10 green giants

These companies have gone beyond what the law requires to operate in an environmentally responsible way.

PG&E
The methane byproduct of these California cows' waste is delivered by pipeline to PG&E and turned into electricity.
PG&E
Location: San Francisco
Year founded: 1852
Revenue: $12.5 Billion
Employees: 20,000
Strategic investments in efficiency and renewables.

PG&E Played a big role in getting mandatory controls on greenhouse gases enacted last year in California, and CEO Peter Darbee is now pushing for federal legislation.

The utility generates 56 percent of its retail electricity sales from non-greenhouse-gas-emitting sources, and it aggressively helps customers become more efficient. For instance, it subsidizes homeowners who buy energy-efficient appliances with $75 grants. PG&E is also experimenting with a variety of clean power alternatives. It is seeking permission to develop generation projects that could convert wave energy off the Pacific Coast into electricity. It is bullish on solar thermal technology, and it has a pilot project in the San Joaquin Valley in which cow manure is turned into electricity. "That's a dung good idea," cracks Darbee.

Jokes aside, Darbee is seriously excited about the prospect of plug-in hybrids that would draw power from the electricity grid at night and then feed power back into the grid during the day when demand peaks. These clean cars would burn less gasoline, pollute less and take advantage of the utility industry's capital-intensive infrastructure. "The energy industry," Darbee concludes, "is on the brink of a revolution." --Marc Gunther

Honda

Continental

Suncor

Tesco

Alcan

PG&E

S.C. Johnson

Goldman Sachs

Swiss Re

H-P
Sources: Department of Energy; Eia; Ceres; Aron Cramer; Business for Social Responsibility; Dan Esty; Jonathan Lash, World Resources Institute; Matthew Kiernan, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors; Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense; Joel Makower, Greener World Media; Kld Research; Natural Resources Defense Council; Glen Pricket, Conservation International; Andrew Savitz
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.