New green grants for communities and non-profits

As excited as I get about many of the smart community planning options emerging around the country, I am a practical being: these sorts of things cost money and many municipalities may have the will do use technology to get smarter, but they don't necessarily have the wallet.

That's why I felt compelled to share information about two new grant programs available to communities and non-profit organizations that are investing in initiatives intended to combat climate change.

The second set of grants that I heard about today is being doled out by IBM, which is targeting non-profit organizations and schools that are trying to use technology to have an impact on sustainability or climate change in their local communities. The program, called the IBM Trailblazer Grants,
The first, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is a $10 million fund called the Climate Showcase Communities program. The initiative, which is now in its second year, calls for the award of approximately 25 different grants of between $100,000 to $500,000 to fund initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in local municipalities, tribal governments, and inter-tribal consortia. Those applying for the grants must share at least half of the overall cost of the program; tribal governments are exempt from this condition. But the rest of the recipients need to put skin in the game.

The proposals for this round are due on July 26, 2010, at 4 p.m. eastern time.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the main EPA link about the program, you can find information about the 21 initiatives that snagged some money last year. One example is this Reading, Riding and Retrofit effort in North Carolina that is combining the implementation of energy efficiency programs and technologies in schools with curriculum additions that teach students about how to bring some of these habits home.

The second program that might interest you is the IBM Trailblazer Grants, which are being targeted at schools or non-profit organizations that are focused on how to use technology to improve sustainability at the community level. The program comes in the form of software, services and technology that can sit at the core of these initiatives. Another refrain is the ability of these initiatives to educate or to prepare students for careers focused on creating a smarter planet (IBM's current corporate mantra).

The video below gives you an idea of the motivation behind the IBM Trailblazer Grants. Approximately 30 have already been distributed, with another 150 groups around the world set to receive grants before the end of 2010.

I would be remiss if I didn't remind you here about a similar cleantech "grant" program from Autodesk, which is focused on entrepreneurs that could benefit from its sustainable design software. The program will result in the distribution of up to $15 million in its software this year alone.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com