Racine, Wis.-based SC Johnson said last week that the wind will  provide nearly half of electrical needs at its second largest North American manufacturing plant in Bay City.

The plant will be powered in part by the Thumb's Harvest Wind Farm.

This initiative alone helps the company keep 29,500 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere annually. The energy saved is comparable to the energy needed to supply 1,800 average homes a year, and the CO2 reduction is equivalent to taking almost 3,000 cars off of the road.

SC Johnson is one of the first manufacturers in Michigan to use wind power, striking a five-year deal with Spartan Renewable Energy that will provide approximately 31.5 million kilowatt hours annually, which is the maximum capacity that Spartan is able to provide. This is enough energy to power 46 percent of the company's Bay City operations.

The addition of this renewable energy source enables SC Johnson to achieve two more of its 2011 environmental goals: achieving an eight percent absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States between 2005 and 2011; and achieving a 12 percent absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2012 at all worldwide factories.

The Bay City wind power project follows SC Johnson's successful efforts to slash coal-fired energy dependence at the company's largest global manufacturing plant, Waxdale, in Racine, Wis. In 2003, SC Johnson installed a cogeneration turbine that provided Waxdale with energy using methane piped in from a local public landfill. The company added a second turbine in 2005, which is powered primarily by natural gas. The twin turbines meet the average daily base-load electrical demand of the facility.

More at www.scjohnson.com.