The Department of Environmental Protection announced $5.1 million in Energy Harvest Grants to support 27 projects that will advance the deployment of clean energy technologies, lessen the nation’s dependence on foreign fuels, and significantly reduce air and water pollution.

The state investment will leverage another $8.2 million in private funds.

Each year, the 27 Energy Harvest projects will produce or conserve the equivalent of 4,567 megawatt hours of electricity, enough to power 456 homes, and replace 35.6 billion British thermal units of natural gas. The projects also will replace the use of 264,426 gallons of heating oil or diesel and 955 tons of coal annually.

The projects will eliminate significant amounts of air pollution: 31,731 pounds of nitrogen oxide, 117,253 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 2.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

The grant awards provided more than $1 million to 13 projects that include solar power, leveraging another $641,652 of private investment.

Reducing water pollution also is a significant goal of the Energy Harvest grants. The Applied Reclamation Techniques project in Quakertown, Schuylkill County, will use a biomass heat system fueled by poultry manure. The project will remove an estimated 39 tons of nitrogen, 26 tons of phosphorous and 26 tons of potassium annually from the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

A complete list of projects is available online.

10/13/2006