Industrial | Page 51

The electricity sector continued to improve its carbon intensity in 2018 due to increased renewable energy and natural gas power generation and investments in energy efficiency, even as a stronger economy and volatile weather boosted energy demand and contributed to a rise in economy-wide carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

Corporations bought a record amount of clean energy through PPAs, in 2018, shattering the previous record set in 2017, according to this column from BloombergNEF. Moving forward even at this accelerated rate, will RE100 companies meet their 2030 targets?

Ten years of the world’s biggest purchasers – including Bank of America, Dell, Kellogg Company, Unilever and Walmart – requesting transparency from their suppliers has triggered a step-change in environmental action, leading to 633 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions reductions and collective cost savings of  $19.3 billion reported by over 5,500 suppliers in 2018.

Illinois achieved the lead position on the U.S. Green Building Council’s 2018 list of Top 10 States for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The ranking of states based on the number of LEED-certified square feet per person placed Massachusetts in second place

Corporations purchased 13.4 gigawatts (GW) of clean power through PPAs in 2018, more than double the 6.1GWs recording in 2017. The PPAs were signed by 121 corporations in 21 different countries, positioning corporates alongside utilities as the biggest buyers of clean energy globally.

Led by a trio of energy and sustainability experts from Merck, Smart Energy Decisions announces the final agenda, speakers, and confirmed sponsors for the 2019 Innovation Summit, an invitation-only event set for March 11-13 at the Houstonian in Houston, Texas.

The holidays are here! Cozy up with these year-end energy articles:

Johnson Controls Building Technologies & Solutions has selected one of its largest facilities as the first of its plants to shift 100% its electricity to wind power. The plant, located in Wichita, KS, will source power from a wind farm currently being built near the facility.