The Philadelphia Eagles recently announced that they are transforming their stadium at Lincoln Financial Field into a ‘green battlefield’ complete with a $30 million renewable wind and solar energy system. The money will be put towards 80 sphere-shaped wind turbines (which will be placed around the top of the stadium) and 2,500 solar panels! All of the stadium’s renewable systems are expected to generate enough energy to power 26,000 homes, and they will reportedly prevent almost 481,000 tons of greenhouse gases.
It is not the first time that American football and green energy have formed a partnership — the Eagles set up a Go Green project in 2003 and the NFL has been purchasing renewable solar energy for the Super Bowls in 2007.
In the team’s latest green venture Lincoln Field Stadium will see the installation of 80 vertical axis turbines, 2,500 solar panels, and a 7.6-megawatt on-site dual-fuel co-generation (biodiesel and natural gas) plant with highly sophisticated monitoring and switching capabilities.
The Philadelphia Eagle green energy project is to be developed by Florida-based company SolarBlue, which is a leader in innovative energy conservation methods. The renewable energy system is expected to generate an impressive 4MW of energy, most of which will be fed back into the national grid. As a result, the system will not only save the Eagles money on their energy bills (approximately $60 million over the next 20 years), but it will also eventually generate revenue.
The Philadelphia Eagles are proud to take this vital step towards energy independence from fossil fuels,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said. “It underscores our strong belief that environmentally sensitive policies are consistent with sound business practices.” The entire stadium is expected to be fully energy independent by September 2011.
+ Philadelphia Eagles
Via NPR
