Ford Motor Co. has announced the procurement of 500,000 MWh of locally sourced Michigan wind energy through DTE Energy’s MIGreenPower program.
Ford’s Dearborn truck plant, home of the Ford F-150 and Ford Raptor; Michigan Assembly plant, home of the new 2019 Ford Ranger; and several new buildings on the Ford Research and Engineering campus and Corktown campus, including Michigan Central Station, will soon be powered by 100% locally sourced renewable energy. A 500 kW solar PV system is already in place at Michigan Assembly.
“Ford supports the implementation of renewable energy where the project can be tied to the customer’s facility, either directly or through the local distribution utility, and we believe that it supports local jobs, improves the local environment and adds resiliency to the local grid,” says George Andraos, Ford’s global director of energy and technology.
“Ford is proud to be a part of this initiative, as it builds on the early achievement of our aggressive 30 percent per-vehicle carbon-reduction target,” notes Andy Hobbs, director of Ford’s Environmental Quality Office. “That early achievement reduced the company’s annual footprint by 3.4 million metric tons.”
Ford plans to announce a new Global Carbon Reduction Strategy, which will focus on renewable energy, in conjunction with the launch of the company’s 20th annual sustainability report in June.
With MIGreenPower, DTE Energy’s electric customers can join the company’s efforts to develop more Michigan-made renewable energy by matching their energy use to local wind and solar projects. In January, DTE received approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission to expand its voluntary renewable offerings to include a tariff designed specifically for large corporate and industrial customers. Ford says it is the first company to announce an involvement with this new tariff.
“Expanding MIGreenPower to help our largest corporate customers meet their sustainability goals is another milestone in our clean energy transformation,” states Trevor F. Lauer, president and chief operating officer of DTE Electric. “It’s exciting that iconic Ford vehicles like the F-150 will be built in a plant powered by DTE wind energy, and we appreciate the leadership role Ford is taking in reducing its carbon footprint and supporting our state’s clean energy economy.”
DTE plans to build additional renewable energy projects and expand MIGreenPower to meet increasing customer demand.
100% renewable energy can’t be done. On days the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, FORD will get its power from BACK-UP natural gas plants and NOT from wind turbines.
100% renewable energy is not possible and can’t be done but I’m not surprised it’s advertised this way.
It’s the same old environmental curtain hung in front of the tax incentives that they’re gonna realize!!! Citizen outcry against the Budweiser Super Bowl ad shown online BEFORE the Superbol where they claimed their beer was brewed with 100% renewable energy forced Budweiser to remove that claim for the ad that actually ran on Super Bowl Sunday.
This is the output of about 150 MW’s of wind. The decision by Ford (no relation) is what is needed to drive new wind development. The U.S. needs about 63,000 MW’s of new wind every year for the next 22 years, and about 39,000 MW’s of new solar, to cut about 70% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. We can jigger the numbers, and increasing utility efficiency will lower the requirement and increase the savings.