Skip to footer

Walmart: the next clean energy giant?

The retail giant Walmart currently has 89 megawatts of solar power at 215 locations and in 2012, Walmart reached a goal of a 20 percent reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions.

|
Eric Thayer/Reuters/File
A view shows the Walmart logo at a Walmart store in North Bergan, N.J. Walmart currently has 89 megawatts of solar power at 215 locations.
  • By Joao Peixe Guest blogger

Walmart is attempting to position itself as the key mover and shaker in the renewable energy sector, and indeed, when Walmart makes a clean energy move it reverberates through the market.

Walmart’s status as a leading company in terms of renewable energy adoption was furthered on 15 October with the release of the Solar Means Business report, which noted that Walmart remains America’s commercial solar leader, followed by Costco, Kohl’s, Apple, IKEA, Macy’s, and  Johnson & Johnson—all in the top 25.

Walmart currently has 89 megawatts of solar power at 215 locations.  (Related article: New York Manholes for Electric Car Charging)

"As we work toward our ambitious goal to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, solar energy continues to be an important part of our renewable energy portfolio," Kim Saylors-Laster, vice president for energy at Walmart, said in a statement. "With our size and scale, Walmart is in a unique position to encourage innovation and accelerate the adoption of cost-effective, clean energy alternatives, including solar power." 

By 2020, Walmart wants to procure 7 billion kWh of renewable energy--the equivalent of powering 620,000 average American homes for a year.

Some will go as far as to say that Walmart is the key driver of the renewable energy industry.

“Every time Walmart makes a green commitment, it has reverberations throughout entire industry sectors. That's just what happens when you're the world's largest corporation. And that's why Walmart's work in renewable energy could have a major impact,” writes the Energy Voice. (Related article: Defense Contracting Meets Clean Energy)

Since Walmart first announced its ambitious sustainability goals back in 2005, it has reached several milestones that keep it in the limelight for renewable energy followers. Not only do those goals include powering its operations 100% through renewable energy, they also include creating zero waste and selling environmentally sustainable products.

In 2012, Walmart reached a goal of a 20% reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions.

As for solar, Walmart’s status as the American leader has come about in partnership with SolarCity, which handles the majority of Walmart’s solar installations.

Walmart plans to install solar systems in 6,000 more stores over the next six year.

Original article: http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/Walmart-Set-Sites-on-Clean-Energy-Kingdom.html

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Walmart: the next clean energy giant?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/1030/Walmart-the-next-clean-energy-giant
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe