How do companies obtain renewable energy?: Answers

Scenario 1 answer: Yes. Businesses can obtain renewable energy in three separate ways:

1. Owning renewable energy systems and using the energy those systems generate
2. Buying renewable power from various third-party-owned systems, or
3. Buying unbundled renewable energy certificates (RECs).

Scenario 2 answer: No. Renewable energy generation can take place onsite (e.g., solar panels on rooftops, micro-wind turbines) or offsite (e.g., utility-scale renewables, community solar). A company’s renewable energy portfolio may have one or a mixture of these procurement options to hit a larger goal.

Scenario 3 answer: No. Wood was the source of almost all the energy needs of the United States up until the mid-1800s. From the late 1800s until now, fossil fuels, which include coal, petroleum, and natural gas, have been the main energy sources. Out of all the renewable energy resources, hydropower and wood were the most used until the 1990s. Since that time, the quantities of U.S. energy use from biofuels, geothermal, solar, and wind energy have grown.