Campus strives for greener future

Delaware blue and gold are increasingly being combined to make green, as the University launches several initiatives dedicated to sustainability on the campus and beyond.

Recent initiatives include a study of UD’s carbon “footprint,” a new Web site to share information about sustainability efforts and resources, a daylong symposium that brought together numerous researchers working on energy technology and policy on campus, and the signing of two agreements officially declaring the University’s commitment to sustainability and to reducing its environmental impacts.

The March 17 Energy Institute Symposium provided a comprehensive showcase of the University’s efforts in emerging and advanced energy science and policy, with presentations from prominent researchers and a panel discussion among UD experts.

More than 170 students, faculty and staff, as well as representatives of government and industry, attended the symposium. The event was designed for researchers to share information on current projects and to spark potential collaborations that might be advanced by a new energy institute being developed at the University.
From a bus powered by hydrogen fuel cells to a solar-powered poultry house, UD already has a number of clean, green, “on the ground” initiatives under way in energy research and policy. But, experts at the symposium said, there’s room for much more.

Mark Barteau, the Robert L. Pigford Chair of Chemical Engineering and now senior vice provost for research and strategic initiatives, coordinated the symposium.

“Energy is, as the National Academy of Engineering declared, one of the grand challenges of our time,” he said. “And you can’t look at the problem through any single prism to solve it. It’s much more complex than that.”
A roundtable discussion at the symposium identified critical needs for future UD energy research, including expertise in petroleum, coal and natural gas, the recovery of energy lost in present-day applications, energy storage in batteries and improved public and UD student education, focusing on enhancing literacy in science, technology and policy.

Participation by UD life scientists also is important in energy research, with a focus on plant photosynthetic processes. Social scientists are needed to help people embrace a greater conservation ethic and adapt to a changing world, the group concluded.

Additional information about energy research at the University can be found at [www.energy.udel.edu].
In April, President Patrick Harker announced that UD will conduct a study of its carbon “footprint,” with the assessment led by John Byrne, director of the University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy and recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“This inventory of greenhouse gas emissions will give us a good picture of where we stand currently and enable us to better plan what we should be doing in the future,” Harker said in making the announcement. “Special attention will be paid to follow-up actions that could showcase the University’s leadership in research, technological innovation and policy creativity.”

At the same time, he announced that the Class of 2008 had chosen to support the new project with its senior class gift. By Commencement on May 31, the students raised $60,000 for the 2008 class gift.
“Your gift will indeed be a legacy,” Harker told the graduating class, “providing for the future of the University and of those students who follow you on our campus.”

At another key event on campus, part of the Global Agenda Lecture Series—which this year focused on the topic, “Boiling Point: International Politics of Climate Change”—Harker announced the University’s participation in two agreements to address global warming and environmental sustainability.

The agreements, signed by UD in April, are the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a high-visibility effort to address global warming, and The Talloires Declaration by the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, a 10-point action plan by universities worldwide. The Talloires Declaration has been signed by more than 350 university presidents and chancellors in 40 countries. By joining them, the University pledges to integrate sustainability into its operations, to produce research and scholarship critical in supporting continued environmental progress across the globe and to engage the campus, community, the state and the world in the effort.

The second agreement, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, recognizes the unique leadership role and obligation that institutions of higher education have in responding to the global climate crisis. UD joins more than 500 other institutions in a collective effort to reduce carbon emissions across the United States.

By signing onto the Commitment, the University pledges to begin the process of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and becoming climate-neutral.

In conjunction with the carbon footprint study and other recent campus initiatives, a new Web site, [www.udel.edu/sustainability], gathers in one place many of the activities that are already under way at UD and also provides information on current research that addresses these topics. It includes links to the full text of the two formal agreements described above.