U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu Visits SUNY ESF to announce $1.4 million in funding for Syracuse

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Congressman Daniel B. Maffei visited SUNY-ESF this past week for a tour of the College’s sustainable energy facilities and to meet with the Central Upstate New York “green team.” Chu, who is also a Nobel laureate, and Maffei met with ESF President Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr., and other regional clean tech leaders to make a major funding announcement.   He also toured the new Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems headquarters building.


Congressman Maffei announced that the City of Syracuse will receive $1,444,500 in Recovery Act EECBG funds to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lowering the city’s energy costs, while creating local green jobs. EECBG funds will also enable Syracuse to establish an Office of Conservation, Sustainability, and Energy Initiatives.  Secretary Chu commended the group for the work they are doing to stimulate the development of new alternative energy sources against a “rapidly changing set of constraints — or a set of opportunities” and said the spirit and innovation can make the US and international leader. He cited Upstate New York’s rich agricultural resources which lend themselves to the development of bioproducts and new sources of energy.   

As co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997, Chu has devoted his recent scientific career to the search for new solutions to energy challenges and stopping global climate change.

Read "sound bites from the visit" and see more pictures at the Syracuse Post Standard's green blog:
http://blog.syracuse.com/green/2009/10/energy_secretary_steven_chu_on.html

 Read the news story on the visit at:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/energy_secretary_steven_chu_in.html