The Chattanooga Lookouts will don special green jerseys Friday night in celebration of the nation's first minor league carbon-neutral baseball game.
Friday night's Lookouts game against the Montgomery Biscuits at AT&T Field will be powered entirely with electricity generated from carbon-free sources.
EPB, one of the sponsors of Friday night's game, said its community solar field on Holtzclaw Avenue will provide solar energy credits equivalent to the 2,500 kilowatt hours needed to power the lighting and other power for the Lookouts game and support operations. EPB spokesman J. Ed. Marton said the solar energy credit is equivalent to 1.98 tons of carbon.
EPB gets its power through the Tennessee Valley Authority, which now generates more than half of its electricity from nuclear, hydro, solar and other purchased renewable sources of power generation, rather than burning of fossil fuels. To make up the rest of the power flow and ensure that it is carbon free, the Lookouts game will use credits from EPB's Solar Share facility.
Since coming online two years ago, EPB's Solar Share has generated more than 4 gigawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity – equal to avoiding about 3,000 tons of coal burned or the benefit of planting 72,000 trees.
Friday night's game will start with the first pitch being thrown at 7 p.m. by U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann , R-Tenn., along with representatives from the sponsors of the carbon-free game -Elizabeth Hammitt, EPB's director of community and environmental stewardship and Chris Hansen, TVA's director of origination and renewables.
After the game, fireworks also are planned. Tickets are available at Lookouts.com.