Wednesday, January 11, 2006

The Race is On... Maybe?

I have no idea if yesterday's pre-announcement by Whole Foods has anything to do with this, but Fed-Ex Kinko's is upping it commitment to purchase renewable energy certificates. From SocialFunds.com:
FedEx Kinko's, an operating company of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), today announced new renewable energy purchases at more than 100 locations nationwide, increasing its total green power commitment by 67.5 percent to an estimated 40 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year....

"By increasing our green power use, FedEx Kinko's is helping to reduce the amount of pollutants emitted into the environment," said John Gomez, FedEx Kinko's regional vice president of operations in Southern California. "Renewable energy purchases reduce our environmental footprint while helping to develop domestic energy sources that foster energy independence and economic development in the communities we service."

Already a leading green power purchaser, FedEx Kinko's recently agreed to purchase 10.8 million kWh of Green-e(R) certified renewable energy certificates (RECs) for 88 of its locations in Southern California. The new purchase will provide 50 percent of the annual electricity consumption for those centers.

FedEx Kinko's expanded its renewable energy purchases in locations throughout the U.S., including 10 in Seattle, 10 in Wisconsin, seven in Tennessee and one in Pasadena, Calif. The company now buys renewable energy equal to approximately 14 percent of its total annual U.S. electricity needs. And 404 - or more than 30 percent - of the company's U.S. retail locations now purchase green power or RECs.

As a result of these new purchases, FedEx Kinko's now expects to avert more than 26,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year. That's equivalent to the power used by over 3,900 U.S. households in a 12-month period.
Of course, proximity doesn't mean causation, but wouldn't you just love to see a race between big corporations to become the biggest buyer of renewable energy...? Especially companies like F-E K that have to use a ton of energy... I think I had a dream like that once...


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