Traveling across the Midwest, it’s hard to miss the rising number of windmills churning out power for local communities. The use of renewable power is on the rise.

To encourage that, companies and organizations are working to buy that power for their use. Husker Harvest Days is doing the same in a special program that replaces power from conventional sources with renewable electricity.

As a division of Informa, a company that has pledged to strive for net zero emissions for its events, Farm Progress is part of an innovative program that evaluates its energy use, looks for efficiencies and reductions, and then purchases the electricity it still needs to power the Grand Island show site from renewable sources, including wind, solar and geothermal.

“In farming, we know producers work to be efficient and sustainable,” says Matt Jungmann, national events director at Farm Progress. “This program is a way we can contribute to the effort to reduce carbon emissions. From our standpoint, it’s a way to show we are invested in sustainability, too.”

Incentivizing renewable power

The Renewable Electricity program is supported by Informa LLC for all company events, including Husker Harvest Days and Farm Progress Show. Essentially, the power into the show may be from conventional sources, but there are renewable sources on the grid. Every unit of renewable electricity generates a market-based credit called a Renewable Energy Certificate.

Informa purchases those certificates, which give the owner claim to megawatt hours of renewable energy and its attributes. Purchasing renewable electricity helps achieve clean-energy goals and lower emissions, and supports the renewable marketplace.

As farmers open their land to generating renewable power, programs like this provide investment into similar approaches throughout the region.

When you see lights on in a Husker Harvest Days exhibit, know that they’re powered by renewable energy.