Woolworths to Go Green

Woolworths, one of the largest companies in Australia, is making a switch to clean and renewable energy sources.
Earlier of this year the retail chain announced that they will be installing solar panels on Woolworths’ petrol stations in Belconnen and Hume. The company estimated that these solar panels can produce enough electricity for the service station to run by itself during daytime, especially with favorable weather conditions.

Woolworths’ efforts are exciting as they will likely have a significant impact in the commercial industry of Australia.
As market leaders they are setting the standard, and as one of the largest retail companies begins to go green, soon enough many more will follow. The company aims to reduce its carbon footprint by switching to alternative energy sources and so reduce their overheads while making a positive contribute to the global commitment of carbon reduction.

They are also motivated by a desire to preempt the carbon tax legislation tabled, and are savvy enough to begin preparations now to offset their carbon emissions.

In case you are still confused about the Carbon tax; put simply it is a form of pollution tax. It sets a fee on the production, distribution or use of fossil fuels based on how much carbon their combustion emits. The government will set a price per ton on carbon (estimated to be about $26/ tonne), and then translate that into a tax on electricity, natural gas or oil.

Because this tax will make using dirty fuels more¬ expensive, it will actively encourage high users like utilities, business sectors and industries to reduce their consumption and increase energy efficiency. This should naturally lead to us finding better ways to manufacture a product, and the funds generated will be feed back into ways to make the switch to cleaner and renewable energy sources more cost effective.

So the Carbon tax is designed to make alternative energy sources like solar more cost-competitive and cheaper compared to polluting fuels like coal, natural gas and oil……However a lot of negative press has been created with the carbon tax under discussion, as businesses are naturally concerned about the possible burden it will add to their expenses. Woolworths has taken a very important step to lead the business sector of the country in taking our current carbon emission problems seriously. You know with a corporation this big they have done their homework, and so they must of realised that with the government incentives and rebates at hand there are real profit advantages to be had by switching to cleaner energy sources!