EPA recognizes Air Force for its 'green power' achievements

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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE (AFPN) --  The U.S. Air Force is the nation's top purchaser of green power, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Top 25 list of green power purchasers in the partnership. The Air Force is also in the No. 1 slot on the nation's Top 10 Federal Government Green Power Partners.

The Air Force is being recognized for its voluntary purchase of 1,066,397,000 kilowatt-hours of green power. This purchase is the largest among all Green Power Partners.

The EPA, using data on national average avoided carbon dioxide emissions, estimates that the Air Force's purchase is equivalent to avoiding more than 1.4 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming.

"Buying 1,066,397,000 kilowatt-hours of green power is comparable to removing the emissions of nearly 128,526 cars annually or planting more than 198,868 acres of trees per year," said Jim Snook, Air Force renewable energy program manager.

The EPA's quarterly list of the nation's Top 25 green power purchasers and its inaugural Top 10 list of Federal Government Green Power Partners are available at www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm.

This Top 10 list highlights federal government agencies within the Green Power Partnership that have completed the largest annual voluntary green power purchases through June 26. "Green power" is defined by the partnership as electricity products that are partially or entirely generated from environmentally preferable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and low-impact biomass and hydro resources.

"Using green power is helping to improve our environmental performance and increase demand for renewable resources nationwide", said Col. Gus Elliott, commander of the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency. "Our purchase helps support the president's goal to safeguard the environment, reduce our dependence on energy from abroad, and help keep energy prices reasonable for consumers."

Renewable energy sources produce little to no net greenhouse gas emissions and are cleaner for the environment. Green power helps accelerate the development of new, domestic renewable energy generation facilities nationwide.

"The Air Force purchases its renewable power supply from many diverse sources and from a variety of providers," Mr. Snook said. "It comes from: biomass, 39 percent; wind, 38 percent; geothermal, 16 percent; and 7 percent from other renewable sources."

"This Top 25 list includes a number of leading federal government institutions that are buying significant amounts of green power," said Blaine Collison, program director for EPA's Green Power Partnership. "EPA applauds the U.S. Air Force for helping to drive demand for new renewable energy power sources through its voluntary green power purchase."

For more information about the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency, visit www.afcesa.af.mil/.

For a full listing of the more than 600 EPA Green Power Partners and information about buying green power, see the Partnership's Web site at www.epa.gov/greenpower/.

(Courtesy of Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency Public Affairs)