Special Thanks to Nicole Whiteley, for this insightful post, on the use of wind energy in the workplace. I think you will find it interesting and thought provoking.

Wind energy in the workplace

Whole Foods uses it, New Belgium uses it, even Wal-Mart sees the value of wind energy. So, what is holding back the rest of the country?

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Miguel Gonzalez, Graduate of the Master’s program, on Sustainable Architecture and Energy Efficiency at BES La Salle, Barcelona, Spain and LEED Green Associate Course with Everblue Training Institute, explained the obstacles of wind energy in the following way:

“Wind Power needs to be taken care of, it takes a lot of money and time to run a wind farm, but the government offers incentives to develop the technologies and improve our current technologies. In Europe the wind farms and technology development are usually funded by private companies that receive huge government incentives. Any green incentive requires three parts to be successful – people, to run the program, a strong care for the planet, and a way to be profitable. No one wants to invest in a project that they won’t see a profit even if the investors have a strong sense of environmental integrity.”

Wind energy is a passionate environmental cause

Many companies, have people that are passionate about the environment and bettering the way of business. So, how do they translate that into a way to generate profit, while improving their quality of business?

There are many levels of wind energy use, so maybe starting by powering one aspect of your business, with wind could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Wind energy used by companies you know

New Belgium Brewery, located in Fort Collins, CO, uses wind captured from farms in Wyoming, to efficiently cool their network servers that power their website. While New Belgium, is known for ground breaking exploration into sustainability, this is just one idea, that other businesses could adapt, as a small step towards a more green and efficient way of business.

Kim Saylors-Laster, vice president of energy for Wal-Mart stated “We’re purchasing renewable power at traditional energy rates” in a statement about Wal-Mart’s 360 stores, using wind power supplied from Duke Energy, to run 15% of energy consumption.

Whole Foods Market, relies on wind energy for all of its electricity needs. Regional president, Michael Besancon, has declined to discuss the cost of the purchase of wind energy credits, but has stated that it is in line with the company’s previous utility budget.

With large businesses successfully using the current technology, it is only logical for growth in alternative energy to continue. We can only hope that wind energy usage continues to be the wave of a green future.