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U.S. EPA awards Northern California family farm Green Power Leadership Award / Lundberg Family Farm’s commitment avoids emissions equivalent to 600 cars on the road per year

Release Date: 10/27/2008
Contact Information: Wendy Chavez, 415/947-4248, [email protected]

Lundberg Family Farm’s commitment avoids emissions equivalent to 600 cars on the road per year

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today recognized the Richvale, Calif., Lundberg Family Farms with its Green Power Leadership Award for its voluntary efforts to address climate change by purchasing green power and helping advance the development of the nation’s green power market.

“This small family farm is making a big difference for the environment,” said Deborah Jordan, the EPA’s Air Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. “Lundberg has made one of the largest U.S. renewable energy commitments by any agribusiness -- they are truly leading the way for other farms to go green.”

Lundberg Family Farms, a family-owned and operated farm growing organic rice and rice products in the Sacramento Valley, has purchased or generates more than 4.8 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually -- the equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 600 passenger vehicles per year, or the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 500 average American homes annually. The farm’s purchase is enough to supply more than 100 percent of the operation’s total electricity use, placing the company on the EPA’s 100% Purchasers list.

Lundberg also installed two solar photovoltaic arrays on company warehouses -- producing nearly 688,000 kWh annually. The farm’s systems feed into the California power grid, enabling it to contribute extra power to the grid during summer months when the state’s power demands are the highest.

The family farm also received the EPA’s Green Power Leadership Award in 2004.

Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. Green power sources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and produce no human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Purchases of green power also help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide.

Nominees are evaluated on the size and characteristics of their green power commitment, ingenuity used to overcome barriers, internal and external communication efforts, as well as overall renewable energy strategy.

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The partnership currently has more than 1000 partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information and to see a complete list of the awardees nationwide, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower and https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/index.htm