Dell’s Green Payday: Going Carbon-Neutral Helps Bottom Line
Dell Computer said today it reached its goal of becoming “carbon neutral” five months ahead of schedule.
It is interesting that this is more evidence of the fact that taking action to avoid the consequences of rising energy costs and helping the environment are not mutually exclusive.
Dell’s reliance on greater energy efficiency and renewable energy is now saving the company $3 million a year. Okay, a drop in the bucket. But more importantly for other companies of all sizes, Dell executives say the internal returns on the efficiency drive are stellar: Most of the new projects pay for themselves in less than two years, and almost all the projects pay back in less than three. As they plan to still be in business in three years, it just makes sense,” said Dane Parker, Dell’s global director of environment, health and safety.
Dell’s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, are already 100% powered by clean energy. But since 2004, the rest of the company has increased renewable-energy purchases ten-fold. Conventional wisdom says buying things like wind power is an expensive luxury, since wind and other alternative energies are more expensive than traditional power sources. But wildly volatile electricity prices thanks to higher coal and natural gas prices mean Dell’s actually saving money by going green.
Plenty of big companies, from Wal-Mart and other retailers to airlines to restaurant chains, are discovering that cleaning up operations can clean up the bottom line. With the election just three months away, it will be interesting to see if Washington is watching.
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Save Money with Simple and Effective Management SystemsJean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.
