As part of an ongoing effort to place UCSD among the
country’s top tier of environmentally friendly universities, campus officials
revealed plans earlier this month to undertake a new
environmental-sustainability initiative partly designed to promote the
implementation of renewable energy sources throughout the school.
Heavily influenced by the global climate research conducted
at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the initiative’s primary
goals is to eventually allow UCSD to generate 10 to 15 percent of its annual
electricity needs from renewable power sources.
In order to achieve this objective, a number of rooftop
solar panels and waste-powered hydrogen fuel cells will be installed throughout
campus over the next several years. Additionally, campus officials are
currently engaged in discussions with Wind Generator, a company that produces
wind energy, with the intent of harnessing a significant amount of electrical
power from
When all phases of the plan are complete, approximately
seven megawatts of electricity needed to power the campus — an amount capable
of powering roughly 6,000 homes — will be generated by renewable sources. These
developments will allow UCSD to greatly scale back the use of natural gas as a
source of energy.
Vice Chancellor of Resource Management and Planning Gary C.
Matthews said that these environmental efforts are partly driven by the
obligation that UCSD has to developing such endeavors on a larger scale.
“We believe as a university we have a moral imperative to
act as role models and proactive stewards of the environment,” Matthews said in
an e-mail. “We also know that what we do locally has an impact on the region,
nation and world.”
Matthews added that he hoped the action taken at UCSD might
provide an example for other universities to follow.
“We will strive to be the leader in the nation and encourage
others to do what they can on their campus,” Matthews said. “We are taking the
seeds of discovery from our research, and we are planting them in our own
backyard to reap the benefits.”
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, who addressed the initiative at
an April 3 press conference, said that these environmental endeavors are an
achievement attained through the combined efforts of a number of separate
groups at UCSD.
“What makes UCSD truly unique are the collaborations that
exist between our researchers, our faculty, our staff and our students,” Fox
said. “Indeed, as we think about environmental sustainability we are impressed
that these groups are increasingly working together across disciplines and
across job descriptions. They are seeking to come up with innovative solutions
to our pressing environmental challenges.”
Fox said that UCSD’s environmentally conscious actions will
have important effects beyond the campus.
“Our research, our education, our green practices and our
student involvement have local impact, national influence and global reach,”
Fox said.
Campus officials hope to have the first solar panels
installed by early 2009.
