EBJ PROJECT MERIT AWARDS

Environmental Management and Planning Solutions (EMPSi; San Francisco, CA; www.empsi.com), an environmental management consulting firm, for preparing the environmental analysis for the first project to receive funding under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program (LGP). The document was completed for the Solyndra, Inc. application to construct a photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing plant in Fremont, CA. Solyndra was the first recipient of a loan guarantee under the Recovery Act and Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In addition, the loan guarantee issued to Solyndra is the first issued by DOE since the 1980s. EMPSi conducted environmental analysis, compliance, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) support as part of this coordinated effort. Over its lifetime, the first phase of the Solyndra facility could manufacture up to 7 gigawatts of solar panels, which can generate electricity equivalent to three or four coal-fired power plants, representing a savings of 245 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.