BP Provides Support for Energy and Science Education FREDERICK, Md., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- BP Solar and Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) penned a partnership agreement today to deepen their relationship to support education in the Frederick community. The partnership provides the two organizations with common objectives: to provide educational materials on alterative energy; to allow students to experience hands-on investigations using real-world activities; to connect industry experts to students and teachers through classroom visits and school fieldtrips; and to provide state-of-the-art solar equipment toward the construction of the FCPS Earth and Space Science Lab. (LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000724/NYM120LOGO ) "BP is committed to investing in the communities in which we operate," said Geoff Slevin, vice president of sales and marketing for BP Solar North America. "We believe it is vital to educate the leaders of tomorrow on the importance of alternative energy and science and how they will impact our future." The partnership is the second stage of a relationship that began in late 2006. Through the initial agreement, BP Solar donated nearly $30,000 worth of energy education materials, produced by the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project, for fifth grade science classes. As part of the new partnership BP Solar has committed to provide an additional $30,000 worth of NEED materials in energy education for eighth grade science education and environmental science for high school education. The company will also host classes to tour its facility, provide speakers on the topic of solar energy and supply solar modules for the planned Earth and Space Science Lab. "We are very excited to receive such strong support from BP Solar and its employees," said Dr. Linda Burgee, superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools. "The solar panels for the FCPS Earth and Space Science Lab combined with BP Solar's commitment to helping our teachers provide hands-on activities that teach children about alternative energy solutions will leave a lasting legacy and bring science alive for our students." About BP Solar BP Solar, part of BP Alternative Energy, is a global company with over 2300 employees. BP Solar designs, manufactures and markets products which use the sun's energy to generate electricity for a wide range of applications in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. With over 30 years of experience and installations in more than 160 countries, BP Solar is one of the world's leading solar companies having 228MW annual manufacturing capacity in 2007, plus another 700MW capacity under construction. BP Solar has solar cell and module manufacturing plants in Sydney, Australia; Bangalore, India; Madrid, Spain; and Frederick, MD, USA; and module manufacturing in Xi'an, China. In Frederick it also has casting and wafering facilities. BP Solar invests more than $10m annually in photovoltaic research and development. To learn more visit http://www.bpsolar.us/. BP Alternative Energy, launched in November 2005, combines all of BP's interests in low and zero-carbon energy including wind, solar, hydrogen power with carbon capture and storage, natural gas-fired power generation, biofuels for low carbon transport and distributed energy for emerging markets. To learn more visit http://www.bpalternativenergy.com/. About Frederick County Public Schools Frederick County Public Schools provides a first-class education for 40,000 students in a rapidly growing county that is geographically Maryland's largest. Our 63 schools are located in a diverse array of cities, suburban and rural communities, and serve students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Each school day 5,000 FCPS employees work to provide an environment that capitalizes on all children's natural curiosity, nurtures their desire to learn, and respects their individual learning styles. Learn more about FCPS demographics, outstanding technology resources and student achievement by navigating this web site, where you'll find publications like the FCPS School Report, Progress Reports, Calendar Handbook and school profiles. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000724/NYM120LOGO DATASOURCE: BP Solar CONTACT: Karen Sterling of BP Solar, +1-240-215-8004; or Stacey Adamiak of FCPS, +1-301-644-5267 Web site: http://www.bp.com/ http://www.bpsolar.us/ http://www.bpalternativenergy.com/

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