EPA recognizes German firm's renewable energy initiatives

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recognized Germany’s SAP SE as one of the United States' Top 100 green power users for the second consecutive year.

In 2014, SAP – a software corporation – transitioned all of its data centers to running on electricity from renewable sources. In the U.S., this has translated into the company purchasing 90 million kilowatt-hours of renewable power each year, the equivalent to the annual use of 9,000 homes.

"This recognition by the EPA is great validation for our environmental efforts," SAP Chief Sustainability Officer Daniel Schmid said. "Using green power helps us to meet our emission reduction goals and support our customers in reducing their carbon footprint by moving their systems into our green cloud.

In addition to its renewable energy certificates efforts, SAP also employs an electric fleet for its company cars and runs bicycle leasing and ride sharing programs for its employees. SAP has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2020, and has joined the RE100 initiative, which seeks to have 100 of the world’s most influential companies commit to 100 percent renewable energy use.

“At the same time, we are sending a message to others across the world that supporting clean sources of electricity is a sound business decision and an important choice in reducing climate risk," Schmid said.