Industrial, Sourcing Renewables, Wind  -  April 7, 2021

Wind Energy Powers Boehringer Ingelheim's Largest U.S. Site

Boehringer Ingelheim, a manufacturer of animal vaccines, now powers its largest U.S. manufacturing site with wind power. The change to wind power will reduce carbon emissions at the site by 76% and is part of a larger company commitment to environmental sustainability nationwide.

The wind power is the result of a 10-year contract Boehringer Ingelheim signed with Evergy Inc., to buy energy generated at a wind farm in Kansas for its St. Joseph location, which employs a workforce of 1,000 people.

Jean-Michel Boers, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp, said in a statement, “From reducing our carbon footprint to reducing the amount of electricity and water we use, we are dedicated to providing a more sustainable future for the people and animals we serve and the communities where we live and work.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s U.S. headquarters in Ridgefield, Connecticut, which employs about 2,500 people, transitioned to renewable energy last year.

In North Brunswick, New Jersey, a Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health research and development site has transitioned to renewable energy by purchasing green power. A poultry-vaccine manufacturing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, is on pace to become Boehringer Ingelheim’s first major U.S. production site to go carbon neutral.

A company site in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, plans to reduce its carbon footprint by about 30 percent a year by using natural gas to generate electricity. That process will create steam and hot water that the site will use in its everyday operations.

In St. Joseph, Gainesville, and Ridgefield, the company has taken a variety of other steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, installing LED lights and solar panels and implementing numerous projects to increase energy efficiency at several U.S. sites.