Kirkbi, the parent company of toymaker LEGO is investing $535 Million in a major wind farm off the coast of Germany. Kirkbi’s one-third stake in the 77-turbine wind farm is expected to produce more power than LEGO’s total electricity consumption up to and including 2020. The investment also will qualify the LEGO Group for the Windmade label a global standard for renewable energy promotion, that the LEGO Group helped establish.
But this investment could (and should) go beyond green labeling. LEGO could do a whole lot more to promote their sustainability, while helping to create a new generation of green energy engineers at the same time.
The Vestas LEGO Wind Turbine Set 4999 was originally released in 2008 with wind company Vestas. Unfortunately, it required batteries to operate. (?) Some diligent Googling revealed this obscure Renewable Energy Add-On Sets from LEGO Education featuring a real WORKING turbine and Solar Power Kit. Come on, LEGO, time to get these off the back pages of your catalog, make the package design more action-packed and put them on the shelves at Toys’R’Us and WalMart.
Bringing renewable energy to the playroom is only the beginning. I would love to one day be able to snap full sized solar panels on to the LEGO roof tiles of my home. And replace them just as easily. As once I wrote in a blog for Sustainable Minds, If I was King, I would Make the Whole World From LEGO.
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