Intel Corporation topped the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s list of top 50 largest renewable electricity consumers for the fourth time. The company intends to continue their renewable energy commitments with a pledge to buy over 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of green power in 2011.
Intel said this commitment is 75 percent higher from its 2010 commitment of 1.43 billion kWh and could provide 85 percent of its estimated purchased electricity needs in the United States.
It is also equivalent to displacing carbon dioxide emissions of the power use of more than 218,000 average American households or the consumption of 202 million gallons of gasoline.
“Intel’s renewable energy efforts are meant to spur the market and make renewables cheaper and more accessible, in turn helping to reduce the overall carbon emissions from electric generation,” said Brian Krzanich, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s manufacturing and supply chain.
Intel, which first earned the number one rank in 2008 due to a 1.3 billion kWh green power commitment, has invested over $45 million and completed 1,500 energy efficiency projects, which helped the company save 790 million kWh of power.
In 2010, Intel also completed nine on-site solar installations at its facilities in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Israel that can generate a total of above 3.8 million kWh of solar energy annually.
The company’s global investment arm, Intel Capital, has spent more than $150 million in 20 clean technology businesses.
“Intel’s renewable energy certificate purchases, support for solar installations and other clean energy investments will continue to be priorities for us as we search for effective sustainability opportunities around the globe,” Mr. Krzanich added.
Top 10 green power users
Kohl’s Department Stores ranked second on the agency’s national list with about 1.4 billion kWh of annual green power purchase, while Whole Foods Market came in third with over 817 million kWh.
Starbucks and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania grabbed the fourth and fifth places respectively with approximately 500 million kWh each. Meanwhile, the City of Houston in Texas and Johnson & Johnson were sixth and seventh with more than 400 million kWh each.
Staples doubled its green power consumption to 341 million kWh, which earned it the eighth spot, as the City of Dallas in Texas and HSBC North America finished ninth and tenth with about 300 million kWh.
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You may be interested in the following books on Green IT:
Green IT: Reduce Your Information System’s Environmental Impact While Adding to the Bottom Line
This groundbreaking work offers a complete roadmap for integrating environmentally sound techniques and technologies into your Information Systems architecture. Green IT explains how to adopt a business-driven green initiative and provides a detailed implementation plan. You will find strategies for reducing power needs, procuring energy from alternative sources, utilizing virtualization technologies, and managing sustainable development. Case studies highlighting successful green IT projects at major organizations are included. Keep your IT department and your organization in the green–both environmentally and financially–with help from this comprehensive guide.
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Work within current global initiatives and standards for e-waste
- Minimize power usage and use alternative cooling methods in your datacenter
- Transition your office into a paperless environment
- Equip your organization with green hardware, including EPEAT-, RoHS-, and ENERGY STAR-certified machines
- Implement efficient datacenter design in terms of energy consumption, cooling, server configuration, consolidation, cabling, redundancy, and more
- Virtualize servers and storage using the latest technologies from VMware, Microsoft, Compellent, Incipient, and others
- Measure existing datacenter efficiency using current metrics, and track progress with Business Intelligence tools
- Establish a green supply chain
- Explore the Software as a Service (SaaS) model
- Manage ongoing compliance and sustainable growth
The Greening of IT: How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment
The Greening of IT offers clear, business-focused coverage of both the benefits and roadblocks of moving to green IT. Lamb discusses internal organizational obstacles, as well as regulations, energy cost shifts, and utility rate incentives that can help companies move towards green IT. You’ll find specific how-to guidance on everything from measuring energy usage and optimizing data center cooling equipment through leveraging virtualization. Lamb also presents detailed, up-to-the minute green IT case studies – including utilities, universities, and companies of all sizes, worldwide. He concludes by previewing emerging trends in green IT and identifying “on the horizon” opportunities businesses should be monitoring and preparing for.
Foundation of Green IT: Consolidation, Virtualization, Efficiency, and ROI in the Data Center
In Foundations of Green IT, a team of leading Green IT consultants presents the detailed technical information data center professionals need to systematically identify the right improvements, implement them, maximize savings, and accurately calculate business value. Marty Poniatowski and his team present comprehensive case studies reflecting their unsurpassed Green IT experience, complete with detailed implementation diagrams and performance information. You’ll find independent, detailed coverage of solutions from HP, VMware, EMC, Cisco, and other leading vendors, with optimized sample designs and realistic ROI projections. Whether you’re a CIO or IT director, architect or administrator, if you want to improve IT efficiency, this is your definitive resource.
Three comprehensive, start-to-finish case studies - Analyze current environments, set goals, define implementation plans, and calculate ROI for:
- Server and desktop consolidation and virtualization
- Data center backup/recovery/archiving, including replication
- Networking, including VoIP background
Plus practical coverage of these Green IT topics:
- Designing data centers for greater efficiency and lower power usage
- Leveraging cloud computing
- Consolidating Microsoft SQL Server instances
- Reducing PC-related power usage and waste
Green technology is not only good for the environment; it’s also good for your bottom line. If your organization is exploring ways to save energy and reduce environmental waste, Green IT For Dummies can help you get there.
This guide is packed with cost-saving ways to make your company a leader in green technology. The book is also packed with case studies from organizations that have gone green, so you can benefit from their experience. You’ll discover how to:
- Perform an energy audit to determine your present consumption and identify where to start greening
- Develop and roll out a green technology project
- Build support from management and employees
- Use collaboration tools to limit the need for corporate travel
- Improve electronic document management
- Extend hardware life, reduce data center floor space, and improve efficiency
- Formalize best practices for green IT, understand your company’s requirements, and design an infrastructure to meet them
- Make older desktops and lighting fixtures more efficient with a few small upgrades
- Lower costs with virtual meetings, teleconferences, and telecommuting options
- Reduce your organization’s energy consumption
You’ll also learn what to beware of when developing your green plan, and get familiar with all the terms relating to green IT. Green IT For Dummies starts you on the road to saving money while you help save the planet.
