In a bid to help stimulate the market for green power and reduce its impact on the environment, Intel said it will purchase more than 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates (enough to power about 130,000 homes), making it the single largest corporate purchaser of green power in the United States.

These certificates are an indirect method of encouraging green energy use as they provide an extra income stream for companies generating power from renewable sources, such as the wind and sun, which are generally not profitable without subsidies. Intel’s purchase includes wind, solar, hydro-electric, and biomass sources which will be handled by Sterling Planet, a supplier of renewable energy, energy efficient and low-carbon solutions.