Specialty cheese maker Emmi Roth has completed a solar panel installation project that will eliminate 14,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the environment.

The Platteville, Wisconsin-based company installed 1,602 JA 330-watt solar panels on the roof of its cheese production facility in Platteville. The project will save the equivalent of 1.4 million gallons of gas or 13 million pounds of coal.

"There are many companies trying to live up to sustainability goals," says Jim Pullen, general manager of Eagle Point Solar, which installed the panels. "Emmi Roth is part of a group that actually makes these goals a reality and invests in the environment."

The solar panels will supply 15 percent of the plant’s electricity.

"We want to have the lowest possible carbon footprint we could have in the industry," says Tim Omer, president and managing director at Emmi Roth. "This is another step in our commitment to focus on sustainable initiatives, so it's very exciting for all of us here at Emmi Roth."