Ithaca goes Green

The City of Ithaca, N.Y., will be purchasing Green-e Energy-certified renewable energy certificates for all its electricity. These RECs will offset about 4,896 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually from conventional electricity production.

The environmental benefit can be compared to not driving 12,000,000 miles in a car, or planting 1,460 acres of treesThe City of Ithaca, N.Y., will be purchasing Green-e Energy-certified renewable energy certificates for all its electricity. These RECs will offset about 4,896 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually from conventional electricity production.

The environmental benefit can be compared to not driving 12,000,000 miles in a car, or planting 1,460 acres of trees, according to the municipality.to buy all its electricity from renewable energy sources through Integrys Energy Services of New York. It will start this month.

Ithaca has sourced 5 percent of its energy from wind farms since 2006 and is targeting a carbon footprint 20 percent smaller than 2001 levels by 2016.The REC purchase was conducted through Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance Inc., a non-profit aggregation of power users.