The US Environmental Protection Agency has posted a list of the Biggest Green Power Purchasers. These companies are truly putting their money where their mouths are and leading the charge when it comes to renewable energies like biomass, biogas, hydro, solar, wind energy, and geothermal. And you can also put your money where your mouth is by supporting companies that support the planet.
The Biggest Green Power Purchasers
Greenbiz.com in their article has posted, “Intel, PepsiCo, and Whole Foods Market ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the EPA’s list of top green power purchasers among the Fortune 500. They received the same rankings in the category of 50 U.S. companies that purchase the most green power.”
The Biggest Green Power Purchasers combined purchases equaled 3,318,162,121 kwh annual green power usage. Cisco, Johnson&Johnson, and Walmart is included on the list of the Biggest Green Power Purchasers that rated highly. The combined green power purchases of the corporations in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership amounts to more than 8 billion kwh of green power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 805,000 average American homes.
Corporations Powered By Renewable Resources
The first, second, and third spots in terms of corporations that get 100 percent of the power they use in the United States from renewable resources are PepsiCo, Whole Foods, and Dell. The topped list of retailers that purchase the most renewable energy is Whole Foods. Kohl’s Department Stores ranked second and Walmart came in third.
When voting with your dollars, it’s good to know who’s making an effort.
Every American is demanding for vehicles with the ability to improve its efficiency as well as increase its gas mileage, especially with the rising of gas prices. The invention of hybrid vehicles is an ultimate answer or such demand.
A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that is combining two forms of power sources as its generator. A research on hybrid gas mileage is being done continuously to get the best result. Many car manufacturers develop newer and newest design of hybrid vehicles with excellent hybrid gas mileage. Toyota Prius has become the best hybrid gas mileage now. But the developing technology on hybrid vehicles, there might be a replacement in the near future.
hybrid gas mileage
Recently the ratings of hybrid gas mileage looks like impressing compared to the majority of conventional vehicles on the current market. However, there is still a lot more things to do. This is quite significant upon studying hybrid gas mileage’s historical chart.
Car manufacturer promises that a hybrid car will only had 100 mile per gallon (MPG). Such number is achievable now with such technology we have today. This will lessen our dependant on petroleum derivatives. Moreover, we are actively involved in keeping our world green for our future and also for our descendants.
A gallon of gasoline weighs just more than 6 pounds. While burned, the carbon in it combines with oxygen from the air to make almost 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2). So, you can exactly save the Earth a couple of tons of greenhouse gases when you switching from a gas guzzler to a hybrid.
United State cars and light trucks together guzzle 8.2 million barrels of oil every day. This translates to over 300 million metric tons of carbon that comes from our trucks and cars every year.
Our transportation CO2 emissions are the largest source (about one-third) of our CO2 emissions, more than homes, factories, and all other sources.
Over the previous decade and a half, all auto companies have enlarged their carbon burden by some degree or another. General Motor is the biggest global warmer, but Prius-producing Toyota has increased its output at an even higher rate – according to Environmental Defense.
Global Warming Effect on the Earth
We can pay attention to these warning signs and alarming forecasts-or we can wait until the problems become even more difficult to control. Here some global warming effect on the Earth.
Spring comes earlier, fall later, and the growing season has become warmer and longer; agricultural output in poorer countries could be significantly reduced, putting 80 – 90 million poor people at risk of hunger and malnutrition later in the 21st century.
Arctic ice is thinning and Antarctic ice shelves are breaking up faster. Sea levels are going up. Global warming could augment the number of people affected by flooding by 20 – 50 million people.
Temperature changes have caused declines in the range and survival of some plant and animal species; entire ecosystems may be lost and others severely impacted.
Ranges of disease-carrying mosquitoes have spread, carrying dengue fever, malaria, and other diseases.
Large cities in the United State may experience, on average, several hundred extra deaths per summer.
Rapid global climate change could bring the planet to the boundary of anarchy as countries fight to defend and secure decreasing water, food, and energy supplies – according to a 2004 Pentagon report.
So, when American consumers can increase their fuel economy about 5 mpg, they would save about 1.5 million barrels of oil every day. Moving the world’s drivers to more fuel-efficient automotive technology, such as green cars with their other alternative fuel vehicles, could be one part of a comprehensive strategy to diminish global warming and its effects.
Carbon Offsets: Radio, television, newspapers, magazines, podcasts, blogs, actually any media you can think of, has awoken to the issue of global warming and climate change. Moreover, more than thousands of eminent scientists sign a document concurring that there was 90 percent certainty that the Earth has a temperature and it is a human induced fever. To decrease the patient’s prognosis of increased convulsions; such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, heat waves, and many more; experimental treatments are underway.
One of these is carbon offsets. CO2 or carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas, is the result of human intensive use of fossil fuels like coal and oil. In simplistic terms this is ‘not good’ for human life. One means of doing ‘good’ is by giving attention to offset the equation, by funding projects that lessen our carbon emissions and other greenhouse effect. And carbon offsets is one of the solutions for our living now.
Carbon Offsets: The Definition
A carbon offset is a financial instrument expected to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. Measured of the carbon offsets are in metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2e). One carbon offset denotes the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
Carbon offsets have two markets. In the larger, companies, governments, compliance, or other entities purchase carbon offsets in order to comply with caps on the total amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit. In 2006 the compliance market were purchased about $5.5 billion of carbon offsets – representing about 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2e reductions.
Individuals, voluntary market, companies, or governments buy carbon offsets to diminish their own greenhouse gases from electricity use, transportation, and other sources are the smaller market. For instance, many companies offer carbon offsets as an up-sell during the sales process so that consumers can diminish the carbon emissions related with their service purchase or product – such as offsetting emissions related to a car rental, hotel stay, vacation flight, etc. As individual, purchase carbon offsets to give back for the greenhouse gases caused by personal air travel. In 2008, voluntary markets were purchased more than $705 million of carbon offsets – equivalent with 123.4 million metric tons of CO2e reductions.
Renewable energy, such as biomass energy, wind farms, and hydroelectric dams are the most common project of carbon offsets to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short or long term. Other projects are energy efficiency projects, agricultural byproducts, forestry projects, destruction of landfill methane, etc. Wind turbine projects and energy efficiency are another most popular carbon offset projects.
Western countries’ people, who have become aware and concerned about the negative potential of carbon emissions in human lifestyles and economies, give more attention about carbon offsetting. The Kyoto Protocol – agreement ratified by over than 160 countries – has sanctioned offsets as a way for private companies or governments to invest in carbon offsets which can be traded on a marketplace. Kyoto Protocol also established the Clean Development Mechanism or CDM as its part, which measures and validates projects to ensure the produce authentic benefits. In addition, if the organizations that are unable to meet their emissions quota can purchasing Certified Emissions Reductions to offset their emissions.
