Alcoa, Cargill Dow, Delphi Corporation, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinko’s, Pitney Bowes, and the World Resources Institute.
- Hydrogen fuel cells (35 MW): The Dow Chemical Company is purchasing 35 MW of hydrogen fuel cells from General Motors. This is the largest corporate fuel cell purchase in the world.
- Wind (15 MW): Johnson & Johnson is now one of the largest corporate users of wind power in the US, purchasing 11 MW of wind in Texas and the East Coast. Kinko’s and IBM increased their use of wind power by 4 MW over the past year.
- Landfill gas (5 MW): Interface and General Motors will be using landfill gas as a green energy source at several manufacturing facilities.
- Other renewables (6 MW): Kinko’s is using electricity generated from biomass in Pennsylvania and from geothermal resources in California. Johnson & Johnson has expanded its on-site solar photovoltaic panel installations and is purchasing small-scale hydropower.
For more information, contact WRI.
