The U . S . Department of Energy ( DOE ) just gave NOAA $5 million to help turn the Mauna Loa atmospheric baseline observatory in Hawaii into a carbon - neutral facility . This funding is part of a $250 million initiative called the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies ( AFFECT ) program , which supports energy and water efficiency projects at U . S . government - owned facilities . With the money , NOAA ' s Global Monitoring Laboratory can buy solar panels and battery storage systems so the observatory can run on renewable energy . The Mauna Loa Observatory is a crucial site for tracking greenhouse gases and monitoring climate change . It lost road access and electricity in 2022 due to volcanic activity , but the observatory staff has been restoring limited power using solar energy and batteries . This new project will allow the observatory to operate fully on renewable energy , ensuring uninterrupted measurements of our changing climate . It ' s a big step for NOAA and the team is proud of their achievement . Not only will relying on renewable energy make the observatory more resilient to future volcanic activity , but it will also eliminate carbon emissions from the facility itself . In the past , volcanic eruptions have caused interruptions in measurements , but this project will help prevent that . Plus , the observatory already collects water from its roofs , so it will be the first Department of Commerce facility to be carbon - neutral for both electricity and water . Before the volcano erupted , the Global Monitoring Laboratory had plans to give their 8 - acre campus a major makeover in 2023 . The first step was to improve the inside and outside of the historic Keeling Building , add an extension to it , replace some smaller buildings , and update the power and grounding infrastructure . NOAA was committed to using eco - friendly practices and materials and following LEED principles during construction . But now , everything is on hold until the road access is restored . NOAA has made a deal with the U . S . Department of Transportation to reopen the 18 - mile access road . "Once this project is done , the Mauna Loa Observatory will be a better and more efficient research facility for NOAA and other scientific partners for many years to come , " said Grubišić . Bureaus and Offices National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tags Clean Energy .

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