Renewable energy is all the rage for people and communities on the move, but which cities actually use the most renewable energy techniques?
Out of cities all over the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks Santa Clara, CA as the greenest powered community. Residents and businesses in the city have voluntarily bought the most renewable energy than any other EPA green community in the past year.
Santa Clara receives its power from Silicon Valley Power and 3Degrees. The program that runs Santa Clarans’ voluntary green power purchases? Santa Clara Green Power. It is estimated that the average participant in the program prevents about 7,310 pounds of CO2 and other harmful particulates from entering the atmosphere each year. Impressive, right? But what’s even more impressive?
- “Santa Clarans’ voluntary green power purchases, which are above and beyond the utility’s own purchases of renewable energy, helped prevent the emission of approximately 117,142 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). This is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from over 22,000 passenger vehicles a year…”
These numbers help the EPA measure the greenest powered communities. Calculated by the Annual Green Power Usage number, cities are ranked by how many kilowatt-hours of renewable energy are used.
This year’s top three green power communities:
1. Santa Clara, CA with 163,113,900 kWh annually
2. Gresham, OR with 125,843,124 kWh annually
3. Corvallis, OR with 100,297,648 kWh annually
How does your city or community practice green techniques? Everyone would love to hear!