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BP Amoco wins award for solar powered canopies at British stations Solar-equipped stations open throughout Europe, in the United States, Australia, Asia Petroleum News Alaska
BP Amoco said Sept. 6 that their solar powered canopies on service stations have been awarded Millennium Product status by the Design Council.
The Millennium Products scheme was set up by British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a challenge for British businesses to show how Britain leads the world in creating forward-thinking, innovative and challenging products.
The Design Council Chief Executive Andrew Summers said, “Harnessing the sun’s energy in this way is an absolutely ingenious idea and I congratulate BP Amoco on gaining recognition for this through Millennium Products. I only hope it will encourage others to find similarly innovative, brilliantly designed ways of generating electricity while helping to protect the environment.”
BP Amoco has introduced the solar canopies as part of its response to climate change issues. Each kilowatt of solar electricity installed saves the equivalent of one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
BP Amoco biggest user of solar power in UK The canopies have been installed at 15 of BP Amoco’s newest service stations across Britain, making BP Amoco the biggest user of solar power in the country. Future outlets will also be installed with solar canopies, the company said. Using solar power on its own service stations is helping BP Amoco develop new technology for other applications and to raise awareness of the potential for solar power in the UK.
BP Australia opens partially solar-powered station BP Australia, the local subsidiary of BP Amoco, said Sept. 1 that it plans to use solar power at its new service stations in a move to improve energy efficiency at the sites and help to reduce greenhouse gases. The company opened a new service station, powered in part by solar energy, in the Sydney suburb of Rozelle Sept. 1.
BP Amoco’s regional director Australasia, Greg Bourne, said that the company’s commitment to solar-powered sites was consistent with its desire to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment.
New stations to have solar power The first phase of a two-year program will see solar power installed at all new service stations (approximately 200) in 11 countries, including Australia, Bourne said. The U.S. $50 million project is expected to save approximately 3,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Six of the additional first-year solar sites will be in Australia.
BP Amoco has solar-powered service stations in North America at Nashville, Tenn., and Atlanta, Ga., in Kuala Lumpur in Asia, and across Europe from the United Kingdom to Greece.
Solar business, solar electricity user BP Amoco said that the British-designed solar canopy uses up to 300 of BP Solarex’s high efficiency solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity used to power on-site equipment such as lighting and fuel pumps.
While the amount of electricity generated will vary from site to site, on average each solar canopy will provide the equivalent power to run 55 television sets for five hours a day, every day of the year, the company said. Each solar canopy has a maximum power output of 20 kilowatts, about four times the electricity needs of an average home, eliminating approximately 15 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
The solar system is connected to the main electricity grid, so customers do not experience any interruption in the power supply at night or in overcast weather conditions.
BP Solarex traces its origins back to 1973. It was formed in July 1999 following the merger of BP Solar with the U.S. company Solarex. BP Solarex has manufacturing sites in four countries and sales in 160 countries.
BP Amoco has recently stepped up its investment in solar technology, which it sees as an increasingly important energy source for the next millennium. In April 1999, BP Amoco announced its intention to install solar panels on its new retail service stations in nine countries; overall this will generate 3.5 megawatts of solar electricity, saving the equivalent of 3,500 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. As a result of this, BP Amoco will become one of the world’s largest users of solar electricity as well as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of solar panels.
A web site devoted to the global solar service station project can be found at www.bpamoco.com/pluginthesun
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