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GM To Be Celebrated By AQMD For Installing Solar Power And Microturbine Systems At California Dealerships

FOR RELEASE: November 4, 2001 P>General Motors to Also Donate Natural Gas Vans to Four LA-Area Community Groups

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. - Building on a groundbreaking public-private partnership with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), General Motors Corporation today announced several major initiatives to bring innovative energy technology to its Southern California dealerships, while helping each dealership reduce its dependence on the state's electric power grid.

The announcement was made at a joint news conference with the AQMD - the nation's largest air district - on the eve of the agency's international clean air conference. The actions GM announced today come about through the Community Clean Air Partnership, which the automaker formed last year with the AQMD to help continue the air quality improvement in Southern California.

Among the steps announced today:

  • Installation of a state-of-the-art solar power system at the new Rydell Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealership in the city of San Fernando. The project will be funded jointly by General Motors, BP Solar, the California Energy Commission, and the Rydell Automotive Group. The system, made by BP Solar, a division of BP Amoco, will save the dealership about 18,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year - enough energy to fully power three averaged-sized Southern California homes. It's believed to be the first solar-power-equipped auto dealership in California.

  • Installation of advanced microturbine generators at five of GM's California dealerships, beginning in 2002, through a pilot program GM and its dealers will develop and conduct. The generators, made by Capstone Turbine Corp. , are powered by natural gas and are certified as ultra-low-emissions. These onsite power generation systems will supply about 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually to each dealership. Operating at full power, the generators will be able to supply almost all of the dealerships' electricity needs - thus enabling each to temporarily remove themselves from the state's power grid, if the need arises.

  • Donation of four "bi-fuel" natural gas passenger vans to Southern California non-profit, community-service organizations. The 2002 Chevy Express vans, certified as ultra-low-emissions vehicles, can be fueled with either gasoline or compressed natural gas. They are being donated to the Desert Community Foundation's Hidden Harvest Project, a Palm Springs-based food bank; the Rodgers Senior Citizens Center in Huntington Beach; Sylmar Graffiti Busters, an anti-graffiti group based in the San Fernando Valley; and the Mothers of East Los Angeles which helps at-risk youth stay in school and aim for college.

"We apply advanced technology to make progress through our products, plants and partnerships with governmental agencies such as the AQMD," said Dennis R. Minano, GM's chief environmental officer and vice president - energy and environment. "GM is committed to helping Southern California achieve its clean air goals. The use of renewable energy such as solar power is an important element in constructing a sustainable, environmentally sound economy."

In recognition of GM's efforts, the AQMD has invited Minano to deliver the keynote address at its first-ever international Clean Air Technologies Conference 2001, to be held November 5-6 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, where he'll be joined by a host of international experts working on solutions to air pollution.

Through its Community Clean Air Partnership with the AQMD, GM has undertaken a number of initiatives to help clean the air in Southern California in the last year, including helping retrofit school buses to sharply reduce diesel exhaust emissions and improve the health of school children.

"We're thrilled that General Motors is doing its part to alleviate electrical grid power consumption and clean the air at the same time," said Dr. William A. Burke, Chairman of the Governing Board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. "Through its use of solar panels and microturbines, GM leads by example."

Today's news conference was held at the new Rydell Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealership in the city of San Fernando. Wes Rydell, who heads nearly three dozen auto dealerships in nine states in the West and Midwest, said he was grateful that GM chose his new San Fernando dealership to be equipped with the solar power system.

"We've always been on the cutting edge of technology, and GM has been the automotive industry's environmental pioneer for years," said Rydell. "There's no magic formula to this, but it comes down to the fundamentals - just teaming up with the right people, ideas and technologies to improve air quality."

General Motors - the world's largest vehicle manufacturer - designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. In 2000, GM had revenues of $183.3 billion. The company employs about 372,000 people globally.