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!
12 Responses to “It’s Getting Windy Out There – Printers Go For Wind Power”
By Grant Menzies on Aug 30, 2009 | Reply
Our company – Menzies Printers – has purchased 100% Wind Power credits from Community Energy through the Santa Fe Pen Group. We are located in Western Canada and have four locations and we have had a very positive response from our client base.
By Steve Brennan on Aug 31, 2009 | Reply
Fowler Printing & Graphics – Randolph, MA has been 100% wind-powered since 2007.
By Mark Ellis - VP Sales & Marketing on Sep 1, 2009 | Reply
DMI, Inc in Woburn, MA has offset 100% of it’s electricity use with by purchasing wind power credits since 2008. We’re proud to offer our customers the opportunity to display a commitment to their own green initiatives by printing a wind power logo on all documents and collateral that DMI prints.
By Tom Stodola on Sep 1, 2009 | Reply
Are you going to profile printers who are producing their own power with solar? I know of one in Southern California that has a 650kW system on their roof.
By Joel Green on Sep 1, 2009 | Reply
At L+L Printers, we are using Wind Power RECs are both of our facilities and this month we are opening a third facility (also in San Diego: Bordeaux, an L+L Printers Company) and we will offset their power with Wind Power RECs.
By Gail Nickel-Kailing on Sep 1, 2009 | Reply
Tom,
That’s a great idea! Please send me the name of the company and we’ll start a solar powered list too!
Gail
By Gail Nickel-Kailing on Sep 4, 2009 | Reply
Folks,
Svec Conway Printing, Silver Spring MD, is also powered 100% by wind energy.
Gail
By Stickers Melbourne on May 24, 2010 | Reply
We’re also looking at renewable energy sources to supply our plant.
By Brian Driscoll on Jul 10, 2010 | Reply
Check us out on http://www.phoenixpressinc.com and you will find that Phoenix Press located in New Haven CT has installed our own wind turbine on our property. We are powering our pressroom, bindery, and mailroom with a Northwind 100 turbine. The turbine is ovet 150 feet tall and can be seen for miles. It has been a great addition to our company. Much has been written about our efforts. We produce our own REC’s and do not sell them and have no plans to do so.
By Rochester Printing on Apr 27, 2011 | Reply
We are looking into wind power also. The amount of energy that is needed to operate or equipment on a daily basis is so large that this is a great way to bring down costs so we can pass the saving on the the end user.
By R.K. on Jul 28, 2011 | Reply
I think generating your own wind power as a printer is admirable. I think this is probably only possible for very large printing facilities. The larger the facility, the more responsibility they should have for going green. For the smaller print shops, they should use the ‘green credits’ for the power they purchase.
And, from a consumer perspective, we have to demand that the services we use are using renewable energy sources.
By Broudy Printing Pittsburgh on Oct 21, 2011 | Reply
We thought this was a great idea and recently starting purchasing wind credits since we don’t have anywhere to put a windmill in the middle of Pittsburgh. So far not too many have asked for the wind power logos, but we think it’s important for the environment.