by jbs081009 h3 — August 12, 2009—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Brookhaven National Laboratory announced a partnership July 31 with the Sister Cities International (SCI), a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between U.S. and international communities to honor international city-to-city partnerships on clean energy.
DOE instituted the Annual Energy Awards at SCI to promote collaborative projects between U.S. cities and their sister cities–a network spanning more than 700 U.S. communities working with more than 2,000 sister cities in 134 countries on six continents to share best practices and technologies.
The 2009 Energy Awards were given to three exceptional collaborations, including Chicago, Illinois and Shanghai, China for their Geothermal and Fuel Cell Energy demonstration project; Boulder, Colorado and Dushanbe, Tajikistan for constructing a cyber cafe with solar electric and hot water systems; and Duluth, Minnesota and Vaxjo, Sweden’s biofuel technology exchange.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) promotes Energy Awards to recognize the achievements of the cities and leaders who have championed partnerships on how to conserve energy and invest in clean technology. EERE has also established an innovative United States-China-India Eco Cities Partnership based on the Sister Cities concept to share technologies and lessons learned and to help participating cities identify and overcome barriers for implementation and management of sustainable urban energy practices.
For more information about the SCI Annual Awards Program or for a complete list of the 2009 winners, visit online.
