Wind Power Turns Emerald Bowl a Brighter Shade of Green

Updated 6:17 PM EDT, Thu, Jan 7, 2010

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SAN FRANCISCO, California, December 24, 2008 (ENS) - Saturday's Emerald Bowl football game between the University of California and the University of Miami 100 percent powered by the wind.

The two teams may be rivals, but the event will be friendly to the environment. The largest wind and solar energy producer in North America, FPL Energy, LLC, is buying enough Green-e certified wind Renewable Energy Certificates to cover all the electricity consumption of the Emerald Bowl.

"As the nation's leader in renewable energy development, FPL Energy values the importance of environmental solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Nate Hanson, vice president of FPL Energy Power Marketing Inc.

Organizations around the world are being more environmentally conscious by choosing renewable energy, said Hanson, and the Emerald Bowl has decided to adopt a leadership position on this issue.

"College bowl games provide a platform to educate fans on climate initiatives, and we feel that the best way we can educate is to lead by example," said Gary Cavalli, executive director of the Emerald Bowl.

"With FPL Energy, we will lessen the environmental impact of the game as well as promote environmental awareness to a broad audience of sports enthusiasts," said Cavalli.

A subsidiary of the publicly traded energy company FPL Group, Inc., FPL Energy prides itself on being "North America’s leader in wind energy," with 64 wind facilities in operation in 16 states and Canada.

The wind power theme to the game fits well for the Miami team - the Miami Hurricanes.

"We're very excited that the Emerald Bowl has selected the University of Miami to play in its game in San Francisco," said UM head coach Randy Shannon. "This will be a great bowl game between two quality teams from two of the best conferences in the country. It's a rare and exciting matchup since Miami doesn't play in California very often. We're really looking forward to a great bowl experience."

The seventh annual Emerald Bowl will be played on December 27 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN at 8 pm EST or 5 pm PST. It's the only game, college or professional, scheduled for television on that evening.