Staples Reduces Cost and Carbon with Bloom

With $23 billion in sales and a pledge to reduce its carbon emissions 7% by 2010, Staples, Inc. is on the forefront of both office products and services and corporate environmental responsibility. From the start, Staples outlined an integrated approach to the environmental impact and to energy, evaluating many energy sources including fuels cells, solar and wind.

Why Bloom?

Early projects with solar and wind were promising and remain in the Staples portfolio, but its search continued for a consistently reliable solution that could operate 24/7 like its business operations and significantly add to carbon reduction volumes. That led the company to Bloom Energy. Bloom offered a unique fuel cell technology that Staples identified as a clear departure from the highly priced legacy fuel cells.

Implementation

Staples first 300 kW installation was at their Ontario, California Distribution Center. In the first year alone, the project generated over 2 million kilowatt-hours of affordable power that resulted in a reduction of 2.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide. Availability has been above 99%, and Staples is now considering ways that Bloom can play a bigger part in providing power to their large facilities and distribution centers.