Going Green

It’s Getting Windy Out There – Printers Go For Wind Power

By Gail Nickel-Kailing on August 28th, 2009

As an alternative source of energy, wind power is becoming increasingly popular. There are two common ways a printer can use wind power: they can buy wind power directly from their utility company or they can buy “green power credits.”

Or there is a third way to use wind power – generate it yourself!

Homewood Press, Toledo OH, winner of the WhatTheyThink Environmental Sustainability and Your Processes Award, is a small commercial printer with 30 employees. Homewood is the only printer (to my knowledge) that actually generates their own wind power; they have a 60-ft wind turbine.

Installed in December 2008, the SkyStream turbine can generate 400-500 kW of power per month to replace a considerable amount of the power that Homewood Press buys. At that rate, the company anticipates a 2-3 year ROI. Learn more about Homewood Press’ wind and other sustainability initiatives.

For printers who can’t install their own wind generator and can’t buy wind power from their utility, “green tags” are the next choice.

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green tags, Renewable Energy Credits, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are tradable environmental commodities in the United States which represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was renewable, that is, generated from an eligible renewable energy resource.

These certificates can be sold and traded or bartered and the owner of the REC can claim to have purchased renewable energy. While traditional carbon emissions trading programs promote low-carbon technologies by increasing the cost of emitting carbon, RECs can encourage carbon-neutral renewable energy by providing a production subsidy to electricity generated from renewable sources. It is important to understand that the energy associated with a REC is sold separately and is used by another party. The consumer of a REC receives only a certificate.

(Wikipedia: Renewable Energy Certificates)

As of February 2009, according to Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, there were 18 printers of all sizes that announced over the last several years that they are purchasing 100% of their energy use as wind power:

• CPS Printing & Cordius Group—Carlsbad, CA
• Arizona Lithographers—Tuczon, AZ
• Curtis Packaging—Sandy Hook, CT
• EcoPrint—Silver Spring, MD
• EnvirofriendlyPrinting.com—Peetz, CO
• General Converting Inc.—Bollingbrook, IL
• Globe Lithographing—Ridgefield Park, NJ
• GreenerPrinter.com—Berkley, CA
• Herron Printing & Graphics—Gaithersburg, VA
• J. S. McCarthy Printers—Augusta, ME
• Johnson Printing & Packaging Corporation—Fridley, MN
• Merit Printing—Minneapolis, MN
• Monroe Litho—Rochester, NY
• MOSAIC Printing—Cheverly, MD
• PrintingForLess—Livingston, MT
• Quality Printing—Anderson, IN
• Recycled Paper Printing—Boston, MA
• Sandy Alexander—Clifton, NJ

On the other end of the spectrum, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has compiled a Top 20 Printers list represents the largest purchasers among printing partners within the EPA Green Power Partnership. The reported combined green power purchases of these organizations amounts to nearly 148 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 14,700 average American homes each year.

If you’re using wind power for your operation, please let us know. We’d like to add you to the list!