Going for Green Power

by Curtis Runyan

(Washington, DC, September 2003) In the absence of government action on clean energy, a number of major U.S. companies have taken it upon themselves to jumpstart the renewable energy marketplace. In the past few years the U.S. government has taken concerted steps away from pushing for cleaner energy production -- loosening pollution standards, refusing to tighten fuel-efficiency requirements, and rejecting the Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming.

Despite this, 12 corporations announced in September that they had collectively purchased or signed contracts for a total of 97 megawatts (MW) of energy from renewable sources -- enough to power 73,000 homes. While that is a small share of U.S. energy consumption, it is a substantial boost for the country's fledgling green energy market.

Since 2000, the corporations -- Alcoa, Cargill Dow, Delphi, Dow Chemical, DuPont, General Motors, IBM, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinko's, Pitney Bowes, and Staples -- have joined with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to jumpstart the green power market. The purchases are expected to have a significant impact on the market.

"We joined this partnership in 2003 to help us diversify our energy purchasing," said William Stavropoulos, president and CEO of Dow Chemical. "By working together, these 12 businesses can have a tremendous impact on supporting and developing renewable energy markets."

The group of companies, convened by WRI as the Green Power Market Development Group, has a goal of purchasing 1,000 MW of new green power by 2010 at a cost-competitive rate. That's equivalent to a coal-fired power plant.

Still, the recent purchases mark an important step for renewable energy in the United States. Three of the companies -- Staples, Pitney Bowes, and Kinko's -- are now purchasing 10 percent green power for their operations. "The Green Power Group is beginning to make green power markets work for corporate buyers," said Charles O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont chairman and CEO.

Members of the group are implementing green power deals at 250 facilities in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The companies have pursued an array of green energy solutions, from rooftop solar power to capturing methane leaking from landfills for use as fuel. The projects will eliminate 435,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, about the same as that absorbed in a year by 86 million trees -- or a forest the size of Shenandoah National Park in the United States.

"A lot of these companies are working on this to get ahead of the curve," said Jennifer Layke, senior associate at WRI. "They want to reduce emissions so that they are well-positioned to address global warming, and they want to reduce the risks of being entirely dependent on a volatile fossil fuel energy market."

September's announcement included the largest-ever purchase of electricity produced by fuel cells, one of the biggest contracts for wind-generated power in the United States, and the largest ever sale of renewable energy certificates.

Dow Chemical and General Motors are collaborating in the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell deal: over several years Dow will purchase 500 GM fuel cells to generate electricity at its Freeport, Texas manufacturing plant. The Freeport facility produces hydrogen as a by-product, which the fuel cells will convert into electricity. Dow will be able to generate 35 MW of power by using the excess hydrogen, and GM will get to study its new fuel-cell technology in action.

The companies also made large wind power purchases, agreeing to buy 15 MW of wind-generated electricity. Johnson & Johnson, which is now one of the largest corporate users of wind power in the United States, purchased 11 MW of wind-generated electricity in Texas and the East Coast.

"Attractive alternatives include wind power, which is cost competitive in some locations, and solar photovoltaic, which is the most effective during the peak energy requirement periods of the day," said Harry Kauffman, corporate energy director at Johnson & Johnson. "To support the communities in which we work and live, we make these purchases locally where possible."

WRI and members of the Green Power Group also purchased 36 MW of renewable energy certificates (RECs) -- the largest purchase to date in the United States. A major obstacle to purchasing green power has been that companies may not be located near a wind farm or another source of renewable energy. So when a company buys a REC, it pays for renewable energy to be produced and sent onto the power grid. Because the national power grid pools energy from all sources together, the company may not get the actual green electricity, but it gets credit for the pollution emissions averted by putting clean electricity into the system.

"These companies may not have taken this step on their own," said Layke. "But having the opportunity to share strategies and experience has helped accelerate their movement toward renewable energy." (WRI Features, 747 words)