How Energy Efficiency is “Lighting Up” the Streets of Philadelphia

Today President Obama is travelling to the Philadelphia area to hold a town hall event with employees at Gamesa Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of large-scale wind turbines, to further discuss the U.S. energy future.

In addition to his goal for increasing the US renewable energy portfolio and decreasing dependence on oil, energy efficiency ranks as vitally important for the country.

Not just in homes and buildings, Philadelphia has revved up its energy efficiency campaign in the streets.

Through the Greenworks Philadelphia project, the Philadelphia Streets Department is converting 58,000 yellow and green traffic signals to LED lights, replacing traditional energy-draining bulbs and saving the city $1 million of electricity costs every year. But Philadelphia’s commitment to energy efficiency isn’t just about saving money. Jobs for unemployed workers was one of the early objectives.

Other goals of Greenworks Philadelphia include generating 20 percent of citywide electricity from renewable sources by 2015, diverting 70 percent of solid waste from landfills, and reducing vehicle miles traveled by 10 percent from 2005 levels.

WATCH the video from the Department of Energy