News

Cathy Proctor at the Denver Business Journal has a great article about Peña Station NEXT and carbon neutrality. Below is an excerpt with a link to the full article.

The Peña Station Next development near Denver International Airport already sports a solar panel-covered parking lot, a huge battery system and other smart technologies — and now it’s aiming for neutrality on carbon dioxide emissions.

Several businesses — including Xcel Energy Inc., Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Co., developer LC Fulenwider Inc. and Denver International Airport — are joining with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to study how to turn the area into a “carbon-neutral energy district, they announced Friday.

The Peña Station Next development is at 61st Avenue and Peña Boulevard. LC Fulenwider is the master real estate developer for the mixed-use community which includes the North American headquarters for Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Co.

The development is being billed as a “smart city” that will integrate a variety of technologies into its transportation and operations.

Net-zero projects typically cover a building or small area and include enough renewable energy sources, such as solar power panels at the site, to offset electricity consumption from traditional fossil fuels over the course of a year.

The carbon-neutral initiative at the Next station aims higher — to leverage a wider set of technologies, including renewable energy, batteries, and potentially capturing carbon in the air, or credits for carbon capture projects elsewhere. The goal is “to fully offset the district’s climate impact due to electricity generation and consumption,” the partners said in an announcement.

Xcel is considering owning and operating the new infrastructure the development will need to achieve carbon neutrality — with an eye toward offering the test-driven technology to other Colorado communities in the future.

You can read the full article at Denver Business Journal