PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania - Four leading U.S. companies announced clean energy projects today as part of the Green Power Market Development Group, a unique commercial and industrial partnership dedicated to building corporate markets for green power. The Group is convened by the World Resources Institute (WRI), and its members include Alcoa Inc, Cargill Dow LLC, Delphi Corporation, DuPont, General Motors, IBM, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinko's, and Pitney Bowes.

The Green Power Market Development Group projects encompass 50 different corporate facilities in 12 states generating a total of 15 megawatts of green power - enough energy to power over 11,000 homes. Projects enacted since January 2001 include:

· General Motors Corporation is utilizing gas from a landfill and will use gas from another landfill as fuel for powerhouse boilers. GM also will purchase 8 million kWh or more of electricity generated from landfill gas in Michigan.

· IBM facilities in Minnesota and Texas are purchasing wind-generated electricity through utility green pricing programs. These facilities now buy over 5.4 million kWh of green electricity per year.

· Johnson & Johnson has installed solar photovoltaic systems totaling nearly 350 kilowatts on the rooftops of three buildings.

· Kinko's has added renewable power purchases at 42 branches, for a total of 80 nationwide. New commitments are expected to add 4.2 million kWh per year in green power purchases, including electricity from wind farms, landfill gas, geothermal sources, "green tags," and a mix of landfill gas and small hydroelectric power.

"The projects announced today are the result of a tremendous effort over the past two years to build the business case and create cost-competitive green power," said Jonathan Lash, President of WRI. "I congratulate the Group for its leadership on climate change and on advancing a clean energy future."

"Using renewable energy to reduce our ecological footprint represents one of the cornerstones of Kinko's Environmental Vision Statement," said Kinko's President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Kusin. "For Kinko's, purchasing green power makes a very real impact in an area that is important to our customers and to our team members."

"Procuring green power is an excellent way to extend and complement our ongoing energy efficiency initiatives which already have cut our CO2 emissions by 28% since 1990," said Wayne Balta, Vice President, Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety, IBM Corporation.

"We see solar PV as a way to reduce our demand for energy from the grid, increasing the reliability of our electricity supply and mitigating overall emissions," said Chris Hunter, Corporate Energy Manager at Johnson & Johnson.

The Green Power Market Development Group was launched by WRI and Business for Social Responsibility in August 2000. The Group's goal is to create 1,000 megawatts of new cost-competitive green power for corporate markets by 2010. Over the last two years, WRI and the Green Power Group have conducted research and developed tools that help address the environmental impacts of their energy use and that evaluate the business case for green power procurement.

"General Motors is committed to using those green power technologies that make good business sense and that help reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions at our facilities," said Elizabeth Lowery, GM Vice President, Environment and Energy. "Our partnership with WRI is helping us to achieve these goals."

The Group emphasized that the projects highlighted today are a result of two years of work building a foundation of information and strategies to help companies diversify their energy portfolios. However, the Group noted that there are many market barriers that continue to make it difficult to purchase green power.

"We are actively looking for additional green power sourcing opportunities," said Randy Overbey, President of Alcoa's Energy Division. "We hope to expand our use of green power by finding a workable mix of green power sources, market conditions, and policies which will make further use economically viable."

The Group supports open electricity markets, and has identified policy initiatives that would help eliminate market barriers that discriminate against the unique characteristics of green power technologies. In a letter to policy-makers, the Group identified policies that would accelerate the growth and investment in green power including:

· Tax incentives: In addition to the continuation of tax incentives for the production of clean energy, new investment tax incentives would help overcome the relatively high initial cost of green power projects.

· Emissions markets: The further development of a single, efficient emissions reporting system and a robust credit trading market would help meet our country's clean air goals and address climate change concerns.

· Public-private partnerships: Green power research and technology commercialization should be accelerated through expanded public-private partnerships and government green power purchases.

The green power projects were announced in Philadelphia at the first regional Mid-Atlantic Green Power workshop sponsored by the Center for Resource Solutions and the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition.

The Green Power Market Development Group (www.thegreenpowergroup.org) is a project of the Sustainable Enterprise and Economics Programs at World Resources Institute. The World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/wri) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the Earth and improve people's lives.

World Resources Institute

World Resources Institute

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people's lives. Our mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Because people are inspired by ideas, empowered by knowledge, and moved to change by greater understanding, WRI provides—and helps other institutions provide—objective information and practical proposals for policy and institutional change that will foster environmentally sound, socially equitable development. WRI organizes its work around four key goals:

People & Ecosystems: Reverse rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with needed goods and services.

Access: Guarantee public access to information and decisions regarding natural resources and the environment.

Climate Protection: Protect the global climate system from further harm due to emissions of greenhouse gases and help humanity and the natural world adapt to unavoidable climate change.

Markets & Enterprise: Harness markets and enterprise to expand economic opportunity and protect the environment.

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