Top Ten Enterprise Customers

5. PepsiCo.

In the top 50 buyers of green power released by the Environmental Protection Agency, PepsiCo. ranks second, right behind Intel, as the second largest buyer of renewable energy in the U.S. It bought 1.1 billion kilowatt hours of green power in the first quarter. But the Pepsi Bottling Group was No. 6 with 470 million kilowatt hours. If added together, the two Pepsis (which will likely soon be joined in a corporate merger) surpass Intel. Perhaps more importantly, Pepsi gets 100 percent of its power from green sources. Intel gets 46 percent (see Government, IT Biggest Buyers of Green Power).

But the green push doesn't stop there. Like Coca Cola, Pepsi is examining ways to replace chemicals – such as those that coat the inside of its cans – with materials with fewer potential health risks and fossil fuel content. It also has deployed ozone systems to purify water in some operations.  SunChips, made by Pepsi, will come in a fully compostable bag in 2010. (The Frito Lay factory that makes SunChips in Modesto, Calif. also uses a solar thermal powered boiler.) Overall, it wants to cut water consumption by 20 percent, electricity by 20 percent and fuel by 25 percent by 2015.

It will also be one of the principal buyers, most likely, of new types of food additives, sweeteners, and packaging to reduce the ginormous portions on shelves today. Granted, they sell soda and snack foods, but cutting out salt, fats and other unhealthy additives in these foods could help curb health problems in a lot of countries.