At its transmission plant in Russells Point, Ohio, Honda is currently installing wind turbines that will supply 10% of the factory’s electricity needs.
In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, experts predict the turbines will produce 10,000 megawatt hours per year. Honda will have the distinction of having the first automotive manufacturing facility in the United States to derive a huge portion of its electricity directly from wind turbines placed strategically on its property.
Honda’s wind turbines in Russell’s Point have blades approximately 160 feet long and are on 260 foot towers. Juhl Wind is installing and managing the turbines and will provide the power to Logan County Electric Cooperative and Buckeye Power, Inc.
Honda has taken it upon itself to establish and meet voluntary goals to reduce energy use and waste from manufacturing operations by 2020. Reducing CO2 emissions by 30% from 2000 levels and creating 12 LEED-Certified “green buildings” in North American are just a couple of the ways Honda is at the forefront of greening the automotive industry.
In a similar move, in January, Volkswagen began operating the largest solar power installation at its Chattanooga, Tennessee manufacturing plant where the Passat is produced.
10 of Honda’s 14 manufacturing facilities are zero-waste landfills. Subaru, Ford, and General Motors are all going landfill free as well.
For the past 15 years, a Honda vehicle has been near the top of the America Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) list of America’s greenest vehicles.
This is impressive output from a small number of turbines. Businesses are going to find, as Grid based power prices rise, this type of on-location supplemental power generation – Wind, Solar, will really payoff financially in the long run.