ATLANTA (March 29) Beginning today, Atlanta motorists will have the unique opportunity to go to a solar-powered service station to fuel their vehicles with reduced-sulfur gasoline. Five BP and Amoco stations in the area are partially powering their facilities with BP Solarex solar electric modules providing a graphic example of how the sun can power conventional businesses.

At an announcement today, visitors to the BP Express station on the corner of North Avenue and Spring Street saw an array of solar modules atop the pump island canopy. The solar system will reduce the station’s dependence on conventional electricity by providing about 20 kilowatts of power which will provide up to ten percent of the station’s needs. “Not only does this reduce the electricity we take from the conventional power grid,” said BP Amoco Regional Vice President Sean Daley, “it also demonstrates an environmental commitment to our customers.”

The solar modules from BP Solarex are part of BP Amoco’s plan to demonstrate real-world applications of solar electricity and its commercial and residential benefits. BP Amoco plans to install the solar modules in six newly constructed sites this year, bringing the total to eleven. In addition, the company will install solar in all of its new company service station construction in the Atlanta area.

“By using solar power and the reduced-sulfur fuel available at this site, motorists can make wise environmental decisions that are competitively priced,” Daley said. BP Amoco joined Georgia Governor Roy Barnes and USEPA Chief Administrator Carol Browner last July to announce a reduced-sulfur fuel initiative for the 25-county Atlanta area.

BP Amoco’s voluntary sulfur reduction in premium gasoline was in cooperation with the Governor’s program to reduce ground-level ozone and help reduce ozone alert days during the summer driving season, thereby reducing emission levels to the equivalent of removing an estimated 12,000 cars from Atlanta highways each day. The reduced-sulfur premium gasoline at Atlanta BP and Amoco stations was the North American debut of BP Amoco’s global program to bring cleaner fuels to 40 cities worldwide.

Solar electricity and clean fuels are key elements of BP Amoco’s comprehensive plan to reduce global emissions. The company has also set a goal of a 10 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from its manufacturing operations by 2010 from a 1990 baseline.

“Georgia Power and Southern Company are leaders in research and development of renewable energy resources,” said Chris Hobson, general manager of environmental affairs for Georgia Power. “It is encouraging and exciting to see other companies, like BP Amoco, investing in sustainable energy technologies and finding practical uses for them in their business.”

John Sibley, executive director of the Georgia Conservancy, said that his group is pleased with BP Amoco’s leadership role in clean fuel and solar energy. “When the corporate community gets involved in serious environmental efforts, good things happen,” he said. “BP Amoco has set an example for others to follow.”

To celebrate its solar power program in Atlanta, BP Amoco is introducing a CD-ROM game entitled “Climate Change” to high schools and libraries in the Atlanta area. “BP Amoco created this game in cooperation with environmental and educational specialists to help students learn to deal with the scientific, political and social impacts of global climate change,” Daley said.

BP Amoco is also donating BP Solarex photovoltaic modules coupled with a $5,000 cash grant to the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell, north of Atlanta. The modules will power filtering and aerating equipment for a new fish pond at the nature center which will feature native Georgia fish. “BP Amoco is one of our long-time supporters,” said the center’s executive director, Ann Bergstrom. “This opportunity to partner with them to create a solar exhibit will be a great enhancement to our mission of environmental education.”

BP Amoco is a global energy company with operations in more than 100 countries on six continents. The company was formed at the beginning of 1999 with the merger of British Petroleum and Amoco and is a leader in exploration and production, refining, petrochemicals and refined products marketing. BP and Amoco stations are the gasoline market leaders in Georgia and the Southeast.

BP Solarex, a unit of BP Amoco, has a global market share of 20 percent and projected revenues in excess of $200 million for 2000. This positions BP Solarex at the forefront of the international solar electric industry. With manufacturing operations in four countries – the USA, Spain, India, and Australia – BP Solarex will produce approximately 40 megawatts of solar projects in 2000. Additional information can be found at www.bpsolarex.com.

For more information, contact Richard Judy, BP Amoco: (770) 576-3099, or Sarah Howell, BP Solarex: (410) 981-0256.