NC AQUARIUMS SELL WIND POWER TO VISITORS

Photo: DebMomof3/creative commons

Fort Fisher Aquarium already does a lot to advance the cause of sustainability, educating the public on sustainable seafood, promoting biodiversity and conducting research into marine life too. Now the aquarium is offering visitors the chance to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset their own electricity use, and they’ll be helping to lighten the footprint of the aquarium too:

Each purchased REC provides an environmental benefit and represents one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from wind power. The wind power is generated and delivered to the national power grid. Purchasing the RECs offers direct support for renewable energy projects.In addition, for every kilowatt hour(kWh) a visitor purchases, the Aquarium will receive a wind credit for an equal amount. The goal is to balance 100 percent of the electricity used at the Aquarium with an equal amount of wind energy, for a total of 3,037,000 kWh of electricity per year.

Fort Fisher Aquarium is quick to point out that slowing climate change has a direct impact on ocean health, reducing disruption to marine ecosystems and preventing ocean acidification too.

The program is also being promoted by the other NC aquariums.