Surprise! Houston a Hotbed for Renewable Energy

There are few areas more closely identified with the oil and gas industry than Texas, especially Houston.

And, yet, here comes word that the City of Houston is the nation’s top municipal purchaser of renewable energy. According to a February 7, 2012 article in Transportation Nation, 33 percent of the City’s energy comes from wind farms in West Texas, and the City hopes to increase that to maybe 50 percent over the next year or two. The City of Houston already uses more renewable energy than Starbucks, Hilton or the U.S. Department of Energy.  

According to the report, Texas produces 10,000 megawatts of wind energy every year (more than any other state; California is first in solar). As a result, Austin and Dallas are also at the top of the renewable energy users’ list.  Only six entities in the country rely on renewable energy more than Houston; Intel uses more than anyone, according to the report.

A lot of traditional oil and gas companies are based in the Houston area, and they too are relying on renewable energy, for their long-term growth and profitability.

The more you learn about renewable energy, the more you realize you don’t even know what you thought you knew. Makes sense?