The county’s Green Energy Dane Plan recently received approval of more than $2.2 million in economic stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Energy.
County Executive Kathleen Falk announced the acquisition of funds to go toward energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in a statement Monday. County officials expect the projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create green jobs and save taxpayers money.
The projects will be carried out on aging county buildings to increase their overall energy efficiency.
The Green Energy Dane Plan is expected to create up to 25 jobs. It could also save taxpayers $300,000 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.3 million pounds per year, the release said.
Among the intended projects are the installation of solar panels on a variety of county buildings, from which energy could be sold to local utilities; installing solar panels to help provide hot water for the City-County Building, and installing modern, energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling systems, the statement said.
Dane County Energy Task Force Committee Chair Sup. Matt Veldran, District 7, said the improvements to the county facilities would add considerably to the overall efficiency of energy use throughout the county and contribute to the county’s continued commitment to green energy.
“We’ve been a leader, and I think we’re still at the front of that,” Veldran said. “I think were going to keep pushing all the limits to help make the county more efficient and cleaner.”
Veldran added around $350,000 is intended to go toward a study of constructing a food waste digester plant that would convert food scraps collected from throughout the county into green energy.
Currently, the county is looking to explore the feasibility of such a project, he said. After enough is known regarding the possible impact, both financially and environmentally, interested companies will be vetted to carry out the study.
According to the release, nearly $3.2 million is being provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to 2,300 states and municipalities nationwide as part of the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant.
