Monthly Wins : April-2017
DEC denies permit for controversial National Fuel pipeline
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has rejected National Fuel's plans for a 97-mile pipeline to carry natural gas from northwestern Pennsylvania to Elma. The DEC determined there was too big a threat to water quality and wildlife to grant National Fuel the water quality certificate required to construct the Northern Access Pipeline.
Greener Beer
Throughout a decade building the world's beer Goliath, with its three global brands Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, Brito ( CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev) has focused on cutting costs. His big new kick: green electricity. He announced last week a commitment to make the company’s roughly $400 million a year worth of purchased electricity 100% green by 2025. “In some markets it’s cheaper to do this route. It makes business sense and it lessens the environmental impact.” To meet Brito’s goal, AB InBev will need the renewable energy equivalent of the world’s four biggest solar farms.
Scotland leads the way
Scottish wind turbines sent more than 1.2 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid in March, according to new analysis of data from WeatherEnergy by WWF Scotland. In a news release on Monday the environmental group said that turbines produced enough electricity to meet, on average, the electrical needs of 136 percent of Scottish households, equivalent to 3.3 million homes. This represented an increase of 81 percent compared to March 2016. The Scottish government says that Scotland is home to 25 percent of Europe's offshore wind resources and that, overall, renewables are Scotland's "single largest contributor to electricity generation."
India: The Sleeping Giant
This weekend saw India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy state that over 5,400 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity was added in India in 2016-17, smashing a 4,000 MW target.
Chicago leaves NY and California in the dust
City buildings in Chicago are to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2025, the city's Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced. In a release over the weekend Emanuel – along with figureheads from Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago Park District and City Colleges of Chicago – said that when implemented, the commitment would make Chicago the "largest major city" in the U.S. to supply its public buildings with 100 percent renewable energy.
