Green Power Partnership Program Updates Issue 34
Issue 34, September 22, 2015
- Partner Spotlight – Victory Brewing Company
- Top Partner Rankings and Challenges – Updates Coming on October 26
- Upcoming GPP Webinar – Measuring Emissions from Purchased Electricity: A Primer on GHG Protocol's New Scope 2 Guidance
- Higher Education Sector is a Leader
- College & University Challenge – Who Will Win in 2015-16?
- Reminder: Renewable Energy Markets Conference is One Month Away!
- New DOE Reports Highlight Growth in Wind Industry
- Upcoming Webinars from the Center for Resource Solutions
- Past Issues
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Partner Spotlight – Victory Brewing Company
Q. Why did your organization decide to use green power? What do you see as the benefits of using green power and what role does it play in your company's broader business and environmental strategy?
A. Environmental stewardship has been a core value of Victory Brewing Company since its inception in 1996. The art of brewing showcases the marriage between humans and the natural environment. From the water used in brewing beer, the cultivation of hops that add flavor and aroma, the creation of the cans and bottles used to package the beer, to the energy consumed to make it all happen, it is clear that our business is intrinsically tied to the health and sustainability of our natural environment.
The switch to using 100 percent green power in our Parkesburg, Pennsylvania brewery was a natural one. While we will never be able to operate without energy, we are able to make the electricity consumed the most sustainable possible.
Q. Is your organization currently striving to achieve a green power goal and is there a timeframe? What steps are being taken to reach it?
A. Brewing is a consumption-driven process and one that we're constantly looking to make more efficient, using only those resources absolutely necessary to make some great beer. We measure our consumption of natural resources at each brewery using metrics for each barrel of beer brewed. From there we're able to set both corporate goals and individual process goals to reduce consumption of specific resources.
Currently, we're focusing on developing the best business practices to reduce our water use. Guided by our current metrics, we hope to reduce our water consumption by 1 barrel of water consumed to barrel of beer produced by the end of 2016.
Q. Describe any innovative green power strategies your organization has implemented or is planning. Do you have any upcoming projects or strategies that relate to your company's green power usage?
A. With the installation of our state-of-the-art brewery in Parkesburg, our facility and brewing system was designed to be as energy-efficient as possible. From the recirculation of hot and cold water to the recapture of steam from hot hopped wort, our brewing system is innovative in its energy efficiency. Additionally, the majority of our facility was retrofitted to be lit by the sun's rays—sunlight is refracted through skytubes to light our production and restaurant areas.
Q. What are two or three lessons you've learned in making the switch to green power or in increasing your green power use?
A. 1. It's easy! There is a sense that switching from conventional to green power takes a lot of time, effort and money, but with all the options out there it can be a lot easier than you think.
2. Understanding how much energy you consume is an important and motivating step to switching to green power. Developing a metric study is a simple, but effective, first step in the process.
Q. What advice would you give to other organizations interested in using green power, and is there anything you would do differently? What barriers did you encounter when switching to green power?
A. The switch to green energy can be simple and easy. Nearly every major utility company has Green-e energy certified suppliers, which can allow you to use green energy for a portion or all of your electricity needs without investing in new technology. Do some research and make the switch.
Learn more about Victory Brewing Company's sustainability initiatives.
Top Partner Rankings and Challenges – Updates Coming on October 26
On October 26, GPP will publish updates to the program's On-Site Renewables Challenge, Top Partner Rankings, and Green Power Community (GPC) Rankings. Please be sure to submit any data updates by October 5, and visit the website on the 26th to learn what's new!
On-Site Renewables Challenge
This will be the fourth and final On-Site Renewables Challenge update for 2015. The Green Power Partnership launched the Challenge in support of President Obama's Climate Action Plan. The Challenge has a goal of doubling the use of on-site green power by Green Power Partners by the end of the decade. Several Partners have already made commitments to increase the deployment of on-site renewable energy systems by 2020. Take a look at the current Partner On-Site Renewables Commitments.
Is your organization interested in supporting the Challenge and making an on-site renewables commitment? Submit an On-site Renewables Commitment Agreement today!
Top Partner Rankings
This will be the final update of the Top Partner Rankings in calendar year 2015. The Top Partner Rankings highlight the annual green power use of leading Green Power Partners within the United States and across individual industry sectors, including Colleges & Universities, Retail, Tech & Telecom, and Local Government.
Check out the current Top Partner Rankings as of July 2015.
Green Power Community (GPC) Rankings
This will be the first update to the Green Power Community (GPC) Rankings, which were released in July 2015. GPCs are towns, villages, cities, counties, or tribal governments in which the local government, businesses, and residents collectively use green power. GPCs are ranked by total annual green power usage, as well as by the percentage of green power used in the community.
Check out the current Green Power Community (GPC) Rankings as of July 2015.
Upcoming GPP Webinar – Measuring Emissions from Purchased Electricity: A Primer on GHG Protocol's New Scope 2 Guidance
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
1:00 pm-2:00 PM EDT
The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's Scope 2 Guidance was recently updated to harmonize methods for how organizations report GHG emissions from purchased electricity, heat, and steam (called "Scope 2" emissions). The new guidance amends the original Corporate Standard, the most widely used tool for accounting and reporting an organization's greenhouse gas emissions.
This webinar will focus on accounting for GHG emissions from purchased electricity. Attendees will learn how organizations should report their emissions using both a location-based and market-based approach, the rationale behind the two approaches, and what types of electricity purchases can count towards emission reduction targets under the market-based approach. The webinar will also feature best practices for using the new guidance including insights and lessons learned from GHG accounting practitioners.
For more information on the recently released guidance, please visit: http://www.ghgprotocol.org/scope_2_guidance.
Higher Education Sector is a Leader in Green Power Use
The higher education sector has historically been a leader in using green power and continues to do so. GPP's Top 30 College & University list represents the largest green power users among higher education institutions within the Partnership. These top 30 schools are using a combined 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is equivalent to the electricity use of nearly 185,000 average American homes annually!
College & University Challenge – Who Will Win in 2015-16?
In addition to the Top 30 College & University list, each academic year, EPA's Green Power Partnership tracks the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power usage in the nation through the College & University Green Power Challenge. The first installment of the 2015-16 Challenge will be posted on October 26 – will your school and conference be on the list? The Green Power Challenge is open to all U.S. colleges, universities, and conferences. Join the Green Power Partnership now and get your school in the game!
Reminder: Renewable Energy Markets Conference is One Month Away!
The annual Renewable Energy Markets (REM) Conference—the leading forum for the clean energy marketplace—is one month away! Organized by the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions and supported by GPP, REM 2015 will be held October 18-20 in Washington, D.C. Join leaders from federal and state governments, large corporate purchasers, leading utilities and electricity generators, and marketers from around the world to talk about clean energy! For more information, visit: http://www.renewableenergymarkets.com.
New DOE Reports Highlight Growth in Wind Industry
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released two reports in August highlighting the growth of the domestic wind industry. Per the reports, the U.S. wind market is strong, thanks in part to increasing generation capacity, strong end user demand for wind energy, and lower overall costs.
According to DOE's 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report (PDF) (93 pp, 3.6MB), total installed wind power capacity in the United States grew at a rate of eight percent in 2014 and now stands at nearly 66 gigawatts, which ranks second in the world for installed capacity and meets 4.9 percent of end-use electricity demand in an average year. Additionally, the DOE's Distributed Wind Market Report (PDF) (46 pp, 9.6MB) details that U.S. turbines in distributed applications reached a cumulative installed capacity of more than 906 megawatts.
For more information, read the Energy Department news release, the 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report (PDF) (93 pp, 3.6MB), and the 2014 Distributed Wind Market Report (PDF) (46 pp, 9.6MB).
Upcoming Webinars from the Center for Resource Solutions
The Center for Resource Solutions, the national non-profit that administers the Green-e Energy certification, is hosting two webinars this month to raise awareness about the critical relationship between environmental marketing claims and renewable energy certificates (RECs). The two-part webinar series will focus on explaining double claims and how to ensure sole ownership of the RECs you purchase. The target audience of the first webinar is end-users of green power, while the second webinar will be geared toward energy generators and project developers. Register today!
September 23 at 2PM ET
Preventing Double Claims: Best Practices in Renewable Energy Marketing, Part 1
For Green-e participants/end-users
September 30 at 2PM ET
Preventing Double Claims: Best Practices in Renewable Energy Marketing, Part 2
For energy generators and project developers
