Syracuse University is utilizing wind power in its long-term effort to go green.

The university has purchased 123 million kilowatt hours from the clean-energy firm Renewable Choice Energy, a company with heavy involvement in the windmill energy industry, for the years of 2014-2016, according to an SU news release.

The move is the latest in a series of energy-conscious reforms that have been announced by SU over the last several years. The endgame is to make the university carbon-neutral by the year 2040.

The energy purchase bumps up SU’s clean energy investment from 20 percent to 35 percent, according to the release.

Nathan Prior, associate director for energy conservation at SU, has mostly been handling the supply side of SU’s energy system, which is switching the source of 15 percent of its electricity from previously used, nonrenewable sources, to the clean energy reserves bought from Renewable Choice. This is the first time SU has worked with Renewable Choice, as it has used different companies as renewable energy partners since 2005.

SU began purchasing 20 percent of its annual power from renewable energy firms in 2005 as opposed to traditional energy sources that contribute to carbon emissions. SU has maintained that 20 percent clean energy plan every year until now, according to the release.

The 123 million kilowatt hours of energy, purchased in the form of renewable energy credits, will be pumped into the existing electricity system already used by SU. RECs are the way that green power is tracked and traded in North America, according to the release.

All of the wind energy that will be obtained is from wind farms in the United States, according to the release. The transition will have very little effect on the service of campus life despite its huge shift in terms of environmental impact, Prior said.

In 2009, SU signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, to be carbon neutral by 2040, and announced its own initiative, the Climate Action Plan.

The plan, which was first implemented in 2010 using the School of Visual and Performing Arts as a pilot, also involves refocusing on recycling and reducing consumption.

“This is definitely part of a long-term plan for the university,” Prior said. “We have a tentative intention to be totally climate neutral by the year 2040. This will take shape by working with companies like Renewable Choice and others, as well as focusing on utilizing new energy technology as it is developed. The focus is on going green in a fiscally responsible way.”

Published on September 29, 2014 at 12:01 am

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