Source: independent.co.uk
America's biggest coal producer is taking the plunge on renewables by launching a joint venture in solar power.
Peabody Energy Corp. announced on Tuesday that it has launched R3 Renewables with two investment firms to build utility-scale solar projects on or near former coal mining operations.
The St. Louis-based company will develop 3.3 Gigawatts (GW) of solar - enough to power about 2 million homes - and 1.6 GW of battery storage capacity over the next five years. R3 Renewables will develop on large tracts of land in Indiana and Illinois.
"We are pleased to announce this new joint venture as part of Peabody's commitment to be the coal producer of choice, creating additional value from our existing assets, supporting our own and our customers' ESG ambitions and providing added economic benefits for the communities in which we work and live," said Jim Grech, President and CEO of Peabody.
Peabody hefur stundað kolanám í næstum 140 ár og er með starfsemi í Nýja Suður-Wales, Ástralíu og í Bandaríkjunum, Wyoming, Alabama, Indiana og Nýju Mexíkó.
The company did not report the size of the investment but it appears that its primary focus will remain in the fossil fuel industry. The Independent left a message for Peabody's representative seeking comment.
Coal is the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive of fossil fuels. While it generated 24 per cent of US electricity in 2019, the fossil fuel accounted for about 61 prósent af CO2 losun í greininni.
Árið 2020 mynduðu endurnýjanlegir orkugjafar - þar á meðal vindur, vatnsaflsorka, sólarorka, lífmassa og jarðvarmaorka - um 21 prósent af raforku í Bandaríkjunum, aðeins jarðefnagas á toppnum.
In the same year, use of renewables surpassed both nuclear and coal for the first time in history, reported the Orkuupplýsingastofnun Bandaríkjanna.
Sem hluti af áætlunum Bandaríkjanna um að takast á við þátt sinn í loftslagskreppunni hefur Joe Biden forseti heitið því að venja landið af jarðefnaeldsneyti, skapa hreinan orkugeira fyrir árið 2035 og hreint-núllosunarhagkerfi eigi síðar en árið 2050.
