The chocolate company will provide PSNH with cocoa bean shells which will be burned to produce electricity. In the state of New Hampshire, the shells are a designated biomass fuel source.
The company said that it will deliver the shells to PSNH's Schiller Station power plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to be used as a supplementary fuel source.
Thomas Linemayr, chief executive officer and president of Lindt, said: "Lindt controls every aspect of the chocolate making process, from the choice of cocoa beans to the finished product. Our partnership with PSNH provides us with an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint by disposing of a byproduct in a responsible manner."
The cocoa bean shell concept was first tested in March 2009 and is now being officially implemented following approval from New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services. The burning of biomass, such as cocoa bean shells, reduces the amount of carbon dioxide a power plant would otherwise emit through the burning of fossil fuels, the company said.
Bill Smagula, director of generation at PSNH, said: "This is one of many steps we've taken to continuously improve our environmental programmes. It will allow us, with the help of Lindt, to replace a portion of coal with a portion of biomass, and that's another step in the right direction."
