Southwest Airlines’ green power renewable energy purchase receives recognition from EPA
(photo: Southwest Airlines)
Tue 25 Aug 2009 – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formally recognized Southwest Airlines’ Dallas and Houston operations for its leading green power purchase and for its support and participation in the EPA’s Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge. The two facilities are purchasing nearly 16 million kilowatt-hours of green power, enough to meet 30 percent of their purchased electricity use, and are buying renewable energy certificates from Reliant Energy. EPA’s voluntary Green Power Partnership currently has more than 1,100 US Partner organizations purchasing billions of green power annually.
The airline is supporting EPA’s Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge in which Fortune 500 corporations are challenged to collectively exceed 10 billion kilowatt-hours of green power purchasing by the end of this year.
In the EPA’s National Top Partner latest ranking of America’s largest green power purchasers, Southwest’s Dallas and Houston operations are placed at 32nd on the Fortune 500 list.
Green power is described as electricity generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. These resources generate electricity with a net zero increase in CO2 emissions, while offering a superior environmental profile compared to traditional power generation sources. Green power purchases also support the development of new renewable energy generation sources.
“This was a wonderful initiative by our Green Team,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman, President and CEO. “Purchasing green power helps our company become more sustainable, and it helps us in our mission to do the right thing by our planet, our communities and our people.”
