Better World Energy Inc. is pleased to announce that it is providing wind generated Renewable Energy Certificates to offset all the energy consumed by the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation in 2012. This makes the Santa Barbara Bowl the first carbon-neutral outdoor concert venue in America. The amount represents the total electricity and fuel consumption by the facility in 2012.

Through the donation of zero-emission energy generated from wind farms, the Bowl has neutralized the environmental impact of its electricity and natural gas consumption for the entire year.

This new alliance is part of a larger initiative by the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation to become a greener facility.

The Santa Barbara Bowl has developed community-leading practices for reducing environmental impact through water and energy conservation, recycling, traffic mitigation and waste reduction. In addition, the Bowl has recently installed Phase 1 of an aggressive solar installation.

“We are pleased to be able to support such a dynamic venue and organization to reach its goal of being carbon neutral,” said John Smigelski, CEO of Better World Energy. “In addition to being the first outdoor concert venue to be carbon neutral, with its other initiatives on water conservation and recycling it is arguably America’s greenest venue. Better World Energy salutes the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation for their environmental leadership.”

Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation Executive Director Rick Boller added: “The Santa Barbara Bowl is committed to doing everything it can to have as small a carbon footprint as possible. We are honored to have a partner like Better World Energy whose foresight and leadership have enabled the Bowl Foundation to achieve many its environmental goals.”

The donation of 233 megawatt-hours of wind generated Renewable Energy Certificates is equivalent to the emission reductions of removing 37 vehicles from the road for one year.

Click here for more information on how to offset your day-to-day energy usage.

— Jesse Lee Weiss represents Nederlander Concerts.