Lake, Geauga, Cuyahoga and Ashtabula counties could green up in a variety of ways, whether it's solar, wind, zinc oxide or any other form of renewable energy.

Ask John Loftus, executive director of the Lake County Port Authority, which gets start-up grants and funds for such environmental ventures as well as business development.

He said such efforts could come from Lake County's share of $475 million in federal funds from the "Great Lakes Restoration Initiative" impacting the Lake Erie shoreline or state funds for solar energy greenfields in Mentor.

"With the new Great Lakes funding, it's really going through the competitive process right now. So the coastal plan is not quite so specific," said Loftus, who also works closely with the Lake County Economic Development Council.

"We're helping some companies with brownfield work using the state's Clean Ohio program. Most noteworthy is the cleanup of property at (the closed) Coe Manufacturing in Painesville. The Port Authority is also working closely on water runoff projects in the Chagrin River Watershed District.

"Folks in Mentor are looking at a new solar specialty improvement district, and we're working with the county and a few private folks on the potential for wind energy within Lake County," he added. "All these are in the works, with details being worked out."

That matches a report on Ohio by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, based in Washington.

"Ohio's current fiscal and economic challenges do not preclude the state from garnering considerable benefits from energy efficiency," the report states. "Energy efficiency and demand response are the lowest-cost resources available to moderate short-term impacts. They are also the quickest to deploy, meaning that efficiency resources quickly begin to generate financial savings for the state and its consumers."

In Northeast Ohio, that could include Legacy Renewable Energy Development's proposed $120 million worth of wind farms to hook up with FirstEnergy transmission lines in Geauga County's Thompson Township.

The wind farms, featuring giant propellers on turbines, would meet federal demands for renewable energy and enable FirstEnergy to issue some smaller utility bills in Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula counties.

Such energy efficiency is also on the short list of U.S. Rep. Steve C. LaTourette, R-Bainbridge Township, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, which uses traditional federal revenue.

For example, the congressman favors everything from a Kirtland company's $200,000 idea of "stabilizing algae" as an energy source to a college's $750,000 idea of "green technologies" work.

Gov. Ted Strickland is already announcing multimillion-dollar federal stimulus start-up funding, including money for cleaner drinking water in Geauga County and a "smart grid" for utilities in Lake County's Painesville.

The governor's office works closely with federal officials in keeping track of all stimulus money received in Ohio by public, private and not-for-profit entities, including those concerned about the environment.

Also working on green energy are the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council. Specializing in transportation and environmental projects favored by county commissioners and county engineers, NOACA especially watches green energy efforts in Lake, Geauga, Cuyahoga, Lorain and Medina counties.

As long as such ideas affect the region, NOACA projects could be anything from replacing worn-out Laketran buses that pollute the air with fine particles, to cleaning up sewer system water to reduce or stop pollution.

Read about green plans here.