April 22, 2012 is the 42^nd celebration of Earth Day, a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment.   The first Earth Day focused on the United States, but it has grown over the years and is now celebrated in more than 175 countries every year.  The U.S. Department of Energy will be celebrating Earth Week April 16-20 in the Forrestal Building and April 23-29 in Germantown. 

Many of the program offices, including the Office of Scientific and Technical Information(OSTI) will have displays, plus there will be activities such as environmental films, green bag lunches, nature walks and talks, children’s activities, free recycling of personal electronics, a farmers marketand community activity days.  The Earth Week activities are sure to be fun, and it is a great opportunity to see how the Department is “Changing Behavior to Reduce DOE’s Carbon Footprint.”

While you are enjoying the Earth Week displays and activities, be sure to stop by and see the OSTI exhibit where we will feature DOE Green Energy, your portal to green energy information from thousands of DOE-sponsored research and development projects.  DOE Green Energy provides free access to over 34,000 full text technical reports and over 1,300 patents.  The DOE Green Energy site organizes this green energy R&D and makes it freely accessible to researchers, scientists, educators, students and the public. DOE Green Energy contains both current research and historical research.

You can read about some of the latest research in solar energy, tidal and wave power, energy storage, direct energy conversion, advanced vehicle technologies, wind, bioenergy, hydroelectric energy,  geothermaland more via an advanced semantic (keyword to concept) search.  OSTI and the DOE Green Energy portal make learning about and finding R&D results from various forms of green energy quick and easy. 

Happy Earth Day!  Every day.