EPA honors San Diego's Marine Corps Air Station for fuel use reductions

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy will tour Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, near San Diego, California, on May 20, to award the base the 2015 EPA Federal Green Challenge award for Energy.

MCAS Miramar, which is home to 23,000 acres and roughly 10,000 service members and their families, was able to cut its fuel oil energy by a whopping 98 percent in 2014 by using a natural gas system in their newly constructed aircraft hangar. The base also installed a Zinc Bromide Flow Battery, which has a capacity of 250KW/1 MWH and is 40 feet long, 10.5 feet tall and eight feet wide.

The award ceremony will also feature leaders from MCAS Miramar, including Brigadier General Edward Banta, who is the commanding general for the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, and Colonel John Farnam, the commanding officer of MCAS Miramar.

The EPA’s Federal Green Challenge pushes federal agencies to be leaders in reducing environmental impact and focuses on six target areas: energy, water, waste, electronics, purchasing and transportation. To win the energy category, MCAS Miramar bested 400 national participants.