A Butte County farm has received an environmental award from the federal government for its efforts to rely on renewable energy.
Lundberg Family Farms, which specializes in organic rice and rice products, recently received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Leadership Award, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.
The farm, in Richvale, has made one of the largest renewable energy commitments by any farming business in the country, according to an EPA news release. Richvale is about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
The farm has purchased or generates more than 4.8 million kilowatt-hours of green power each year, the equivalent of avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of nearly 600 cars per year, the release states. That amount of electricity could power more than 500 average American homes each year.
The farm's purchase means it can supply more than 100 percent of its total electricity use.
The farm, which has been placed on the EPA's 100 percent purchasers list, also has installed two solar photovoltaic arrays on company warehouses, which produce nearly 688,000 kilowatt-hours each year.
The farm's systems feed into the state power grid, which enables it to contribute extra power to the grid during the summer when energy demands are high, the release states.
The farm received the same award from the EPA in 2004, and was named one of the country's top small workplaces by The Wall Street Journal this year.
The agribusiness, which has 198 employees and a 2007 revenue of $48.9 million, was commended for its employee appreciation efforts, employee compensation, executive accessibility and employee tenure.
For more information about Lundberg Family Farm, go to www.lundberg.com.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.