NRG to Slash CO2 Emissions 90% by 2050

NRG Energy has set a goal to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050 below a 2014 baseline.

The energy company announced the new goals yesterday, in conjunction with a groundbreaking ceremony of its new “ultra-green” corporate headquarters (pictured) in Princeton, New Jersey, expected to open in 2016.

The company has already reduced its CO2 emissions by 40 percent since 2005 but remains a major emitter of CO2. NRG estimates the new carbon reduction goals will avoid approximately 3 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2050.

To accomplish its objectives, NRG says it will continue its leadership role in the development, ownership and operations of renewable generation carbon capture and sequestration, energy storage and low-carbon distributed energy resources.

New natural gas generation and distributed energy resources will play key roles in NRG’s growth. These include distributed solar, co-generation and electric vehicle networks, along with smart systems to manage them all.

NRG’s green, co-gen- and solar-powered headquarters will showcase the ability of businesses to foster sustainability in their facilities, while reducing their dependence on grid power.

The location will incorporate, among other technologies:

• Two on-site solar fields, with roughly 765 kW of capacity;
• High-efficiency LED lighting combined with daylight harvesting to reduce indoor lighting needs and energy use by roughly one-third;
• 12,000 gallons of rainwater harvesting capacity to reduce city water use by 80 percent;
• Over 30 electric vehicle charging stations with infrastructure for EV-to-grid (eV2g) “back-feed” capability;
• Off-grid capabilities and significant additional energy efficiency provided through dual-fuel generators and combined heat and power (CHP) systems for heating and cooling;
• Grid power, to the extent it is used, will be 100 percent renewable energy through one of NRG’s green retail subsidiaries.