(Kansas City, Kan., June 6, 2012) - EPA has presented the University of Iowa, at Iowa City, Iowa, with a Green Power Partnership Top 20 Award for its on-site generation of green power.
EPA's Green Power Partnership works with a variety of organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, agencies at all levels of government, and a growing number of colleges, universities, and schools, to promote green power concepts. EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.
Annually, the Green Power Partnership Awards highlight organizations' use of green power across various industry sectors. The University of Iowa was cited for using biomass (oat hulls) to displace coal in one of its two solid fuel boilers, which significantly reduces its emissions. The university's Main Power Plant cogenerated, per hour, nearly nine million kilowatts of electricity from biomass-produced steam, which represented more than three percent of the electric power consumption on campus in 2010.
Using green power helps reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and supports the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide.
EPA co-sponsors the Green Power Leadership Awards in conjunction with the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS). The awards serve to recognize the leading actions of organizations, programs, and individuals that significantly advance the development of green power sources. Nominations are typically collected in late spring for that year's award event, which is usually held the following fall in conjunction with the Renewable Energy Markets Conference.
###
For more on EPA Green Power Partners, visit: http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion7
