GREEN ENERGY

The Impact of Green Energy

Imagine what taking 4,621 passenger cars off the road for one year could do for the environment.

We did the equivalent – by purchasing 29 million kilowatt hours of “green” electric energy instead of “brown” energy for our facilities in Germany and Ireland.

“Green” electric energy is gathered from renewable sources such as water, wind and solar; traditional “brown” electric energy comes from non-renewable fossil fuels such as oil, coal or gas.

Since 2009, our Sustainability Goals have guided programs to reduce our environmental footprint. The goals encourage continued, year-over-year progress that has seen a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by more than 24% and water use by about 14%.

Our Munich, Germany, office was the first to enter into a green energy agreement with its supplier in 2011. When it was built, the office incorporated green building design and is completely air conditioned and heated by renewable geothermal energy.

Company facilities in Ireland, which accounted for about 6% of our total energy consumption, began purchasing 100% green energy in 2017, sourced from solar and wind.

Making the move to green energy is a collaborative effort between our Global Energy Services and Global Procurement departments. “When we buy green energy we have to ensure that our energy requirements are being met and also that our purchase evolves along with the volatile global energy markets,” says Frank Incontrera, Director, Global Energy Services. Factors as diverse as the weather, time of year, anticipated usage and the geo-political environment all affect the cost of green energy. Our Global Energy Sourcing Team was able to purchase green energy in Ireland for the same price as brown energy. “It’s a matter of looking at usage projections, making market predictions and then locking in with a supplier,” Frank adds.