A U.S. company specialising in vegan food products is using solar power to supply 100% of its electricity needs.
Follow Your Heart’s 113 kW rooftop solar power system is made up of seven hundred and fifty-six 150 watt solar panels. The modules also act as a shade for the building from the scorching California sun, helping to reduce energy needs.
The company says its plant, called Earth Island, may be the first food manufacturing facility powered by solar energy in the USA. At times, the system produces more electricity than is used and any excess electricity is sold back to the company’s utility.
Follow Your Heart says Earth Island’s system will avoid 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime; the equivalent emissions generated by the burning of over 3,000 tons of coal.
The company points out the Earth Island installation is just one 20,000 square foot roof and if rooftop solar panels were installed on all buildings in the southwestern United States, enough electricity would be produced to meet the needs of the entire nation.
“The impact on our environment, along with the shift in our dependence on nuclear energy, coal, oil and gas, would truly change the world.”
Follow Your Heart began in 1976 when four friends pooled their resources to buy a health food store in Canoga Park, California. The founders decided to eliminate meat, poultry and fish from the store’s offerings, a controversial move at the time. In 1988, two of the founders started Earth Island.
Among its products is Vegenaise, an egg-free a mayonnaise alternative. Other salad dressings, sauces, marinades and veggie meats are also produced at Earth Island. The company’s products seem to be very popular in the USA, but unfortunately for Australian consumers aren’t available here (yet).
via TreeHugger
