Oct. 2, 2007 A police facility at John F. Kennedy International will be the first U.S. airport building to be powered entirely by geothermal energy, Environment News Service reports.

The upgrades to mechanical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning at JFK Building 254 will be the first of four capital projects geared toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Port Authority facilities. The four projects total $12.2 million and include the installation of energy-efficient LED lighting on the George Washington Bridge and in the Holland Tunnel, part of a broader program to equip all of the agency's bridges and tunnels with energy-efficient lighting.

"With today's investments, we'll take over four million pounds of CO2 out of the air each year," says Port Authority executive director Anthony Shorris. "This is an important step, but it's still just a beginning. Over the months and years to come, we'll be investing more of our resources to make sure we use less of the world's."

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners says it intends to convert more facilities to geothermal power use in the future.