Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Vice President of Operations and CTO at SafeSourcing. Mark asks "So many companies are trying to go “green” but who are leaders and how are they doing it?"
Every day we hear about companies going “green” whether it is how they produce their products, package their products, transport their products or how they power the processes to make their business run.
Solarhomeresearch.com produced the top 20 companies using “green power” with Kohl’s Department Stores and Whole Foods Markets leading the pack with 100% of their electricity coming from green power resources. Other companies in the top 20 with 100% of their energy being green were; REI, The Estee Lauder Companies, The North Face, Aveda Corporation, prAna, Half Price Books and Origins. These companies employ a number of technologies to achieve this and this week we will be looking at some of those technologies and the companies that offer them.
Biogas – This type of gas is produced when matter such as manure, sewage or municipal waste is biologically broken down producing a primarily methane gas and carbon dioxide result. Often referred to as “landfill” gas due to the fact that the decomposition of waste in landfills can produce much of this gas as more and more waste is compressed on top of each layer. Cow manure is another potential source of biogas with some studies saying that it could potentially be a future source of billions of kilowatt hours of energy. Capturing biogas can not only provide a new source of energy but in the process of capturing the gases you prevent the escape of those emissions into our atmosphere.
Biomass – Biomass, as the prefix implies, also involves the processing of organic material to create energy. In this process, natural residue such as dead trees, branches, tree stumps, and other living or recently living organisms is converted to energy typically through incineration much the same way coal or oil is processed. New processing methods will allow for processing of this material in a way that enable the creation of hydrogen gas which can be used directly as fuel. Currently the largest plant for biomass processing, the New Hope Power Partnership produces enough power for the plant and almost 60,000 homes, reducing dependency on oil by more than one million barrels per year.
Many companies are beginning to use these technologies today. For more information about how you can partner with these companies for your sourcing needs please contact a SafeSourcing customer service representative today.
To see the entire Top 20 Company list go to http://solarhomeresearch.com/2011/01/top-companies-going-green-how-to.html.
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