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.
Společnost Peabody těží uhlí téměř 140 let a působí v Novém Jižním Walesu, Austrálii a amerických státech Wyoming, Alabama, Indiana a Nové Mexiko.
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 procent emisí CO2 v tomto sektoru.
V roce 2020 obnovitelné zdroje energie - včetně větrné, vodní, solární, biomasy a geotermální energie - vytvářely v USA asi 21 procent elektřiny, navrch pouze fosilní plyn.
In the same year, use of renewables surpassed both nuclear and coal for the first time in history, reported the US Energy Information Administration.
V rámci plánů USA vypořádat se se svou účastí na klimatické krizi se prezident Joe Biden zavázal, že zemi odstaví od fosilních paliv, čímž do roku 2035 vytvoří sektor čisté energie a nejpozději do roku 2050 -ekonomiku s nulovými emisemi.
