Companies Committed To 100% Renewable Energy
About 50% of the world’s electricity consumption comes from the private sector (for-profit businesses not owned by the government). Most of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from 100 companies producing 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the CDP Carbon Majors Report 2017 (mainly from the coal and oil sector). It’s no wonder that so many businesses around the world are committing to 100% renewable energy because of these two statistics.
When we talk about renewable energy, we refer to resources used for electricity generation that do not run out. These include: hydropower, geothermal, wind, solar, and biomass. (To learn more about each one, click on their links). The main idea behind renewable energy is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions like those from the burning of fossil fuels. When we reduce these emissions in the atmosphere, we can slow down the rate at which global warming is occurring. This will impact the melting of snow and ice caps, and the rising levels of the sea, among other things like weather patterns and wildlife.
More than 100 companies under the RE100 global initiative are committing to power their global operations with electricity from 100% renewable energy. These companies have set goals for themselves to reach 100% by a certain year. According to the RE100 website, companies can accomplish this by two ways: production of renewable energy from their own facilities, or buying electricity that is sourced from renewables from the utility company.
List of RE100 Companies Committed to 100% Renewable Energy
The list is huge…so we are only going to name a few here:
Apple
The company known for the iPhone, iPad, Macbook, and Apple Watch, to name a few, has been running it’s operations on 96% renewable energy, and plans to reach its 100% goal with the help of the issuance of a $1 billion green bond for further investments.
Bloomberg
Said to go 100% renewable by 2025, this business and financial information company announced its partnership with RE100 in March of 2016.
Burberry
The high-end fashion company known for cashmere scarves and handbags has set its goal for 2022 for its global operations to be fully renewably powered.
eBay
For its data centers and offices, eBay has committed to renewable energy at 100% by 2025.
Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking site that was founded in 2004 will be at 50% renewably sourced by 2018. So far, their data centers in Ft. Worth, Texas, Altoona, Iowa, and Lulea, Sweden are 100% powered by renewable energy sources.
Goldman Sachs
On point for 2020, Goldman Sachs is a well-known financial services company committed to going 100% with their global operations.
Search engine company Google has committed 100% renewable energy for this year (2017), and started its commitment in 2010 with a contract to purchase all of the electricity that is generated from a wind farm in Iowa.
HP
Making a pact to achieve 100% renewable energy, the technology company Hewlett-Packard, known for their printers, has made a goal to go 40% by 2020.
Johnson & Johnson
Founded in 1886, J&J has been a large manufacturer of medical devices, and pharmaceutical and healthcare products. Known for the brand Tylenol, a slew of baby care products, and the Band-Aid brand of bandages, J&J has made it a goal to reach 100% renewable energy for their global operations by 2050.
Kellog’s
This food company known for it’s cereal line is committed to going totally renewable by 2050. So far, the company has achieved 20%, and wants to directly cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% in the future.
Microsoft
Bill Gates knew what he was doing when he started this technology company in 1975. Microsoft is 100% powered by renewable energy since 2014 across all of its operations. It has purchased more than 500 megawatts of electricity generated by the sun and wind in the US.
Nike
Nike is an athletic company founded in 1964 that focuses on footwear, apparel, accessories, equipment, and services. Its goal is to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025. Its largest facilities have on-site renewable generation with solar panels and wind turbines in China and Belgium.
TD
TD (Toronto-Dominion) Bank is a very well known financial institution company that originated in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, TD has various locations in the United States as well, as most already know. It is the second largest ranked bank in Canada, and in the top 10 for North America. Since 2015, it has achieved 100% renewable energy.
Wells Fargo
This banking and financial services company has committed to 100% renewable energy by this year (2017), with a “transition to long-term agreements that fund new sources of “green” power by 2020.” (https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate-responsibility/environment/)
To learn more about other companies committing to go all in on renewable energy, visit: http://there100.org/companies
To learn more about renewable and nonrenewable energy, here is a blog with some good information: http://www.iqsdirectory.com/blog/renewable-energy-important/
Sources:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=renewable_home
http://there100.org