These Old-School Companies Are Going Big With Solar and Wind
A who’s who of the corporate world is turning to renewables, notably wind, as they make massive new deals
Guess which company bought the most clean energy last year? Yes, no surprise, Google. The tech behemoth still dominates when it comes to wind and solar, but it’s now being joined by other corporate titans, some decades old and far from Silicon Valley.
Businesses made deals to acquire 3.4 gigawatts of renewable energy in 2015, equivalent to half of North Dakota’s entire power capacity. Of that amount, two-thirds came from first-time buyers, according to figures from the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), which facilitates such deals through its Business Renewables Center.
Those newbies include the 77-year-old building materials manufacturer Owens Corning, veteran U.S. government contractor Lockheed Martin, and Dow Chemical, founded in 1897. They’re moving forward to cut greenhouse
