Sourcing Renewables | Page 128

Verizon announced on Jan. 28 that it has entered into a total of 13 long-term renewable energy purchase agreements (REPAs) totaling nearly 1.7 GW of renewable energy capacity since December 2019. This has made it of the largest corporate buyers of U.S. renewable energy.

The University of Richmond (UR) announced on Jan. 27 that its new Spider Solar project is online. This makes UR one of only two higher education institutions in the U.S., and the first in the Southeast, to match 100% of its electricity needs with a single solar power source. 

BNEF announced on Jan. 26 that its research shows that corporations purchased a record 23.7 GW of clean energy in 2020, up from 20.1 GW in 2019 and 13.6GW in 2018. The increase came despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a global recession and uncertain federal policy.

Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, announced on Jan. 26 that it has extended a contract to incorporate a solar power component into the electricity supply mix for its acetyl intermediates chemical manufacturing facility.

Global tech company Akamai Technologies announced on Jan. 25 that it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by sourcing more renewable energy. While 2020 traffic on the Akamai platform increased, Akamai's greenhouse gas emissions decreased.

Mastercard announced on Jan. 26 that it has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 by decarbonizing its operations and supply chains.

A coalition of American companies that represent the country's largest buyers of renewable energy, including Amazon, Facebook, Google, General Motors, Microsoft, Walmart and PepsiCo, to name a few, released Jan. 25 a joint statement calling for the federal government to prioritize policies that accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon power sector. 

EY, the global organization of Ernst & Young, announced on Jan. 25 that it has set an ambition to be carbon negative in 2021 by setting targets to significantly reduce its absolute emissions and removing and offsetting more carbon than it emits.

Danone announced on Jan. 21 that it has signed a long-term PPA to obtain power from Europe's biggest photovoltaic plant. The move will allow the global food company to power its plants and factories in Spain with 100% renewable electricity.