Renewable energy, carbon offsets mitigate electricity use and team travel
ATLANTA, GA, April 9, 2013 – Sterling Planet, a leading national retail provider of renewable energy, announced today that it is providing assets to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity used at the Georgia Dome to host the 2013 NCAA® Men’s Final Four®, the NCAA Men’s Division I collegiate basketball championship. Sterling Planet is matching 100% of the conventional electricity used to power the three final Division I games on April 6 and April 8, 2013, with 119,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy certificates (RECs).
Sterling Planet is also supplying carbon offsets to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from team air travel by the top four Division I challengers – the University of Michigan, the University of Louisville, Syracuse University and Wichita State University – as well as the Division II and III top teams, who also traveled to Atlanta to vie for a national championship.. These competitors included Drury University and Metropolitan State College of Denver, Division II; and Amherst College and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Division III.
For the Georgia Dome events, Sterling Planet’s RECs originate from Georgia biomass projects that use organic, plant-based materials to generate renewable power. Carbon offsets come from methane abatement projects at landfills. These projects prevent the atmospheric release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Together, the RECs and carbon offsets avoid approximately 216 metric tons, or 476,198 pounds, of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The environmental benefit compares to conservation of 24,215 gallons of gasoline or 502 barrels of oil.
“Sterling Planet is thrilled to support the Georgia World Congress Center and Georgia Dome with this achievement for the environment and for use of clean, sustainable energy,” said Mel Jones, president and CEO of Sterling Planet. “The Georgia Dome, this year’s Final Four host, aimed high, and we are thrilled to be able to provide RECs from right here in Georgia to make this event a ‘green’ one.”
The Sterling Green™ RECs supplied are Green-e Energy certified, and the Sterling Climate™ carbon offsets are Green-e Climate certified from projects with Verified Carbon Standard certification. Green-e is a program of the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions that guarantees both environmental integrity and consumer protection.
Sold separately from electricity, RECs represent all the environmental attributes of electricity production at new projects that use renewable energy sources. For every megawatt-hour of renewable electricity production, a REC is created. Carbon offsets each represent one metric ton of avoided greenhouse gas emissions from certified projects.
The 2013 NCAA Men’s Final Four is the latest in a series of major sporting events Sterling Planet has ‘greened’ with RECs and/or carbon offsets. Previously, Sterling Planet has supplied NBA Green Week 2013, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, U.S. Open, NFL Super Bowl and a number of professional sports franchises.
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Sterling Planet leads U.S. sustainable energy markets, offering clients in diverse sectors a comprehensive portfolio of carbon-reduction assets – renewable energy certificates (RECs), carbon offsets and innovative White Tags® energy efficiency certificates. Recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as 2012 Green Power Supplier of the Year, Sterling Planet delivers more than 5 billion REC kilowatt-hours annually to EPA Green Power Partnership members, including the top three purchasers, and also supplies compliance markets through utility and government partnerships. Founded in 2000, the Atlanta-based company pioneered as the first nationwide retail REC provider and is committed to development of new renewable power generating projects.