Wal-Mart DCs, Norfolk Southern tap wind power

Wal-Mart DCs, Norfolk Southern tap wind power Wal-Mart Stores will begin purchasing wind power next year to meet up to 15 percent of its energy needs at about 360 stores and distribution centers in Texas, the world’s largest retailer said last week.
   Duke Energy is expected to begin supplying the electricity in April when it is scheduled to complete construction of a wind farm in Notrees, Texas. The state is the nation's largest producer of wind energy.
   Utilities usually charge a premium for wind compared to electricity generated from traditional energy sources because of limited infrastructure and economies of scale, but Wal-Mart said its deal matches typical energy rates.
   The project will provide roughly 226 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable power each year or the energy equivalent of washing 108 million loads of laundry — enough for every household in Austin, Texas to do laundry for a year, Wal-Mart said. Wal-Mart will avoid producing more than 139,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year, equivalent to taking about 25,000 cars off the road annually.
   Wal-Mart’s first substantial use of wind power is part of its three-year-old campaign to use environmentally sustainable business practices, including being totally supplied by renewable energy. Last year, Wal-Mart began a project to equip 22 locations in Hawaii and California with solar panels.
   In related news, Norfolk Southern said it completed the installation of a 50-kilowatt wind turbine at its rail yard in North Kansas City to power the yard’s wastewater treatment plant. The turbine is estimated to annually generate more than 100,000 kwh.
   The railroad’s first wind turbine has been operating since 2007 at a yard in Bellevue, Ohio. Both wind turbines, supplied by Entegrity Wind Systems, Boulder, Colo., produce at least enough power to offset the electricity consumed by the pumps and controls of the treatment plants, which collect and treat water used at maintenance facilities as well as rainwater runoff. ' Eric Kulisch