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Corporations Trash Dirty
Energy, Opt for Clean Solutions
While the national policy is traditionally
the driving force behind green investment,
there have been significant movements
in this space in recent years. The private
sector increasingly impacts energy trends
and accounts for more than half of the
world's energy consumption.
The RE 100 campaign is a global initiative
of 84 multi-national companies that are
committed to procuring 100% of their
electricity from renewable sources of
energy by a specified date. 84 companies
are members of the RE 100 campaign, an
increase from 53 companies in 2015. Some
of the big world players that have made
this commitment include Google, Apple,
Facebook, IKEA and Nike.
Google is seen as the renewable energy
trailblazer. In 2010, Google was one of the
first corporations to begin investing in
renewables when they signed a $40m deal
to invest in two wind farms in North Dakota.
By 2015, the organization was purchasing
5.7TWh of energy from wind and solar
projects. The company currently sources
44% of their energy needs from renewables
but the overall goal is for 100% of its
operations to be powered by renewable
energy by 2017. While Google is doing
their part to tackle climate change, they
openly share that investing in green energy
makes sense as renewable energy becomes
increasingly cheaper to produce.
Some companies, such as IKEA, have
invested heavily in onsite solar generation.
The Swedish retailer has installed solar
panels on more than 300 of its stores
and distribution centers. As these stores
generally have large footprints, (the Seoul
stores is a colossal 59,000 sqm) it means
they can install very large systems and meet
the entire energy needs of the site via solar
energy at some locations. The company also
invests in off-site wind turbines, and to-date,
they have invested more than $1.5m in wind
and solar projects.
Large energy users such as Google have the
finances to take an equity stake in a wind
farm, but these options may not be readily
available to smaller businesses. However, it is
still possible to invest in renewables through
other means such as onsite renewables,
community energy projects and Corporate
Power Purchase Agreements.
The International
Energy Agency
predicts that the cost
of large scale solar
will drop by a further
25% by 2025.
WHAT IS RENEWABLE ENERGY AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
Renewable energy is energy that is derived from natural
processes that are replenished at a higher rate than they are
consumed. Renewable energy is considered sustainable as it is
obtained from sources that are inexhaustible, such as sunlight
and wind. Renewable energy is also considered a ‘clean’ source
of energy as it has a lower environmental impact in comparison
to traditional energy sources like coal generation.
Renewable energy, in partnership with energy efficiency, is
essential to the delivery of a low carbon global economy as
agreed United Nations’ 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21).
The main goal of this agreement is to maintain the increase
in the global average temperature to below 2 °C above pre-
industrial levels.
52 The Occupier Edge