The US division of global bank HSBC has revealed ambitious plans to increase its commitment to renewable energy sources, stating that it intends to use wind-generated power to provide 30% of its energy needs.
This latest move follows on from the bank’s pledge at the end of last year to become carbon neutral, which the company said was a first for the banking industry, and continues its strategic initiative of winning customer support through a focus on its environmental impact.
With this in mind, HSBC’s US banking unit has now announced that it has offset a substantial quantity of its carbon emissions by purchasing 45,454 megawatt hours of clean, wind energy certificates. The purchase from 3 Phases Energy Services is one of the largest retail renewable energy purchases ever made in North America and represents roughly one third of the company’s energy usage.
HSBC believes that its greener energy commitment will prevent the release of over 36,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, which will have the environmental impact of planting over 4,500 acres of forest or removing nearly 3,500 average passenger vehicles from US roadways each year.
We want to be the first bank in the world to have zero greenhouse gas emissions and a cornerstone of this effort is powering our branches and offices with 30% clean, natural wind power, commented HSBC Bank USA president & CEO Martin Glynn.