The solar, landfill gas, and fuel cell projects funded by New Energy Capital through the New Energy Capital Cleantech Infrastructure Fund offset over 482 thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (“MT CO2 Eq.”) in 2015. NEC expects this number to grow in 2016 as in-construction solar projects are placed into service and as the AltAir renewable fuel project begins commercial production.
NEC collected or estimated megawatt hour (“MWh”) generation data for each portfolio project and used region-specific eGRID emissions factors maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine the greenhouse gas (“GHG”) intensity of each MWh offset by its investments. Combining the generation data, project location, and eGRID emissions factor, NEC estimated the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide (measured together as metric tons of CO2 Eq.) offset by each investment.
Table 1- 2015 Generation & GHG Offset by Investment
Investment |
Capacity |
Generation |
GHGs Offset |
FLS Energy |
609 |
252,950 |
206,637 |
Cypress Creek |
445 |
115,738 |
94,548 |
SunEdison I |
105 |
195,044 |
90,376 |
BioFuels Washington |
5 |
32,862 |
23,655 |
SunEdison II |
24 |
44,513 |
20,626 |
CEC |
24 |
24,747 |
18,256 |
Trident |
4 |
29,185 |
13,523 |
BioFuels Pt. Loma |
3 |
21,318 |
9,878 |
Celina Solar |
5 |
6,066 |
4,955 |
2015 Total |
1,224 |
722,424 |
482,453 |
Figure 1- 2015 GHG Offsets