Optimizing Efficiency at Existing Facilities
We continually work to reduce environmental impacts at existing facilities. A new central utility plant on our Madison campus is resulting in efficiency gains for several facilities, including our Agora administration building which experienced a 50% reduction in energy usage from chilled water in 2022. Retrofits for LED lighting impacted Agora, Feynman Center and the Biopharmaceutical Technology Center.
Ground sourced heat pumps, solar water heaters and heat recovery technology help minimize heating requirements and natural gas emissions. Natural gas consumption as indexed to revenue has decreased by 16% over 2019 levels. Our Nobel Drive facility is the first on the Promega campus to not use natural gas. Ground sourced heat pumps provide heating and cooling as part of renovations in 2022.
Expanding Use of Renewable Electricity
Electricity usage makes up nearly half of our operational emissions. We aim to reduce these effects by minimizing consumption and using energy from renewable sources. Promega has committed to using 100% renewable electricity by 2025. Currently, over 50% of electricity used is from renewable sources thanks to recent investments in on-site generation and partnerships to source renewable energy globally.
- Our three largest arrays on the Feynman Parking Garage, Feynman Center, and Kornberg Center total over 1,300 kW and generate roughly 2 million kWh annually.
- We partnered with Madison Gas & Electric (MGE) to be part of the O'Brien Solar Fields project in Fitchburg, WI. The array provides Promega with 1.25 MW of electricity, enough to supply more than 10% of our current annual electrical consumption.
- Promega operations in France, Germany and the UK generate renewable electricity on-site.