Department of Energy to help NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory go net-zero

The Mauna Loa Observatory is set to go net-zero. Credit: NOAA

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded NOAA $5 million to support the conversion of the Mauna Loa atmospheric baseline observatory in Hawaii to a net-zero carbon facility. 

The award, part of $250 million in funding announced by DOE’s Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) program, will help NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory purchase solar panels and battery storage systems that will enable the observatory to operate on renewable energy. AFFECT provides grants from funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support energy and water efficiency projects and processes at U.S. federal government-owned facilities. 

The Mauna Loa Observatory is considered to be the benchmark site for monitoring the global increase in greenhouse gases which are driving climate change. The observatory has been without road access and electricity since November 2022, when lava from the erupting Mauna Loa volcano buried a little more than a mile of the access road and destroyed power poles.