Hartford Meets Renewable Energy Goal - Three Years Early

August 26, Wethersfield, CT - According to an article on Corporate Connecticut’s Web site by Carrie Cullen Hitt, vice president of product management/renewable products for Constellation NewEnergy, Hartford has achieved the goal of purchasing 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources – three years early. Much of the credit is due to a little help and knowledge from Constellation NewEnergy. The goal is part of Hartford’s commitment to the CT Clean Energy Fund’s Clean Communities program whereby towns commit to increase green power purchasing to 20 percent by 2010.

Constellation NewEnergy helped the City of Hartford incorporate green power into their overall energy purchasing budget. The regional energy company worked with the City to stabilize their energy costs and provided them with RECs to help offset electricity usage from traditional fuel sources.

Cullen Hitt states, “For each and every REC purchased the market for renewable energy increases and paves the way for a greener and more sustainable future.”

Source: Corporate Connecticut

Food Giant Installs Fuel Cell

August 20, Bloomfield, CT - Pepperidge Farms has announced that it will install a 1.2 MW fuel cell at its Bloomfield bakery. It will be the second fuel cell at the bakery. Both fuel cells are manufactured by FuelCell Energy, Inc. of Danbury, CT. Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) will also provide $3.5 million of the cost.

Once operational in summer 2008, the new fuel cell will supply about 57% of the total electrical needs for the bakery. The two fuel cells combined will provide about 70% of the required electricity and are expected to contribute to the reliability of electricity to the site. Additionally, excess heat from the new fuel cell will be channeled to support bakery processes, which will help reduce fuel needed for plant boilers.

"We are very pleased to be making this investment in our plant and in the environmental welfare of Connecticut, the home state of Pepperidge Farm," said Robert Furbee, Pepperidge Farm Senior Vice President, Operations. "It is not only a great business initiative but also a great partnership among Connecticut entities committed to pursuing clean, alternative energy sources for the state - Pepperidge Farm, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, and FuelCell Energy, Inc."

Source: TMCNet

SCSU President Declares School Will Be Carbon-Neutral

August 13, New Haven, CT - Southern Connecticut State University’s president has signed on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment making the New Haven campus carbon neutral. Cheryl Norton, becomes the 337th college president to sign the commitment.

The primary force behind the school going green was a group of students that got behind the cause and brought pressure on the president’s office to do something. "We met with the president and explained what we wanted, and that it is time to take action," said Colin Bennett, outreach coordinator for the Environmental Futurists and a graduate student at Southern.

At first, Norton said signing the document would be inappropriate, but the outpouring of opinion against carbon at SCSU changed her mind. Had the more sedate letters and signatures failed, the environmentalists might have escalated to sit-ins and protests, Bennett said. The goal of the group is to reduce Southern's carbon dioxide emissions to zero. Meanwhile, the group wants to cut Southern's carbon footprint as much as possible.

Source: New Haven Register

CT High School Team Wins National Contest

August 12, Falls Village, CT - A team of five Students from The Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village has defeated a field of 260 others teams from the U.S. and Canada to capture the North American Envirothon competition sponsored by Canon, Inc. The competition, which tested environmental knowledge, was held from July 30 to Aug. 3 at the Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y. Each student received a $5,000 scholarship from Canon.

The competition’s criteria included soil and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues. The theme of this year’s competition was Alternative/Renewable Energy, so the competing teams focused on the efficient use of energy generated from traditional sources and the development of renewable energy resources. The idea of the competition is to expose students to diverse environmental issues, ecosystems, and topography; and is hosted by a different state or province each year.

Besides winning scholarships, the students also won photographic equipment for their school to use in science education. “I am just amazed at what they were able to accomplish," said David Moran, who has been the teacher of the Housatonic Valley Regional High School chapter of the Envirothon program for the duration of its four-year existence. “They are the products of all their teachers and their own hard work. Once they hit the top five at the North American competition, they just kept on going."

Sources: www.treehugger.com, www.registercitizen.com

Yale Student Named Net Impact Green Challenge Winner

August 5, San Francisco, CA - The inaugural Net Impact Green Challenge, sponsored by Seventh Generation and Office Depot has recognized three individuals for their developing effective environmental programs in their college or school and three from the professional ranks. Net Impact, an international nonprofit organization committed to improving the world by growing and strengthening a network of business leaders, hosted the challenge, with the support of Office Depot, a leading global provider of office products and services, and Seventh Generation, the nation's leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally safe household products.

One of the student winners was Austin Whitman of the Yale School of Management. Along with a group of four other students, Austin helped raise over $7,000 to finance energy- and forestry-based projects to offset the roughly 1,000 tons of CO2 generated from students' study abroad trips.

The Green Challenge measured participants' actions and impacts from January 1, 2007 to June 1, 2007. All projects were evaluated by a group of judges based on the measurable difference of environmental impact, their strategic plan, the creativity of the approach, and the stakeholder engagement process. More details about the projects can be found at www.netimpact.org/greenchallenge.

Source: CSRwire