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Green Power and Renewable Energy
In This Section
Heightened interest in global climate change, acid rain, respiratory ailments, and smog have raised concerns about emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, methane, nitrous oxide, and particulate matter from burning fossil fuels. Concerns also exist about the other environmental impacts associated with traditional electricity generation fuel sources, such as the impacts of mining, drilling, processing, transporting, and disposing of fuels.
Fostering renewable energy production, developing better renewable technologies, and improving the environmental performance of conventional electricity generation benefits the environment, expands the diversity of the nation's energy supply, and improves the reliability of power supply systems. Through its purchases, onsite renewable energy systems, and outreach efforts, EPA supports the development of the green power market, a critical component in the long-term strategy to protect the environment.
EPA is the first major federal agency to purchase green power equal to 100 percent of its estimated annual electricity use nationwide.In FY 2008, EPA purchased nearly 259 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power in the form of either delivered green power or renewable energy certificates (RECs). This amount is equal to 100 percent of the total estimated annual electricity consumption at all of EPA’s 175 facilities across the country—or enough electricity to power 21,643 homes for an entire year.
In March 2009, EPA signed a contract to purchase enough green power to continue offsetting 100 percent of EPA facilities' electricity use through the end of FY 2009. In June 2009, EPA signed an additional contract to purchase enough green power to continue offsetting 100 percent of EPA facilities’ electricity use through March 31, 2010.
For an explanation of the difference between delivered green power and renewable energy certificates, or "green tags," review EPA's document Green Power: Tags vs. Delivered Product (PDF) (3 pages, 233 Kb, About PDF).