Renewable energy is short in supply, more expensive than ‘regular’ and being bought by a lot of big corporations.

Don’t get us wrong – it’s great they’re doing it. But just to provoke debate, why not ask a big FTSE company: “Aren’t you taking all the renewable energy away from consumers?”

There’s part of being a journo that involves playing devil’s advocate. The flip side to this argument is: “We’re creating demand.”

Anyway – this is what HP is up to – buying renewable in Ireland and the US. Big wooh

HP today announced relationships with two renewable energy providers, Airtricity in Ireland and SunPower Corp. in the United States, as part of the company’s goal to reduce its energy use by 20 percent by the end of 2010.

The contract with Airtricty will ensure that nearly 90 percent of HP’s energy use in Ireland is renewable, exceeding the company’s 2007 target for carbon emission reductions.

Under a power purchase agreement with SunPower, HP will install its first-ever, large-scale solar power installation at its San Diego facility.

“Switching to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power makes both environmental and business sense,” said Pat Tiernan, vice president, Social and Environmental Responsibility, HP. “These advances are just part of HP’s comprehensive energy-efficiency programme, which we believe is the most aggressive in the technology industry.”

Wind technology in Ireland
HP’s contract with Airtricity, a renewable energy company developing and operating wind farms across Europe and North America, is for the supply of renewable wind energy to a number of its facilities in Ireland for fiscal year 2008. The electricity supplied by Airtricity is generated by both onshore and offshore wind farms.

Through the contract, HP will purchase more than 80 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy. It is estimated that the agreement will save HP approximately €27,000 over the year-long contract. There are also significant environmental benefits – HP will save the release of more than 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to taking 9,600 cars off the road for one year.

Solar advances in the United States
HP’s agreement with SunPower is worth €5.4 million and covers installation of a 1-megawatt solar electric power system and required maintenance of the system for the next 15 years. HP will buy back solar power at a reduced, locked-in rate under the SunPower Access™ programme. The HP solar electric system will be financed and owned by a third-party financier, which allows HP to take advantage of the environmental and financial benefits of solar power with no upfront capital costs.

Initial estimates indicate that the project will save HP approximately €505,000 in energy costs during the next 15 years. HP will also earn renewable energy credits as the installation will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 450 tonnes per year, or over 7,250 tonnes during the next 15 years.

HP and SunPower established the power purchase agreement as part of the California Public Utilities Commission’s California Solar Initiative. The government programme aims to increase solar energy use through rebates for solar power providers that in turn share the benefits with their customers in the form of reduced energy rates.

HP will extend the benefits of solar power beyond its facilities to employees by creating a solar employee purchase programme in the United States. Employees will receive a total rebate of up to €2,700 from SunPower and HP for the installation of a solar power system for their homes.

The SunPower installation will include 5,000 solar panels on top of five of the seven buildings at HP’s San Diego site. The panels, which are made up of photovoltaic cells, will convert the sun’s light energy into 1,676,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy – enough to provide more than 10 percent of HP’s energy use at the San Diego facility.

HP and the Environment
For decades HP has worked to manage its environmental impact by adopting environmentally responsible practices in its product development, operations and supply chain. The company strives to be a global leader in reducing its carbon footprint, limiting waste and recycling responsibly.

HP has implemented a series of environmental advancements in the areas of product development, internal operations and supply chain management aimed at instituting energy-efficient operating practices worldwide, including:

· In 2007, HP began encouraging all of its logistic and carrier partners to join SmartWay, a voluntary partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the freight industry aimed at reducing fuel consumption, greenhouse gases and other air emissions through better transportation technology. HP’s goals include committing to use more SmartWay carriers, creating a two-tiered authorised vendor list and using HP’s position to educate more carrier partners about SmartWay.

· In 2006, HP purchased 11 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy for use in its operations. HP also joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Purchase programme – a challenge to Fortune 500 companies to double their renewable energy purchases by the end of 2007. HP plans to increase renewable energy purchases by more than 350 percent by procuring 50 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity during 2007.

· Also in 2006, HP embarked on a joint initiative with the World Wildlife Fund-US to establish an absolute reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions from HP’s operating facilities worldwide, explore efficiency goals for products, educate and inspire others to adopt best practices for climate change initiatives and use HP technology in conservation efforts around the world by 2010.

More information about the company’s environmental programmes is available at www.hp.com/environment.

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