The Philadelphia Eagles, currently sitting atop the NFC East, plan to transform their stadium into a “green battlefield” with a $30 million renewable wind and solar energy system.

Plans call for 80 sphere-shaped wind turbines, 2,500 solar panels, and a dual-fuel (biodiesel and natural gas) plant. The system, to be installed by the Florida-based firm Solar Blue, should be ready by September, 2011. When it is, Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles’ home, will be the only stadium in the world to run on completely self-generated renewable energy.

Stadiums are ideal structures for such renewable energy initiatives because they have loads of open air and roof space for devices like wind turbines and solar panels.

The 20-foot wind turbines (provided by Helix Wind) will be vertical, rather than bladed, in order to reduce noise and danger to birds, and will account for 15 percent of the stadium’s power. The solar panels will account for another 15 percent and the rest of the power will be provided by the dual-fuel generation plant.  The plant is expected to create about 1.039 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year – enough to power 26,000 homes.

The Eagles estimate that the stadium will prevent almost 481,000 tons of greenhouse gases and save about $60 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.

Lincoln Financial Field circa 2008

This is not the Eagle’s first environmentally-friendly project. In 2003 the team set up a Go Green initiative that involved switching to 100 percent recycled paper materials (napkins, plates, etc), composting many tons of organic waste, and converting used kitchen oil to biodiesel.

When the Eagles say they’re green, they don’t just mean the color of their uniforms.

Images:
Philadelphia Eagles/Inhabitat
Betp/Wikipedia

Filed under: Architectural, Civil, e-News, Environmental

Tags: Architectural, Civil, Environmental, Green Technology, Sports