By Peggy Hammond November 16, 2018
ISS develops utility-scale solar farms, and we are pleased to see the regularly expanding list of businesses and cities pledging to using 100% renewable energy sources for electricity. As a result of increasing demand for sustainable power, the solar energy industry is experiencing strong growth.
The RE100 campaign, launched by The Climate Group and CDP, unites businesses that want to pursue using 100% clean, renewable energy. The list of participants increased this year, and this fall, several large corporations committed to transition to renewable energy. Sony wants its facilities in N. American and China to use renewable sources for electricity, with a goal of 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. Its sites in Europe already use 100% renewable sources for their power needs. In addition, three other companies joined Sony in making the pledge. McKinsey & Company and the Royal Bank of Scotland want renewably-sourced electricity by 2025, and WeWork has the target of 2023. Not only did more companies join the list, but some already on it made big strides in acquiring renewable energy plants. Apple, Etsy, and Swiss Re “have joined forces to develop two new wind and solar energy farms in Illinois and Virginia.”
So far, over 80 U.S. cities have made public their intent to pursue 100% renewable energy sources. The Sierra Club published a report this summer on the top 10 cities having made this commitment, and it includes a small summary of each one’s path to making the pledge. Cities such as Denton, TX, Concord, NH, Columbia, SC, Denver, CO, and Santa Barbara, CA are on the list. Cleveland, OH, committed to 100% renewable energy for its electricity in September, after the Sierra Club’s report was published. Their target year is 2050.
The EPA this summer published a list of 100 entries featuring a few cities but mostly businesses and the percentage of green power they have achieved out of total electricity use. The list also reveals the types of renewable resources used to generate their clean power. The featured cities have made significant progress toward their goals. For instance, at the time of the report, Houston, TX, came in at 89%, Dallas, TX – 100%, Portland, OR – 86%. Likewise, some companies are making an impact by their achievement of exceeding the 100% target. A few examples are Netflix, Inc. (336%), BNY Mellon (107%), IKEA (310%), and Apple (107%). The list includes many other businesses and some universities making progress toward the target of 100% renewables.
ISS knows the importance of incorporating solar energy into our country’s power generation mix, and we’re doing our part through developing utility-scale solar farms. For more information about our projects, please call 828-424-7884 or visit www.innovativesolarsystemsllc.com.