Big US companies spearhead renewable energy drive
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e230d280-15e2-11e6-b197-a4af20d5575e.html#axzz4D6o3bn00
... five months ago the US carmaker did something very different, signing a 14-year agreement with a wind farm company, EDP Renewables North America, for enough electricity to make more than half the trucks it produces each year.
The deal makes GM one of a fast-growing number of big US companies buying green power to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide, and potentially make savings on their energy bills. In doing so, these groups are reshaping the way renewable energy is purchased, and helping green power generators build more projects than they otherwise might have done.
~~
~~
Silicon Valley technology companies led by Google were the first in the US to plough into green energy in a significant way, but now the trend has spread to some of the countrys biggest manufacturers and retailers, including GM, Lockheed Martin, Amazon and Walmart.
In total, 24 large US companies bought 3.6 gigawatts of power in 2015 and the first quarter of this year more than three times the amount purchased by seven groups in 2014, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a US non-profit organisation trying to accelerate these renewable energy agreements.
(more)