Whole Foods Buys A Whole Lot of Wind Energy Credits

While Whole Foods might have taken a hit with the media and some of its customers lately over the remarks of the company's CEO, it's still looking toward a greener grocery future. The company recently announced that it has finalized the largest purchase of renewable energy credits ever made by a U.S. retailer.

Whole Foods's 776 million-kilowatt-hour purchase from wind farms will be equal to 100 percent of the its electricity use in its North American locations, and nearly 90 percent of this year’s purchase is helping to fund E.ON Climate & Renewables’ (EC&R) recently-completed Texas-based Panther Creek wind farm.

Nearly 90 percent of the renewable energy credits Whole Foods Market has purchased for 2009 came from a Big Spring, Texas-based wind farm, which is 50 miles east of Midland. The project is built and operated by EC&R North America, a renewable energy developer headquartered in Chicago, with development offices in Austin and Denver. The remaining RECs come from a number of different wind farms in locations across the U.S. and Canada.

“The Environmental Protection Agency commends Whole Foods Market for their continued commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing green power,” said Kathleen Hogan, director of the Climate Protection Partnerships Division at EPA. “As a partner in EPA’s Green Power Partnership, and by supporting renewable energy, Whole Foods Market is helping to move our nation into a clean energy future.”

The 2009 Whole Foods Market wind power purchase will help avoid up to 868 million pounds of carbon dioxide pollution. This has an environmental benefit that’s similar to taking more than 72,000 cars off of the roads for a year, or planting nearly 3.6 million mature trees.

For more, check out the Whole Foods official blog.

Comments

[Nolan]

Wind energy is good but it isn't reliable like geothermal would be.