The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 27 recognized 20 organizations generating their own power and providing leadership in clean energy. The EPA’s Green Power Partnership winners use power from renewable resources on-site, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower, rather than from central power plants, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
This is the first time the agency’s program has recognized organizations that are contributing to the country’s renewable energy progress, improving energy security and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Green Power Partnerships include Fortune 500 companies, various levels of government administrations, and colleges and universities. The EPA’s top 20 partners collectively generate and consume more than 736 kilowatt hours (kWh) of on-site power equivalent to the amount needed to power 61,000 homes per year.
The top five are Kimberly-Clark Corp., Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, City of San Diego, San Jose/Santa Clara, Calif., Water Pollution Control Plant, and CalPortland. These entities, the EPA said, used more than 535 million kWh of on-site green power, thereby preventing carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to the emissions from more than 70,000 vehicles per year.
In addition to other municipalities such as the City of San Francisco, the list includes University of Iowa, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., U.S. Air Force, BMW Manufacturing Co.’s South Carolina facilities, Kohl’s Department Stores, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s California and Texas facilities.
The select partners are among more than 1,100 partner organizations participating in the EPA’s Green Power Partnership to voluntarily purchase clean power to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional electricity use. This program has provided for the purchase of approximately 16 billion kWh of green power per year, which is equal to the carbon dioxide emissions from electricity use of more than 1.6 million American homes, the EPA says.
