U.S. Air Force, DOE Laboratory Among Climate Protection Leaders

May 24, 2006

The U.S. Air Force and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) joined one electric utility, five corporations, two organizations, and three individuals on May 17th as recipients of the 2006 Climate Protection Awards, presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Air Force was honored for buying more than a billion kilowatt-hours of green power in 2005, making it the largest buyer of green power in the country. The Air Force also invests in significant on-site biomass, wind, and solar power. NREL was the first federal participant in the EPA Climate Leaders Partnership (CLP) and was one of five CLP members to set and successfully meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of 10 percent per square foot from 2000 to 2005. Additionally, NREL's analytical contribution to the EPA Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership will allow the automotive community to prevent the equivalent of more than 35 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions each year while saving the average consumer hundreds of dollars over the life of their vehicle.

The utility and corporate winners of the Climate Protection Awards include the Arizona Public Service Company, which cut its greenhouse gas emissions to below 1990 levels by 2000 and plans to reduce its carbon intensity another 10 percent by 2010; Baxter International, which cut its greenhouse gas intensity by 35 percent between 1996 and 2004; DENSO Corporation, which developed a way to dramatically increase refrigeration efficiency while slashing greenhouse gas emissions; IBM Corporation, which cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 6.2 percent per year from 2000 to 2005 by using energy efficiency and buying renewable energy; Johnson & Johnson, the largest corporate purchaser of green power and a significant generator of on-site power from landfill gas and solar energy; and Yokota Tohoku, Inc., manufacturers of food containers that are recycled with far less energy and greenhouse gas emissions than competing products. See the EPA press release and the full list of winners.