Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Corporations are now investing heavily in renewable energy

It's interesting to note that a major trend in renewable energy in the USA is for corporations, municipalities, universities and other "non-utility customers" to buy up new generating capacity from wind and solar farms.
2015 was a bumper year for renewables in the USA (and elsewhere for that matter). For example, although wind power only makes up about 5% of total American generating capacity (as compared to coal and gas which represent about 33% each), it accounted for 41% of the new capacity added last year. And about half of that was bought up by big corporations like Google. Walmart, Amazon, Facebook, Proctor & Gamble, General Motors, Dow Chemical, etc.
This is partly out of environmental (and associated PR) concerns - Google and Walmart, for example, both have explicit 100% renewable energy goals. But it is also because wind and solar power have now got to the stage where they make financial sense - they are good economic propositions in and of themslves.
And that can only bode well for the future of the renewable energy sector, and of the planet itself.

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