McDonald’s Is Deploying Lots of Photovoltaics, But….
Apparently, McDonald’s is deploying a ton of solar PV in the form of canopies to protect their customers’ cars. That’s good. But I’m less sanguine on ridiculous statements from company spokespersons like: “We continuously commit to reducing the environmental impact of our restaurants as much as possible….”
McDonald’s itself is an unmitigated disaster for the health of the environment, not to mention for the seven billion people who live in it. We’re talking about a combination of:
1) deforestation to create cattle yards,
2) dependence on unsustainable farming methods, and
3) products that cause childhood obesity and diabetes.
Three strikes and you’re out.
A company called Keystone Foods built a 300,000ft2 warehouse and distribution facility in the farm field here near my house to serve McDonald’s exclusively. An 18 wheeler comes and goes every few minutes from there. I sent an email asking if they were going to cover the large flat roof with PV and collect the used vegetable oil from the resturants when they delivered to process into fuel for their delivery trucks the way they do in Germany. The answer was no they were satisfied with their “leed” certification. The place is almost exclusively a giant freezer. I can’t imagine they don’t use a ton of power. They ran a total new exclusive power line through my neighborhood to support it. That roof is big enough to get at least 5mW of PV on and in an average 4 hour day would generate 20mWh of power.