Wind turbines in the Scottish Highlands power all 12 Mars facilities in the UK.
Twenty wind turbines in the Scottish Highlands now provide more than enough electricity to power all 12 Mars, Inc. offices and pet food factories in the United Kingdom. Mars formed a partnership with Eneco UK to build the 60 megawatt (MW) wind farm using 70-meter-tall turbines near the villages of Moy and Tomatin, Scotland.
“The UK has been home to Mars for 84 years,” said Barry Parkin, Mars’ chief sustainability and health & wellbeing officer, said in a press release. “We’re proud the brands that we make here will now be manufactured using renewable electricity, and that we are reducing our carbon footprint in the UK and around the world.”
Mars’ facilities produce pet foods, such as Wiskas cat food, along with human foods, including Snickers candy bars.
The Moy wind farm joins a 118-turbine, 200 MW wind farm in the US to provide energy for Mars’ operations. The Mesquite Creek wind farm in Lamesa, Texas, USA produces enough renewable energy to power all 70 Mars facilities in the US. Both wind power initiatives are part of Mars’ Sustainable in a Generation program, which aims to eliminate Mars’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
Mars will purchase most of the 125,000 MW-hours produced each year by the Moy wind farm. The excess energy will be offered for sale to residents of the nearby villages and surrounding area by Eneco. Local residents will also receive a community benefit fund of £4,500 (US$6,584) per MW per year. They adds up to £270,000 (US$395,040) per year and £6,750,000 (US$9,876,132) over 25 years.
70-meter-tall turbines near the villages of Moy and Tomatin, Scotland. | courtesy Mars Inc.
Tim Wall covers the dog, cat and other pet food industries as a senior reporter for WATT Global Media. His work has appeared inScientific American, Live Science, Discovery News, Honduras Weekly, Global Journalist and other outlets. He holds an M.A. in journalism and an M.S. in natural resources, both
from the University of Missouri - Columbia, along with a bachelor's degree in biology.
Wall served in the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, where he coordinated with the town government of Moroceli to organize a municipal trash collection system, taught environmental science, translated for medical brigades and facilitated sustainable agriculture, along with other projects.
Many hours, efforts, dollars and brainpower go into pet food companies’ and regulatory bodies’ efforts to ensure that products on the market are safe and healthy for pets.
