It Ain’t Easy Being Green – We’re Getting There

Dell just announced a very cool green initiative. The company will now run its 2.1 million square-foot global HQ campus – home to more than 10,000 employees – using “green” power exclusively. Obviously, that includes a lot of IT infrastructure to power, not to mention keeping the lights on or the building cool in the Texas heat.

What is green power and where does it come from? According to the EPA’s definition – “ green power is a subset of renewable energy and represents those renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Customers often buy green power for avoided environmental impacts and its greenhouse gas reduction benefits.”

In this case, Dell will be getting the power from two sources. Dell is using all of the power generated from Waste Management’s Austin Community Landfill gas-to-energy plant, meeting 40 percent of Dell HQ needs. The remaining 60 percent comes from existing wind farms and is provided by TXU Energy.

Full news release, Dell’s 2008 carbon neutral commitment. Dane Parker, Dell’s director of environmental health and safety, has a post and video about creating a clean energy future on Direct2Dell.

Good for the environment. Good for the company. Good all around.

About the Author: David Graves