Madison, Wis., August 12 /CSRwire/ - Leonardo Academy announced today that the GovEnergy 2009 conference has attained Cleaner and Greener(R) certification through the quantification and offset of emissions related to both climate change and human health. Fuel Cell Energy, Inc. donated the emission reductions from 1,900 megawatt hours of electric generation by its Direct Fuel Cell(R) power plants in Connecticut in order to offset emissions from this year's event.aGovEnergy 2009 was held in Providence, Rhode Island, from August 9-12.

Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener(R) program calculated the emissions resulting from the energy use for the event facility, travel, meals, and lodging associated with the event. This year GovEnergy, which is an annual conference for federal energy professionals, drew over 2,100 national and international attendees. This led to approximately 5,668,000 air passenger miles and 68,500 vehicle miles, making travel the largest source of event emissions.

Fuel Cell Energy's donated emissions reductions were permanently retired by Leonardo Academy to offset all of the sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions caused by the event, amounting to 2,570 pounds of SO2 and 2,307 pounds of NOx. Fifty percent of the 3,711,281 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will also be offset by the donation.

Michael Arny, President of Leonardo Academy, said, "GovEnergy and Fuel Cell Energy are an excellent example of a continued partnership dedicated to advancing sustainability, and Leonardo Academy is looking forward to continuing to create sustainable events with both of these groups in the future."

LEONARDO ACADEMY - Leonardo Academy (www.leonardoacademy.org) is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability and environmental stewardship. Leonardo Academy is a Think and Do tank that develops new approaches, methods and metrics for sustainability and also helps companies, organizations, families and individuals enhance sustainability. Leonardo Academy provides assessments, strategy development, and implementation for sustainability including emissions, LEED, and the supply chain.

FUELCELL ENERGY - FuelCell Energy (www.fuelcellenergy.com) develops and markets ultra-clean power plants that generate electricity with up to twice the efficiency of conventional fossil fuel plants and with virtually no air pollution. By creating energy from self-contained reactions, fuel cells produce base load electricity where commercial and industrial customers face cost, reliability, security or environmental issues with their existing energy supplies.

Leonardo Academy

Leonardo Academy

Leonardo Academy is a charitable (501c3)nonprofit that promotes sustainability. Our primary focus is developing and supporting approaches to environmental improvement that put the competitive market to work on improving the environment. Work includes: Cleaner and Greener® recognition and certification program for emission reduction actions by companies, organizations, events, families and individuals - Key role in authoring and supporting U.S. Green Building Council' LEED® for Existing Buildings Rating System, Supporting development, implementation and documentation of LEED projects - Sustainability training and education - Prairie and savannah restoration - ANSI Accredited Standard Developer: Developing ANSI standard for emissions inventories, emission reduction credits and offsets.

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