The NFL has purchased renewable energy from TECO, the power company in Tampa, Florida. While it’s unclear exactly how much of the power used on game day will be green, a spokesman claims the switch will have the same impact as taking 20 cars off the road for a year.

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“As you can imagine, the power demands of an NFL stadium and a large event like the NFL Experience are huge,” said Jack Groh, who helped green this year’s big game. “And one way to reduce the carbon footprint, the climate impact of that, is by using renewable power.”

In addition to the green power, the NFL has cut down the size of the banners inside and outside the stadium, and plans to either recycle or reuse every banner on the site. For the fifth year in a row, they are sponsoring tree-planting in Tampa and the surrounding areas, which will theoretically offset some carbon emissions from the event.

While the Super Bowl has a long way to go before being carbon neutral, it’s nice to see the NFL making an effort. Both in 2007 and 2008, the NFL chose to use renewable energy to the Super Bowl. Now let’s hope fans carpool to the game!

Photo Credit: RMTip21 on Flickr under Creative Commons license.