While 100% renewable energy mandates are making slow and uneven progress at the state level, the movement towards 100% renewables is quickly adding more cities and corporations.
As the latest, Citigroup has made a pledge to source renewable energy for 100% of its power needs by 2020. The bank says that in order to achieve this pledge it will consider on-site generation, power contracts for data centers and other energy-intensive properties and the purchase of renewable energy credits.
The amount of real estate for on-site solar generation that this could involve is not insignificant. Citigroup owns or leases more than 7,900 properties, representing over 57 million square feet of real estate in 94 nations. As a centerpiece, the bank’s new global headquarters, which is currently under construction in New York City, is being targeted the highest rating under the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED Platinum.
Citigroup is also joining the RE100 global initiative led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP. The move follows on Citi’s commitment to finance $100 billion in “clean energy, infrastructure and technology projects that build a more sustainable economy”.
However, in its renewable energy pledge Citigroup is far from alone. The bank is actually the last of the “Big 4” in the United States to do so, following on 100% renewable energy commitments by Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
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