2Sustain

General Mills has completed installation of solar panels at its facility in Methuen, Massachusetts, and the company says it now expects solar energy to supply nearly 80 percent of the warehouse’s summertime power needs, and 40 percent of its needs the rest of the year.

This is the first General Mills facility in the US to produce its own electricity using solar energy.

The panels will:

• provide a year-round average of 55 percent of the annual electricity consumed by the warehouse building.

• generate enough electricity (110.7 kilowatts) to power approximately 12 average Massachusetts homes every year.

• offset more than 112,000 lbs of carbon dioxide annually – the equivalent of taking 10 cars off the road.

General Mills is also constructing a biomass burner at its oat-milling facility in Fridley, Minnesota, that will burn leftover oat hulls from the milling process to produce about 90 percent of the steam needed to heat the plant and make oat flour. In addition, the company’s facility in San Adrian, Spain, now receives all of its electricity and one third of its overall energy from renewable energy sources such as wind power.

“As we continue to work on sustainability across our supply chain, we remain confident that the groundwork we’ve laid will continue to show even more progress in the future,” says Jon Russett, energy manager in General Mills’ Supply Chain operations.